Just wanted to thank everyone for the help and info on rotor and pad replacement on my '98 ML320. Parts were provided by Fastlane and were delivered promptly and for a great price. Total time required to do the rears was about 2hrs. Job was very straightforward and simple.
As recommended by folks in this forum I loosed the lug bolts before jacking up the truck.
I loosened the #5 allen with the e-brake on then released the e-brake and just pulled off the rotors.
I cleaned the new rotors with brake cleaner then installed.
Pad removal and installation was straightforward.
I would have felt like a real chump paying $400+ for the dealership to perform the same task.
I just bought this truck for $12K. It has 93K miles, had the 100K service completed at 75K (fuel filter, plugs, coolant, air mass flow sensor, etc). I had to put on tires and do the rear brakes. Front brakes and rotors look great. Just did my first oil change with 10-30 Mobile 1 ( another straight forward job, just needed to make a deflection shield from a piece of cardboard that the oil came in to keep oil from spilling on the control arm). Now I hope this truck will run for a while without needing service.