A few weeks back i had a brake lining wear light come on (Brakepad warning). So today im going to go have the brakes checked to see if its the front or the back that needs replacement. For now im assuming that its the front since they normally go more often than the rear. Im planning to purchase Porterfield pads and cyrongenically treated/slotted rotors from formy mercedes.com but i have a few other ideas im toying with that i could use your help on.
1) Stainless steel braided brake lines: are they worth it? I assume they give you a more solid pedal feel since they dont expand under braking pressure. Who makes the best brake lines for our cars (320 version) i dont want to buy junky brake lines, that would be a disaster waiting to happen.
2) Caliper paint: would it look good on regular 320 brakes? I havent looked at my brakes in a while, is there enough room on the caliper for a sticker?
3) Brake fluid:who makes the best brake fluid for my car? I autocross occasionally and get brake fluid temp warnings when i do. I need something that can take the heat better since the rest of my braking system is going to be upgraded.

Hopefully this will improve the cars drivability and be a good preparation for the suspension mods that i hope to do in may.
Just in case you're wondering, here are pics of the rotors and pads im getting:

 

25 views and still no replies? Ouch, that hurts. Surely someone knows what im asking about

 

I have put stainless steel brake lines on all my cars from the first '87 260E to my current 01 CLK55 and yes they do improve pedal "feel" I have no idea about anything else, as I have only added them because I like they way the pedal feels. I do not think they add anything in the form of improved braking, just feel, I may be wrong. Are they worth it? That is a personal opinion. Goodridge makes good brake lines and can be found all over the net. www.performanceproducts.com carries them for about $119.00 per set of 4 lines.

Painting brake calipers, again personal opinion. If done right, I think they look pretty good, but can also look like a wanna-be. No idea on a "sticker"

Do a search on brake fluid, I know it has been discussed at length here, but Motul makes good fluid. Doesn't Porterfiled make brake fluid?

Got good tires?

 

In general, I think if done correctly and depending on the color, it would look good. IMHO, the 320 brakes are a little small. So they won't be as noticeable as a bigger brake kit. I checked my brakes a few months ago and it didn't seem like there was much flat surface to put a sticker people could see, especially in the rear. I'm waiting for my next brake change to look into cross drilled rotors and a brake kit. It's still early but I'd like the AMG brake rotor combo.

 

Thanks for your advice. My car battery died yesterday so its at the dealer now. Ive been having this really wierd problem where i use the remote to close the windows, and then my trunk release light wont go off even when the trunk is shut. On top of that, NOTHING will open the trunk except for the metal key inside the smart key (trunk switch, keyless button, even the key hole button are all dead). I think the little light just killed the battery because it sat there like that for a week. Has anyone else had this problem? Im going to have them investigate and tell me which brakes are going; then im going to order the parts and let them install them. I think im going to stay away from the caliper paint for now, i agree with you dennism13, the calipers look pretty small and i think it would be somewhat rediculous to draw attention to that fact by painting them. Is looking like pads, rotors, and fluid with possible stainless lines if i can find them for a good price. This may be a dumb question but how good are the ones you can find on ebay?

 

Got word from the dealer today that the pads seem to be oK for 4 to 5 thousand more miles??? Anyone know what could have caused the warning light to go off? It came on for about a week and then cut back off. Im kinda disappointed because i was looking forward to the upgrade but dont wanna do it if i dont need it. Any idea what autocrossing and spirited driving style will do to the dealer's 4-5k estimate?

 

No idea why the light came on, but in my experience if they are saying 4-5k more miles, that means about 10k more miles!

 

Really sounds computer related as the metal key seems to work. I'm thinking more firmware bug. Just gets stuck, and in your case won't get out. Maybe the battery replacement will "reboot" the computer.

In my case when this happend, MB turned the key all the way counter clock wise and pushed in to open the trunk. that seemed to get everything all synced up again. It's been three to four years with no issues.

The cause of the problem was the car wash guys kept yanking on the trunk switch while my trunk was locked in the horizontal position. they could never get it open, and they decided it was too much trouble to ask me while I was standing 10 feet away.

 

Wow, are the brakes that durable or do you just not use them much?