thanks Yal and Duke, gerat help and appreciated! I take it the big 19mm nuts (top and bottom of caliper) holds on the complete caliper assembly, and I need to remove them when I also r&r the rotors next time around. Removing the 13 mm bolt removes the sliding part of the caliper (1/2 of it roughly speaking). I'm used to the W124's and, like Duke points out, the W201 will be just as fast after the first time.

cheers and thanks again

Update ..... well I just changed the pads..... even easier than on the W124. I did reused the 13mm bolts, but will check after a while to see if they are holding well without new loctite on them. BTW, thanks for the advice re hanging the calipers up with a bit of string - worked well while pushing the piston back in with a piece of wood.