Mike Johnson

So after installing new tires the other day I noticed my front pads are almost down to the wear sensors...

Where is the best place to get new pads?

Any special instructions on replacing them?

There is a small lip on the outside of the rotor but no pulsations. Do I need to worry about resurfacing the rotors?

Any help here would be great!

Thanks,
Mike.

StarvingArtist

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ts-online.html

equitiesguy

If you buy any brake parts from the dealer, you'll get chinese garbage. Ironic: American parts from the dealer aren't necessarily made in Germany.

Mike Johnson

Anything special with changing the pads?

Do I need to worry about resurfacing the rotors?

Is it even possible to resurface them?

I know somebody here has already done this in the past....

knownworldwide

Yes resurface the rotors. In all honesty mercedes brakes suck ***! It is as if the brake pads are made just so slightly smaller than the rotor surface so that it wears two ridges (inner and outter) into the rotor surface requiring them to either be resurfaced or just replaced entirely. I am getting done to having to replace all four corners on my car but I will be looking into aftermarket pads and rotors to see if i can alleviate the problem. I usually get my parts from rock auto (they do sell quality parts by name brands) and rmeuropean.com

Mike Johnson

Thanks. I have been thinking about resurfacing them but just want to make sure there will be no issues with them afterwards. I'm sure there is a minimum thickness I can find out somewhere.

knownworldwide

i know on some cars there is actually a min thickness engraved right onto the rotors. When you get them off have a look. The specs may even be somewhere on the front of the rotor where you can easily see them.

equitiesguy

You can't resurface drilled rotors.

Mike Johnson

And what makes you think that?

I have owned several different cars with drilled rotors and never had a problem with resurfacing them....

cm60k

Drilled Rotors can be resurface, but i think they couldn't if they Perforated..!

,,ZAYED,,

knownworldwide

whoever told you this is lying. Please read my above post which is true. They can be resurfaced.

equitiesguy

The quality of the resurface on a drilled, or slotted router, particularly with a beveled drill hole as comes stock with the original rotors on these cars do not take well to normal individuals trying to cut them on a lathe. You can use positive rake tooling to to slow cut them, which won't pit them as badly as the bits of metal flake off the holes --- and then continue with 150 aluminum oxide sandpaper to get a finish that would be respectable. This takes an extraordinary amount of time.

So, you're going to pay labor to remove the rotors from the front of your car, lay up the car while you send them to a COMPETENT shop (which you won't find, believe me) and wait around for them to come back, pay for the resurfacing/cut/sand, and end up with a thinner rotor which requires more travel for the pedal or interferes with the electrohydraulic system because of the thinner metal. Versus buying front rotors for $100 each new, that will last 100,000 miles + or $50-60 for rears you can have ready and install the instant the old ones come off. German cast Zimmerman rotors (stock).

Your final product on resurfacing will cost you more than it would cost me to throw them out and buy new ones, so yes, you can resurface your rotors and end up with garbage brakes. You can also pour sand in your motor when you do an oil change. I wouldn't recommend that either.

knownworldwide

so pretty much all that was stated here ^ was that you can resurface the rotors.

equitiesguy

I will also add that inferior cast china or like replacement rotors will create a lip, while german cast rotors will not from the inferior metal. I have almost 80k miles on my front rotors, and 40k on my rear and there's no lip.

Buy decent parts and you never have to do the work again.

equitiesguy

There's no guarantee you won't have severe chatter or pulsation after the resurface, which will mean you'll be back to the "you cannot resurface the rotors" statement I made before and have pissed away a lot of money in the interim. Telling people to resurface rotors is simply put bad advice and should never be recommended.

knownworldwide

are you running stock MB pads or aftermarket by chance?

equitiesguy

I'm running made in Germany Zimmerman front and rear drilled rotors (which are Mercedes OEM) and made in Germany Textar pads (also OEM).

The electrohydraulic system on our CLS55 isn't a fan of the ceramics, particularly when corning (activation of rear right or left wheel brake during hard corning) so I've avoided ceramics. These Textars generate no dust.

When I walked into my dealer to find out what they had as "OEM" they handed me Chinese cast rotors without a box, and Juxskjdksdjks something pads (started with a J) made in Mexico. I left them on the counter and bought from Autohaus.

knownworldwide

so textars are not oem but are german made? Because my brakes are about ready to be done on my car but i have noticed that the stock mb rotors and pads are crappy and have left ridges on the rear rotors. Almost as if the pads are made purposely smaller to create this type of "valley" in the middle of the rotor so that you must buy rotors with every brake service.

equitiesguy

Zimmerman and Textar are both original equipment vendors for Mercedes. Textar makes brakes around the world, and I just make sure I get the ones made in Germany.

equitiesguy

I should add a lot of people here swear by Akebono for ceramics, so you should consider them for pads as well.

cm60k

Zimmermann Rotor are great, they're Exceeded the OEM's,

but i'm not that relax with Textar, MB considered it as (grade two),,

*IMO; the best pads are (Brembo or Jurid), (Akebono) is great for less dust..!

,,ZAYED,,

equitiesguy

Jurid is the brand they handed me over the counter at the dealer, and the box said made in Mexico. The pads themselves looked absolutely terribly manufactured, and had no real markings on them except a JE part number. No star.

Textar is OEM for several german auto makers. I would only recommend them if you get the "Made in Germany" or "Make in the UK" boxes. I will say the Textar have terrific bite, and stop just fine, but I would expect that of any modern brake pad composition from a german vendor (non-ceramic --- obviously ceramics are a little worse for stopping because of the composition, but generate no dust).

I couldn't find reasonable Brembos at the time or a part number that was a direct fit for a CLS55 with the electrohydraulic system, so I opted for softer pads with harder rotors. Changing pads isn't a big deal on these cars, but breaking those bolts loose for the rotors with an eight foot pipe is not my idea of a good time. There was no reason to use red loctite on that from the factory.

Mike Johnson

Where are you finding rotors for 100.00 a piece? The rotors on my CLS63 are 900.00 each! Which is one of the reasons I am thinking about resurfacing them.

equitiesguy

What's your VIN?

Mike Johnson

WDDDJ7HB7BA173157