Time for new pads.
Considering Ceramic this time. Have used Pagid, Textar and OEM. All have been good with some dust to be considered. Driving conditions are 70% city 30% road. Average 20,000 on all of the above. What have been your experiences with ceramic? What brand would you suggest? Would you do it?
Thanks,
Ron

I am using Akebono ceramics on the front of a 124 chassis and they are visibly much lower in brake dust. The dust that does form is not dark reddish stuff, its sort of light greyish and easy to wipe off. Using ceramic pads keeps the SLK wheels I am using much cleaner than OE, ATE, Textar or other pads.
PBR pads are fairly good on the visual cleanliness aspects and give good life too, but I am not convinced the new PBR organic material is as good as the old material was (why did they have to change a good thing?).

The only negative side to some ceramic pads is you need to apply a little more brake pedal to get the same stopping distance and they don't work as well in cold weather. Yes, temperature has a lot of affect on stopping distance as how much friction a pad gives to the discs is temperature dependent, more so in some pads than others and ceramics happen to be more temperature dependent than OE pads for example.

They are good on long downslopes where some pads start smelling as they outgas.
If you do a lot of city stop and go driving you might be better off using PBR's with dust shields. Note that I do not have direct experience with dust shields or braklekleens or whatever they are called, I have seen them collect a lot of dirt though and when one goes to do brakes they can be a PITA. Some mechanics feel they reduce the flow of air to the brakes, probably also true, but they do reduce dirt that gets out to the wheels if you put that above safety then maybe they are for you. They are not something I'll ever use though.

Contrary to opinions I've seen on the 'Forum, Akebono ceramic pads do not eat up brake rotors. There might be some racing pads that do but I haven't seen any significant wear on rotors as a result of ceramic pads. The real factor is the driving habits of the car's driver that affect brake wear than anything, like using brakes while on a cell fone, not using dynamic braking on hills, running up to a stop instead of coasting a while, that kind of thing.
Let me add that I would not put ceramics on my wife's 123, she is used to the feel of soft pads so ATE or Textars are what I will use on her '83 300D.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

The PBR ceramic ones on Fastlane put out a good amount of dust, after a week my wheels really need cleaning... they stop and bite hard though... just not what I expected dust output wise.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Thank you for the replys. I have dust shields on the front and have not noticed excessive pad wear. However, they do help with the dust and they do collect lots of it. Washing the car really shows as the dust that forms from the shields, runs off like black rain. I think I am willing to give the Ceramic pads a try. let you know results in 10,000 miles.
Thanks,
Ron

question here, What are the duralast autozone brake pads? is there anything bad about using them? i have them on the SD and they work just fine.

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Current:
05 E320 CDI
07 GL320 CDI
08 Sprinter
05 Dodge Cummins
01 Dodge Cummins

Previous
2004 E55 AMG
2002 C32 AMG (#2)
1995 E300
1978 300D
1987 300D
2002 C32 AMG(blown motor :[
1981 300SD
1983 300SD
1987 300SDL
2002 Jetta TDI
1996 S420
1995 S500
1993 190E 2.6
1992 190E 2.3
1985 190E 2.3 5-Speed

When it's time for brakes for my MB's, I won't be using OEMs. I can't stand the dusting.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

The OEM brake pads dust like crazy. But they seem to wear like iron at least for me, I bet I get 40k miles out of my Textar's and 35k of those miles will be stop and go around town use.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I agree 100% with Hatterasguy & Hit Man. Use only a good quality pad such as those listed by this site. This car is very heavy and most of the braking force is put upon the front brakes. Life is short enough, only go for the best front pad you can get. Do not cheat yourself or others.
Ron

I also agree, I use the OEM's and live with the dust, they have tremendous stopping power and even at nearly 20k on them I have over half the pads left! I do a lot of heavy braking/around the city use too, so they are quite excellent.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I've never heard of them. There is a code on them that will identify the manufacturer if you had it we might be able to figure out who made them.

Oh, say - I like the Rudolph Diesel pictures! ha! nice work

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Originally Posted by greasybenz
question here, What are the duralast autozone brake pads? is there anything bad about using them? i have them on the SD and they work just fine.


The fronts are semi metalic and rears are organic.
I have them on all my fleet, 2 123's and 126.
They stop good, with a lot of dust, and they do not last very long.
I am going to try a different pad the next time I change them. Maybe ceramic.

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1979 Mercedes 280CE