I getting tired of the brake dust all over my rims and side of the car...I'm guessing the only thing I can do is go to an aftermarket brake pad? Any suggestions? Any other solutions?

Also, if I decide to go to an aftermarket pad, I'll probably upgrade to drilled rotors...do I have to upgrade the brake shoes as well?

Thanks for the help!

 

Related question: Anyone any tips on cleaning break dust from rims? I have a pre-owned MB and the rims are the original OEM. I wash the car every week, but can't seem to get the worse marks off the rims.
jim

 

Never any brake dust on mine... but I take it to the car wash at least once a week for a "Full Service" $11.00 on Monday. If its nice out the whole week, & I want to go cruisin' I may take it back for an "Exterior" only on Thursday. They get all of it off.

 

Once you get it off, I have heard that people are waxing their wheels.

 

Jeez, $11 for a full! The Mobil around from me on Jericho TP in Syosset *begins* it's menu at $20 (I think). Although, after 10 washes the 11th is free.

But, and I do know this need won't last long, I want to wash my own car. Kinda like a I am bonding with "her" (yup, my wagon is a "her"). I spent a wonderful 2 hours on Saturday washing my MB and my wifes Pilot (I only washed the Pilot so I wouldn't get ear-ache that I only washed my own car).

Once the winter sets in it'll be off to the Mobil instead I guess,

But on the rims, I thought I read in the Detailing forum, that an old clay bar (not good enough to touch paint with) can be used to clean rims? But I am wondering if this would be safe to do every week on the rims? Does anyone do this on a regular basis?

 

I’ve done a lot of research around the subject and tried a few things on my own to limit brake dust on my wheels. Hopefully my experience, and mistakes, would be a good lesson for everyone.

There is a product on the market called KleenWheels which is essentially a shield that goes inside the wheel and prevents brake dust from getting all over your car. The shield is specifically designed for the type of OEM wheel you have and features air vents to keep your brake rotors cool. I used the kit for about a year and it worked great for me. I also received a lot of complements overall appearance and even my local dealer has taken pictures of my car to show other customers some alternatives for battling brake dust.

One negative element that I didn’t particularly like about these shields is that every-time I took my car for tire balancing and rotation – the shields would have to be pulled out from the wheels. Sometimes the person doing the balance would use a screwdriver to pull them out and bend the hell out of them. Eventually, I got tired of dealing with bent shields and looked at other alternatives.

This time I wanted to try so-called ‘dust-less’ pads and selected Myele pads in conjunction with new Balo/Zimerman rotors. At first I was very pleased with the pads as I could go without washing my wheels for as long as two weeks. This was a huge improvement compared to my original OEM pads when I had to hose off the wheels every other day. However, the overall braking feel changed dramatically after switching to Myele. These were harder pads so the car wasn’t stopping as smooth as it used to. After about 5K miles brakes began to squeak and I had to take them apart and apply special paste trying to remedy the problem. To make the long story short – the rotors got warped after 12K and pads squealed very loud. I could have tried to get the rotors re-surfaced and get new pads but buy now I knew that the pads were too hard on the car so I continued my search.

I am now on my third set of brakes with Jurid pads and Balo/Zimerann rotors. Jurid is the company that makes OEM pads for MB but I didn’t have to pay for the MB packaging and saved about $25 at the end. I installed them two weeks ago and happy with performance so far. The overall feel is back to normal and I don’t hear any squeaking noise yet. Also, dust is not that big of an issue now. Perhaps Jurid has changed pads’ formula in the recent years and they don’t generate as much dust as they used to. Time will tell…

When I had original OEM pads that generated tons of brake dust I used to wax the wheels. The helped on two fronts – one it helped to get the dirt from the wheels’ surface and second kept the dust from sticking to the wheel. Plus the wheels looked awesome the first two three days. Unfortunately it was a short term fix and wheels would get covered by a thick layer of dust eventually.

 

Thanks for the info...I was thinking about upgrading to drilled rotors...I wonder if that will help at all.

 

I wax the wheels every other week with the car
Clean wheels every day (yeah right!) (drive over 150 miles a day)
Cannot wait to get better brake pads all around.

 

I really doubt but it sure will cost more to replace.

 

Still waiting on my 550 but I started using Klasse All-In-One for a polish/cleaner and Menzerna Full Molecular Jacket on my silver 4-Runner paint. Just prior to a recent 600 mile trip including dirt roads I used the Klasse AIO on the wheels. I just washed it and they looked like new with just a wash off. I know it doesn't have the brake dust that a MB has but the AIO, which is a polymer acrylic, is said to have longer life and resist higher temps than wheel/car waxes and seems slicker as well. I will be trying this on the 550 when it arrives. The FMJ can also be used on wheels. Both are German products.

 

I've read good things on this forum about Porterfield R4-S brake pads. I'm probably going to get them for my CLK500. Cost is about $288 for 4 wheels and includes silencer kit. Found them at www.formymercedes.com.

 

Kleen Wheel shields are emphatically banned by Mercedes.

They are a safety hazard, as they cause brake overheating.

Mercedes and BMW both produce lots of brake dust because that's what German engineers find to be the best brake pads for the performance requirements of Autobahn driving.

Your owner's manual very likely notes wheels should be washed weekly.

Waxing wheels is a VERY good idea.

IMHO folks that can't stand the dust aren't cut out to be Mercedes owners.