Brake Pad Recommendations

The pads on my 400E are worn and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with aftermarket pads. Thanks in advance.

[andy day]

I personally have always favoured the original Mercedes ones. They cost a bit more but tend to leave less brake dust on the front wheels. The softer ones obviously dont last as long but after a few thousand miles, the front alloys are difficult to keep clean....

I tried aftermarket pads on my 420 sel and had a squeeling problem, as soon as I put on original equipment pads they were all right. I personally will stay with original equipment brake pads!

ok, thanks for the advice!! i think i'll stick with the OE.

[brianw]

I'm having cross drilled rotors, stainless steel lines and Mintex street pads installed now. I'll let you know what I think of the pads.

Take care,
Brian W.
92 400E
90 300E
87 260E

Stick with OEM pads. I have a set of NAPA metallic
pads that squeal like hell and drive me nuts. I'm
going to have to pull them and put in OEM's.

Mercedes dose not make brake pads. They out source them just like all the rest of the parts on the car. They take bids from Textar , Pagid , Jurid , and ATE. Whoever gives them the best deal is who gets the contract for that model. They use to mostly use Textar but recently have started to use Pagid. Next time some one buys a set of pads from the dealer look on the backing plate to see who they were made by.

Just buy premium pads from a reliable source.

Good luck,

I just recently installed new brembo cross drilled rotors and Axxis pads. The combo works very well, no squeeling and brake pedal feel is greatly increased. I was also told by my mechanic that the pad will probably last longer than OEM and I will incur less brake dust. I have seen the latter effect already (about 300 mile on the new pads) Others also have had good results with this combo. Hope this helps.

Dave

[geoellis]

dwang,

On what model car did you install the trick brake set?

geoellis,
I have a 1999 C230K with 55k miles on it, so the rotors and pads were going anyway. I figured I would replace with aftermarkets and it ended up being cheaper than if the dealer replaced it with OEM. It was a real simple job, definitely DIY.

Dave

[Sludge]

Here comes another opinion.

I recently installed EBC "green stuff" kevlar pads and EBC slotted and drilled front rotors on the wagon. The pads work great, put out some dust, but far less dust than stock. The rotors seem to work pretty well, too. The "drilled" part of the rotor and the slots are there for outgassing of the pads. The holes are not drilled all the way through, so heat sink mass doesn't take a big hit. I'll have to see how it goes, wear-wise. So far I am happy with the EBC products. Most of my driving is stop and go in the LA basin so my front brakes get a pretty good workout.

Cheers,
Bill

[Mr. BILL]

I just put Texstar pads on my 123. They had a soft vinyl like backing and didn't require brake grease. They don't squeak or rattle. Pretty cool. Oh yeah, they stop good too!

I use OEM regardless who the source is.
All suppliers must meet the M/B spec on brake components.
I change the front pads at 35,000 mile intravals and the rotors every other pad change.
The rear pads go twice the distance as the front.
STOMP STEER STAY that's ABS technique.
Happy Trails Beep Beep from Houston!!!
Donald El Cheapo

Edit: I Change the brake fluid every spring as the owner's manual notes.

[lymlyt]

My local mechanic replaced my front rotors with
rotors made by brembo and replaced my pads made by
jurid, now i have occasional brake squeel.

My car is a 1992 SL500/62000 miles

They seem to think the problem is that I wasn't
breaking carefully during the first 100 miles.
They are willing to replace the pads with mercedes
pads but they say jurid pads are the same.

Any ideas?

My options are:

replace rotors and pads with true mercedes parts

or

turn the rotors and install new jurid pads

or

turn the rotors and install new mercedes pads


all i want is the squeel to stop. any help would be
appreciated.

THANKS!!!!!