Search this site for W211 DIY BRAKE JOB .
You will find a full explanation on how to do the job including photos

 

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w211/91542-w211-diy-brake-job.html

 

Had my rear pads replaced at 23K mi. "Brake pad wear Visit workshop".

Repair shop specializing in MB prformed replacement in 1.3 hrs, total cost of $150.00....$200.00 lower than the dealor quote.

 

Did they install the revised pads, part #A004 420 44 20 ($57.50) as per TSB P-B-42.10/48 JUL04? No actual details are given in the bulletin but apparently they were revised to address premature wearing.

 

Here is the ink on how to replace brake pads with out having to depresurise the SBC system

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...+diy+brake+job

 

Unfortunately, the pictures for steps 3-11 will not display. Any chance, burkett can repost the pix?

 

Also, the pictures are of an E500 and the E320 brakes are different. The E320 appears to be harder to do but I have not personally done either one.

 

Dealers are asking about $1300 to $1500 to change brake pads on my E500. As always they claim my rotors will most definitely require replacement. Mercedes supposedly uses soft metal for the rotor for improved braking efficiency. Heck my Nissan's rotors have 190,000 miles on them and it is still looking forward to another million or so, only if the car engine will go that long.

Midas is asking for $900 for everything. Still too expensive compared to the $15 I spend to replace my Nissan brake as I am a DIY guy. For the Altima I got even more efficient by replacing only the pads that wear faster due to a rotor that is not smooth anymore.

No matter what, I would rather destroy the brake not drive the car than paying $1500 to dealership. Heck no god damn it.

I have ordered genuine parts for $140 for all four wheels. This is going to be a DIY too. I am not sure if I should buy any tool to push back the cylinder, there is a tool (I forget its name) that is specifically made for this purpose and is selling for $45 at a local autoparts store.

 

BTW I have 25000 miles on my E500 and I got the "visit workshop" display at 23000 miles.

 

I replaced my E500 brakes last night, took little over four hours - from 10 pm to 2 am , it should have taken me only an hour or so but you know in a garage where it is difficult to find space to move around and working on one wheel at a time...

The front brakes just dont wear as fast as the rear. The front brakes have different sensors - the difference is actually where the sensor is inserted into the pad hole, as the brake wears out the first sensor to scream is the driver side and after a few thousand miles the rear passenger side - I dont know at what point the car starts giving "visit work shop". On my car The front brakes both had more than half of the pad left. The rear brake pads were completely eaten away.

Keep in mind you can reuse the sensor on front passenger side when you replace rear passenger brake - because the front brakes come with sensors (if you bought Genuine MB parts) but the rear dont. So save the sensor to re-use and dont monkey with it just because you have new ones

The car actually had Pagid on the front and Jurid on the rear. What a disappointment - I could have bought the same brand instead of buying the so-called Genuine for 30% more money. Inside the Genuine boxes that I bought they were both Jurid pads anyway...

I disconnected the SBC plug - REMEMBER that putting it back can be difficult. When you put it back lift the little knob some more (slowly) and the plug should slide in and when you press the knob the plug also goes in to make full contact.

Dont think you can put the car to sleep if you dont touch it for one hour or throw the keys someplace else... You will need the keys when the alarm goes off. This may not be a problem for some folks if they can turn of the alarm before they work on the car. Everytime I lifted my car - as I worked on one tire at a time - the alarm would go off and I needed the keys to shut it off.

Replacing the front brakes is the easiest job you can think of - There are two pins on top of the assembly. Put a drill bit in the hole, hit it with a small hammer and it should pop out on the other side. Remove the clip. While the old pads are still in, put a screwdriver in or better a nose plyer, and push the pad to move the cylinders all the way back. You will need to make enough room for the new pads - do it slowly and firmly and you will feel the cylinder going back very easily. Do the same for both sides of the disk. Slide the new pads in... Put one pin with the clip and the other pin. Do not forget to put the sensor. Your pads may be loose at this point. Its ok. Do the same for the driver side front wheel. You are done with front wheels.

Replacing rear brakes was a neck breaking work. After removing the rear wheel make sure you locate the wires around the bolt. Slightly bend the clip that holds the wires away from the bolt. And make sure you bend it backward after you are done. You have to use 11/16 bit to unscrew the bolt on the innerside of the assembly. Dont use a 3/4. You may find it difficult to insert the 11/16 - it is worth it because it wont damage (shave off) the bolt and these bolts are usually very tight on all cars I have worked on... After the job was so easy on the front brakes - and no chance of piston coming out etc... I was stunned to see the rear brakes were still using the same technology as in my 12 year old Nissan. Once you remove the whole assembly make sure you first tie (and let hang) the whole assembly on to some strong metal rod close to the wheel. This way if you drop it you will not dangle on the brake fluid hose and there by damage it. After the two bolts are removed, take the whole assembly out and put a nose plyer between the old brakes and move the piston as far back as possible. You will most likely find it difficult to remove the pad attached to the piston and also install the new pad that is on the outside of the assembly. Live with it I suggest that you remove the clip and insert the new pads. Put the clip back on. Make sure you remember how the clip was on before you remove it. It can be pretty confusing. You will notice that as you work on the rear brakes you will come in close contact with the pistons and while you hold the brake assembly in your hand the piston will be aimed right at your chest. So be very sure to remove the SBC plug before working on the rear brakes especially. After you are done make sure you insert the brake wear sensor on the passenger side. Remember you could re-use the one you took out from the front pad replacement unless it is damaged by wear. The sensors are positioned at different points in side the semi-metalic pad, chances are you will find un-worn sensor. It is should not cost more than a a dollar but it is sold for $7. So save that money and be proud about it. If you are not able to insert the assembly back in, use a nose plyer to insert between the pads and slowly rotate the plyer and you will see the piston moving back. It is pretty easy than buying a tool for $40. Dont use a screw driver, in my experience a nose plyer did not cause any damage (chip away) the pad surface as opposed to a screw driver. Remember dont use an ordinary plyer, use a nose plyer - the one that is sharp and cone shaped.

