1999 E320 4Matic. I replaced the front pads at 38K mi and the car now has 49500 mi and the computer just came on indicating pad wear. I just looked at all four wheels and noticed the the rears are not as worn as the fronts, though I have never replaced them. The fronts look as worn as my old pads that I removed but I did not take these pads out to see if the wear sensor was showing, but, my question, is 11,500 miles low for front brake pads. This car sees mainly city driving.

Thanks

rob I live in NY and I see some cars with 6000 miles and need brakes you went almost 12000 that pretty good and make sure you check the rotors if you never changed them, you might be due

I get 30 to 40 K on pads in my 126's and we live in the mts. Iv'e gotten over 80K when I lived in the flat lands niether my wife or I are brake users.we don't tailgate,don't come up fast on stop signs etc.

A friend in Portland got well over 100K on the original pads on his Toyota pick up. I belive it all where and how you drive plus quality pads and rotors. I wouldn't doubt that in states where they use salt that rust on rotors probably causes faster wear.........

William Rogers.........

I think 11.5K is very quick wear for city driving

Certainly possible

if you do work yourself take out the pads measure thickness - compare to minimum thickness for usage from MB specs for your car - and for under five dollars install new pad wear sensors if brake pad and disc thickness are within spec. Then see if the light turns off

Might as well use a lttle brake cleaner and stiff brush and clean up things.

And your sure it is brake wear indicator not brake low fluid indicator, just asking

My 94 e420 eats brakes at about that rate as well. If I get 15000 miles it is very unusual. I don't know why but it is just the Mercedes that wears them that fast for me, I have had lots of other cars that seem to last much longer.

Since your doing mostly city driving, I think it is reasonable to assume its about time to change the pads.
These cars are heavy and the front pads wear down faster than other cars.
I drive mostly freeway and I get about 25k-30k on a set of pads.
My rear pads are still original after 147,000 + miles.

Also the rotors wear down pretty fast on these cars too.
I change them about every other pad replacement (about 60K miles)

the key here is "mostly city driving."

your driving, driving style and where you drive are the most important factors in determining how long anything will last in your car. assuming regular maintenance of course.
city driving equates to a lot of starting and stopping, and slowing down and speeding up and sharp turns and speed bumps and potholes and so on. if you were doing mostly freeway driving it'd mostly be cruising and some slowing down, with a little starting stopping and so on thrown in for the city street portion.

as you can imagine, your brakes, tires, suspension, engine and transmission are working harder with the kind of driving you do.

__________________
'O=00=O'
bmw 2002.
long live the legend

I change the fronts roughly once a year, rotors after two sets of pads.

Rears last longer, I change those roughly once every 2 years.

The cars do somewhere around 70% or more braking ont he front brakes and the difference on the rears.

Thats why the reas last much longer.

Regards,

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

I have put 12,000 miles on in 3 years and pads still look pretty good but I do drive less spirited. My daughter has a 2000 ML320 and had to put on new pads after 14,000 miles....all that stop and go driving in So. California

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95 E420 ( 76K) SOLD
85 380SE(125k)
95 SL500(72k)

The average I see at the dealer is between 12 and 20k. Obviously they can go longer or shorter. The CLK would wear out pads in the rear almost as fast as the front, but that can mostly be attributed to that little flashing triangle on the cluster and my overweight right foot.

I have worn my textar front pads from 13.5 mm new to 10.5 mm after 40,000 miles. At my rate of wear, I should be due for a change aroun 150,000 miles on the fronts and the rears will never need to be changed again.

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

I tend to get about 30,000 miles out of front pads on my cars (Benz, the Volvo went 50,000), but I'm a fairly gentle driver as far a brakes go. I also drive mostly country roads at 40-50 mph.

11,000 miles is pretty soon, but not unheard of. I would recommend driving a bit more gently, you may be surprised at how much better gas milage you get and how long the brake pads last.... Tires, too (40,000 on a set of Michelin MVX-4s).

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!