takitoz71

sorry guys about another brake question. i know the 2003 e320 has three sensors: front left, front right and rear right. now my question is does anyone know how the brake sensors look like. ive been doing some research and thru ebay they sell a set of 4 sensors but i look at other websites and they show that the front left sensor is different fron the right front sensor. im including some pics hopefully they arent too small. thx guys.

vettdvr

The pics are small but look correct. Look closely at the FR/FL sensor and there is a small difference in the location of the pin. The rear is of course different. The reason for the difference in the front is there are two alarms. The first will give you the + in the FSS with the service notation. This is informative. The 2nd will be visit workshop when the pads have worn to a need to change really soon limit.

The rear will just give you the +

The senors are about $4.00 each. They are basically just a loop of copper wire inside a plastic insertable housing. When the pads wear down to expose the plastic the rotor cuts the wire and opens the circuit and triggers the alarm. The dealer uses smoke and mirrors to make these look exotic. The first brake job I had done at the dealer (pads only) was over $500 and their explanition was we changed the sensors too. Woo woo. wow,, new sensors.

takitoz71

yeah i went to the dealer to see how much it would be to do a break job on all four locations and it was close to $1300 with taxes and i was like, WHAAATT!!!! im like im good ill take it to an mercedes indy and they also charge close to that. so im gonna try to attempt to do it myself. ive changed out brake rotors/pads on my tahoe before but the only difference is disconnecting the SBC pump on the benz. so hopefully it is as easy as the tahoe and the sbc pump doesnt give me trouble.

mcleantmw

When I removed my left rear wheel to work on the caliper painting last week, I noticed there was no sensor on that wheel. Is that correct, there is no sensor on the left rear brake, only on the rear right brake?

takitoz71

thats correct from what i know, just the front left, front right, and rear right.

mcleantmw

Well, that's good to know...........but a little strange that they don't put a sensor on the left rear brake. Guess they figure the rear brakes wear more evenly than the front ones........but of course the front brakes are more critical in the stopping power of the vehicle.

vettdvr

Correct there is only 1 sensor on the rear.

I can do a brake job on my E500 all 4 wheels (not including rotors) for about $200. $1100 is about what the dealer would charge. I paid $975 in 05 for 4 wheel pads change. They justified the cost by changing all the sensors. Sensors are just a loop of copper wire inside a plastic housing.