Sort of confused. Got the brake warning on my wife's car. I plan on changing them myself and looked online for the parts. Some places I see them listed by model/year and other places its also divided down with sub set 4Matic and Sport. I assume the car is a Sport (18" wheels, dual exhust?). Is there a difference in the pads?

Also I plan on getting Akebono pads. Is that a good choice over OEM? Is there anything I need to know installing these pads/sensors that are unique to this model?

Thanks!

 

I've had great luck with Porterfield carbon/kevlar. Almost no dust and no difference otherwise vs. OEM. I think 18" wheels indicates sport package. All come with dual exhaust.

 

In my experience, akebono ceramic pad > local parts store brand's ceramic pads > oem semi-metalic pad > no name junk pads.

 

I have akebono euro pads and ATE Premium One rotors on the rear that I replaced at 75K. 90K now and have ordered the same combo for the front. Partsgeek was cheapest for the pads at around $70 and ebay for the rotors at $56 each. Looks good and works good.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

I know this thread is older, but it seems like a good place to capture some information that might help someone.

I just did a brake job (front discs and pads) on my 2008 e350 non-sport 4matic at 51000 miles.

I'm assuming that the reader has changed disk brake rotors and pads on some other vehicle or has reviewed how to do it on YouTube. This car is really very standard - with a few little catches.

There are a total of two electrical pickups for brake wear. They are both on the inside pad of the passenger side (US production) - one on front and one on rear. Because of fitment hassles, my SOP is to use new sensors with each set of replacement pads. Be sure you get one for the set of pads you buy.

The torx bolt holding the rotor on the while is a T30 and it's got blue loctite on it. I was able to get the bolt out with a cheapo folding set of about 8 torx bits, but I bought a T30 3/8" drive for the future.

The two caliper retainer bolts are held in with 7 mm hex headed allen bolt (under the rubber capped sleeves). You'll need to remove the rubber caps to gain access. There was no loctite. When the pads are worn, the caps are quite deep under the rubber covers. A socket driven allen wrench wasn't really long enough to take them out and I had to use a standard angled wrench. The socket driver worked fin for the new pads.

The caliper mounting bracket is held on with two 18 mm bolts and these have blue loctite on them. The mounting bracket bolts are really tightened on...I had to use a breaker bar. The torque shattered my old 3/8" drive Craftsman socket. That got replaced with 1/2" impact socket which worked just fine.

The rotors were turned and came out at 28.25 mm which is well above the minimum of 27.4 mm.

Hope all this is helpful to someone.