Hi pinesprings,
You can get a tool at Advance Auto or Pep Boys, that spreads the pads,
but I open the bleeder valve with some tubing attached to it leading into a bottle. That way, you press the dirty fluid right out and there is not much resistance. And I bleed the brakes afterwards anyway.
The tool I bought there didn't do much for me and I used a big screwdriver too.

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Reinhard Kreutzer
1987 420 SEL (126)