mleskovar

I'm going to keep asking this question until someone answers they have, and are satisfied with their after market pads.....anyone try any non-metalic,
rotor friendly,high operating temperature ,after market brake pads that they like yet? Kevlar,
ceramic, or whatever is being used now. 20K miles on C320 in 12 months and pads aren't even half worn yet. I want to be ready when they become too thin.

shtatc

I have 13000 on my C240...got the car last September...got Service A about 3 weeks ago...checked the brake pads and had alot of pad left. Service B in another 9800 miles. I will ask the dealer about different brake pads then. But it seems as if I wont need to change them at that time also.

young

mleskovar, it's too early for brake pad changes for me so i can't help you.

2 comments:

porterfeld now makes c-class compatible low-dust pads

ceramic brakes are very impressive. i saw that the porsche GT2 had them and even on dry pavement, the ABS would activate! (car & driver show last week)

JamE55

I've heard of the Porterfield from other MB forums and majority of the MB owners have them so i think go with the Porterfield.

Buellwinkle

I've heard good and bad on all brands of pads which probably means the installation quality will have an affect on your satisfaction so find a quality place to do it. My MB dealer will only install MB pads and that's probably how it is elsewhere. The factory pads are $88. There aren't that many brands to chose from and many don't have the wear sensor that light up on the dash when brakes are low so if that's important, ask before you buy. The brands that do exists are Mintex, Pagid, EBC and Porterfield (recent). The EBC and Porterfield are kevlar and the Mintex and Pagid are metalic. Brembo uses Pagid pads on some of their offerings. EBC can be purchased at TireRack. As far as price, Mintex is the cheapest, followed by Pagid, then MB pads, EBC and Porterfield are the most expensive. All but the MB pads claim to put out less dust and better stopping. I have not tried any but everytime I look at my wheels I think about it.

PS. Try posting in the wheels and brakes forum if you have not already done so as there are way more MB models than just the W203.

SoCal240/6

I put porterfields on my 240/6.

My impressions:

The pads on these cars are VERY easy to change. It takes longer to jack up the car and take off the wheel than it does to actually change the pad.

The pads can actually be changed in around 1 minute per side.

I've had the front Porterfields on for several months now. They have been great. Almost zero brake dust. It is at least a 95% reduction. I don't notice any difference in the way the brakes feel. The stock front brake dust was simply ridiculous to me.

The fronts squeeked when I first put them on. I put some antisqueal paste on the back of the pads, and they have been fine since.

I tried Porterfields on the back brakes. I could not get them to stop squeaking (even after taking them off, putting antisqueel on them several times), so I put the stock ones back on.

I think I could have gotten them to work, if I would have tried a different brand of antisqueal paste, but the stock rear pads don't create much dust, so I have not bothered.

With most aftermarket brake pads, you are going to lose the brake pad warning light (because most aftermarket pads don't have the provision for the sensor).

Surprisingly, the C has wear sensors on both front brakes, but no wear sensors at all on the rear brakes! You would think that if you were going to use only 2 sensors, you'd stick one on a front brake and one on the rear.