You will feel the second rear wheel should be really easy. Well you know how to replace them now but make sure you dont mess up the 11/16 bolt, it will be difficult. Secondly it will still be difficult to place the new pads in.

You will have shut of the car alarm 8 or nine times by now. Twice for each wheel. It is time to put the SBC in. Plug it back in as mentioned above. Dont mess with this plug. If you damage this plug the whole point of DIY is defeated. Dont show agressions - as it tends to derive from you - instead lift the little clip bit more upward and the plug should slid in smooth. Push the clip slowly and the plug will be in place. It is made of brittle plastic - the quality that usually breaks.

Get inside the car. Dont keep your foot on brake pedal. Turn the key and you will most likely see all whistles and bells about brake system failure blah blah... Start the engine and depress the brake pedal slowly. Do this several times without showing any agression on the pedal - not yet. Turn off the engine and do the same with the engine off. Turn on the engine again and your brake warning message should disappear. It did for me. So at this point you are all done. A pleasant experience - you messed with a car brake that was $1300 to replace - you learned a skill - and most of all a satisfaction that you could DIY too.

Time for a test drive. Take the car around a parking lot and make sure your brake works. Make sure the hand brake works. In my case my hand brake became almost useless after excessive brake wear. After the replacement it should be back to normal. Take it for a test drive, brake as often as possible and with no one around you (night time is usually better for this test) drive at moderate speed and slam on the brake to make sure, in case of an emergency, it gives you the same braking effect when the car was new - it did for me and will do for you too...

If you have any fluid leak during the work - accept the fact and take it to a work shop. I looked around for Dot 4+ fluid could not find anywhere else. But there was absolutely no need for fluid during the work. If you do it right there is no need to buy any unwanted crap. My front wheel was amazingly clean enough and I did not use "brake parts cleaner" crap. There is no need to buy any anti-squeak compound, the new brake pads comes with such compount applied on them.

Total cost - $153
DIY Value - Priceless

 

Thanks for a nice post. It always amazes me how some people will pay $1,000 too much for a brake job that can be done by using information supplied by forum members.

 

Thanks for the write up and how timely!!
Yesterday, at 25,396miles, the "Brake Wear" "Visit Workshop" message displayed for the first time.

With all the info posted on this board, especially yours, I think I'll give it a whirl.

How did the rotors look? My rear have very shallow grooves. Is that a concern or normal?

 

Good write up. I just wanted to add a couple of things:

First, If you would have disabled the "tow alarm", that is, press the button that shuts off the alarm for towing, it may have prevented the alarm from going off while you worked on the brakes.

Next, and this is very important, make sure you do a break in procedure to properly break in the brake pads. The manufacturer of the pads will normally include some documentation on how to do this. It normally involves some hard braking from 60 to 30 mph, and then some run, cooling time, and then some more hard braking. Doing the proper procedure will ensure that your brakes will work properly. Just ensuring that they work, or making 1 or 2 hard stops may not be enough.

Oh, and by "handbrake" I'm assuming you mean the Parking brake, or Emergency brake?

 

You bring up some important points. I also wonder if the alarm that was triggering was the anti tow alarm and I also thought of the disable button next to the SOS button.

Next, I could not stress what you mentioned about pad break in procedure! If rotors are not changed, but the pads are, slamming on the brakes can be a HUGE problem. The break-in procedures are different if you are mating new pads and new rotors or if you are forcing a new pad to wear into the little groves that the old pad put on the rotors. Either way, slamming on brakes is NOT ever recommended. Like you said, harder prolonged braking from about 50 MPH with driving time to cool the rotors and pads off is most important when you just change the pads. If you break in the pads correctly (especially when the rotors are old) you are preventing possible break squeaks.

About the hand brake/ parking break, I don’t really get the comment he made. Since the parking brake on the Es is a little drum brake inside the rear rotors and it is cable operated, I don’t see how this would have ANYTHING to do with anything unless the rear rotors were changed as well. If the rear rotors were left on, the parking brake was left untouched. If the rear rotors were changed, then a manual adjustment is necessary.

Either way, I find this post to have been very informative and well written!

Steve

 

Thank folks...

My front discs where pretty smooth. The rear was not so smooth. It did have shallow grooves on it. I applied the same lesson I learned from my Altima. You know when you take it to a mechanic, if there is a single groove he feels he got lucky and stresses you to replace the rotor. (Resurfacing a rotor is stupidity so I am not going to talk about it). Or threatens you that he cant do the job or he wont give the measly 12000 mile warranty on his work... So on my Altima (which has the same brake system as the rear wheel on the E) I just replaced the pad. Heck yes, the grove causes the pad to wear out faster... Let it. If you are a DIY you can replace the pad any number of times. I recommend you to take what experienced folks in this forum say. I usually take lot of risk when something belongs to me, so in my case it was easy to ignore the little groves

Thanks for the details on hand brake Steve. I should test it out again on a slope. When the car was new, with hand brake applied the car would not roll back. And 2000 miles after I got the "visit workshop" my hand brake almost had no effect. I dont normally use the hand brake (as I tend to forget to release it) so I am not sure how it is now. I will test it out harder again. It felt like it worked.

 

I can promise you there's not an 11/16 (or 3/4) anything on a W211 Mercedes.

You need some metric tools!

 

Strictly speaking you are absolutely correct. However, a 11/16" is very close to 17mm, 3/4" is very close to 19mm, and 13/16" is very close to 21mm.