John E

Just purchased a 2013 S550 with just over 15,000 miles. My wife and I absolutely love it.

Took it to the local Mercedes dealer for an inspection and surprisingly they reported the car would soon need new brake pads.

The rotors look and feel fine, no judder or pulsing.

I can buy Akebono Euro Ceramic front and rear pad sets from Amazon for about $120 for all 4 pads.

May plan is to have a local/trusted tire and brake shop do the install.

Questions:

• Dare I just have the shop install the pads without replacing the rotors?
• Can Mercedes rotors be turned?
o (Curiously the Mercedes dealer says Mercedes rotors are too soft to be turned)
• Amazon also lists brake pad wear sensors for about $7.00 each
o Are the Akebono pads drilled to accept the sensors?
o Can the old ware sensors be reused?
o Should I buy new sensors just in case?
o How many sensors do I need, 2 or 4?
o Are the sensors specific to the front and rear or each corner?

Thanks for the help.

alx

1. Yes no problem
2. Not really- they are sort of thin
3. Buy 2 sensors - they are not side or front/ back specific
4. I believe any pad designated for your car will have the sensor slots
5. Yes, but they might be fused to the pad and when removed will be destroyed
6. Yes. Don't be a cheap shot.
7. See #3
8. See #3

John E

Thanks a bunch for your reply!

This is exactly what I had hoped to hear.
I’ll get the pads and sensors on order today.

I was genuinely surprised the hear the original pads were worn at 15K but boy do they ever leave a lot of brake dust on the wheels, so maybe not too surprising.

Hopefully the Akebono pads will leave less residue, last longer, and feel similar to the original brakes.

I did have the Mercedes dealer perform the brake fluid exchange service and had the dealer do an oil service. Even though the seller said the oil was changed prior to our purchase, I want to have it on record a Mercedes Benz dealer has performed both scheduled maintenances to insure there can be no warranty questions should a problem arise between now and April 2017 when the factory warranty expires.

Thanks again.

superpop

I have a 2012 with 30K miles and the breaks are still great. I would double check before replacing. They should not wear out that fast.

Jason B

I just changed all pads to the Akebono. Simple. Car only has 19k on it. NO BRAKE DUST! None! Before, I could drive 15 miles and wipe my finger and see dust. And in a week, horrible. There is NONE now. I only changed the pads to get rid of the dust.

All I did was swap in the 4 new pads, and nothing else needed to be done. There is a sensor just on passenger side front, all intact and looked new. Rides great and stops better.

1bad540

also swapped mine due to dust, dealer had just replaced mine with new so I reused everything and was fine. not a bad idea to get 2 sensors for 7.00 just incase? sometimes the little copper tensioner cracks and it doesn't stay seated.

Ahmer

I have a 2013 S550 AMG Sport Plus 1 (20" inch stock AMG wheels)


Are the front brake pads different from the standard S class?


Rockauto seems to think so with "Except Sport AMG" listed on a few selections....


Just curious


I was thinking about Wagner Thermoquiet Semimetallic brakes... low dust...

Jason B

Nope. But you get a nice powder coated caliper up front.

Bamzilla

So, are Akebono pads pretty much the defacto choice the the MBWorld W221'er? I'm at 21k and my rears are almost dead. Also, at about what mileage do you think the OEM rotors need replacing....ballpark? I put damn near 50k on my R1 Concepts rotors in my 2002 Infiniti Q45, and they were fine when I sold it.

superpop

Rotors and pads are cheap for this car. I would do it all at once, new pads, sensors, rotors. Should be about 450 bucks for all the parts out the door. I concur that the Akebono pads leave zero dust. I also ordered the clip and pin kit. All went back together with no problem.