300se, W126 Brake Disc Pads

[ymsin]

I have been advised by my mechanic that the brake discs and pads has to be changed. I was also advised to use OEM dics and original MB parts. Is that advisable?

[JohninFla]

Yes, replace both. There is not enough material on MB rotors to turn them and reuse the old ones. And the OEM parts are cheap enough, so it should not be such a problem. I think the front disks were $50 - $60 (USD), on my 1989 W126 car, and the pads were average price too.

Good luck!

[stevebfl]

There are great savings to using an aftermarket rotor. They can probably be bought for half MB list.

The pads are another story. The pads can probably be bought for a quarter of MB list but they are not expensive compared to other cars and the composition of the material (among other things) makes the final job. We use only MB pads on late model cars and they are cheaper than the Honda pads we stock from the Honda dealer.

There are a number of good manufacturers for brake pads and if you know which to buy you can save money and get good results. If not, buying from MB assures you of the right composition pad.

We did some brakes on a friend's late model Ford truck recently. Not knowing which parts to use, I called a friend that does that kind of work regularly. I find out that these brakes are underdesigned and are notorious for front brake problems due to overheating. My friend offered to call our common local source and order the pads for me.

They were Raybestos "Extreme Duty" pads and had to be ordered as they only stocked two grades of Raybestos pads for this most common 3/4 ton pick-up. Neither grade they stocked met the standard found to be successful by my friend who has the type of experience that I might have with German cars.

There is more to fixin cars than just turnin the wrenches!

use the real thing..I tried to use a substiute brake pad..I was so sorry...squil squil squil and it was loud. I changed them to MBZ brake pads and it all stopped. Do not skimp on that part or everyone in the neighborhood will complain..

benzat 380 sec

[ymsin]

I have changed the front discs Original for RM265 (USD70) ea. and the rear discs OEM for RM95 (USD25) ea. with 4 sets of original brake pads [Front: RM185 (USD49); Rear: RM120 (USD32)].

They ran out of brake pad paste but I didnt notice any squeaking when applying brakes.

However, I did notice (at first) some hissing when I pressed the brake pedal when stationary, but eventually the noise just kinda "disappeared" when driving.

Braking wise - I think its a little better than before though it could just be pyschologically-felt.

The total cost, including labour and bleeding of brake fluid & change of brake wires: apprx. RM1,217 (USD320).

[ymsin]

Originally posted by ymsin
I have changed the front discs Original for RM265 (USD70) ea. and the rear discs OEM for RM95 (USD25) ea. with 4 sets of original brake pads [Front: RM185 (USD49); Rear: RM120 (USD32)].

It has been month since I noticed severe vibration at the rear when breaking from 80km downwards. I should have used the original rar discs when I saw the difference in weight and material used. The OEM is smooth finish and weighs a lot less than the original which was heavy and made of real hard steel. Barely a year since this thread and now its going in for another change of discs!