About to do them on my 2007 CLK550. No special tools needed right? You don't need to turn the piston while compressing it right?

 

Correct. It's a fixed-caliper system. I can't remember off the top of my head, but some use external Torx bolts instead of hex head bolts, so that might be the only extra tool needed. If you don't have a piston compressor, you can do it with a couple of screwdrivers - just pry against the faces of the old pads before removing them.

 

I just finished replacing pads and rotors on my 2008 clk350. There was a torx head screw holding the rotors in place. Other than that the major problem I had was getting the wheels to release from the rotors. It took penetrating oil and a lot of tapping with a hammer to remove the road wheels.

The brake job itself was similar to jobs I have done on many other cars.

 

Thank you for the report. Any idea what size torx screw?

 

T-30 is stamped on the tool I used. I don't know much about torx sizes but I assume that is the size.

One other thing, on the rear rotors the emergency brake operates shoes inside of a drum that is an integral part of the rotor. To back off the shoes to help in removal of the rotor, you must place a thin bladed flat screwdriver blade through one of the wheel bolt holes. Then you can turn the star wheel adjuster.

Keyhole has a good post about that you can find through a search.