ZedStyle

referring to this old faithful thread for my w124 brakes, definitely a great help!
it's been a while since i've replaced brakes, and i don't think i saw it mentioned here yet, but on my previous cars i've always opened up the brake fluid reservoir under the hood (and put a rag around it incase of overflow) before compressing the pistons in the caliper. this eases the pressure on the system so you shouldn't have to mess with the bleeding nuts...

boltonblue

A quick note of advice.
it's worth the headache to go to the dealer and buy a new set of those T-45 caliper carrier bolts before you start.
3 of 4 of mine were either really badly stripped by the monkey who did it before or had rust gumming up the socket badly enough that it was hard to get a good grip.
I certainly didn't want to put them back in like that.

Doing my S right now and soaking the head since they are rusted up as well.

BTW it appears that the drilled rotor on the 03 S430 4-matic is same dimensions as the E430 4matic solid disk rotor was. had i but known ahead of time.....

Chiro

Just my experience on rear rotors. I replaced the rears yestersday . You have two issues when removing the rears 1. The rotors are likely frozen on, my only success has been with a propane torch for 4-5 minutes and a hardy bang with a 4lb. slege hammer.2. because of the emergency brake system, ie. brake pads inside the hubs,not only do the rotors become frozen to the axle flange but the hub of the rotor can get stuck on the brake pads. i talked to Mercedes and they told me that you can back off the brake pads so the hub and rotor removal is easier, The star adjustment mechanism is accessed through the front of the rotor ,through a lug bolt hole on the top . I had difficulty finding it but once the rotor was off it is very apparant. So I did not back them off , just used my sledge and a pry bar.
Good luck.

JunoJim

Well, to update, and maybe save someone else a lot of time and money, I used "soft" pads, and the rotors are now almost perfectly smooth.

ksarac

I have worked on cars for a long time, and must agree with all said here, especially the stuck rotors, it was sucky to say the least, and if I wasnt careful... and frankly a few times I got frustrated and wanted to bang the snots out of the rotor, but if you do and break the line, is becomes the suckiest... Thanks again

karel

I just did the brakes on the back and I am little puzzled. I removed the old pads and there is a silver stainless steel plate, which goes between the piston and the pad. Then, on the old pad, there is a round piece which sits "inside" the brake pad (looks like a washer). I looked on the AZ Autohaus website and the Pagid pads have a piece like that on them on the picture). The Mintex pads I got do not have anything on the back and so there is a round depression on the back of the pad. I installed the silver stainless steel plate (is that the anti rattle spacer?), but it seems that the brakes are a little softer. Does it mean that the depression on the pads "gives"?
If so, is there a way to adjust the brakes so they a whee bit harder?
Thanks for all the postings and advise!!!

9918939

Thanks again for an informative post- followed Gregs steps (even bleeding a little bit of fluid out) of the front brakes- the info here is always appreciated.

JunoJim

Yeah - it never hurts to bleed the old fluid... I have never done it... I'm an "on condition" maintenance guy, had enough "preventative maintenance" in the Army...