mrjetskey

have a quick question please. On my E350 It has a torx type bolt you can see from outside. on all videos showing replacement ,none seem to have it.They all seem to have 2 x 18mm and 2 x7mm that need to be removed.I cant understand why on my 2013 there is torx bolts on wheel side of caliper any idea why mine seem to be different. On the videos showing E model 2007 to 2016 there is no big Torx even on the calipers.Any Idea why,Mine is not aftermarket or anything but bone stock. Thanks for any help!!!

juanmor40

You mean calipers that look like this one

https://www.ebay.com/itm/19376402193...kaAjSFEALw_wcB

As far as I know, the bolts that need to be removed are on the other side of the caliper, say the engine side. Nothing to remove from the wheel side. Am I missing something?

konigstiger

VIN?

bmwpowere36m3

+1

OP, post a picture of what your talking about. If your trying to remove the caliper to gain access to the pads... then the caliper hardware is on the inboard side (engine). For single piston, sliding, calipers, there are two hex-head bolts that need to be loosened to remove the caliper. Two lower bolts in image, they go thru a sliding bushing with rubber bellows... allows caliper to move with respect to caliper bracket.

For fixed calipers, like those on E550s, you don't need to remove the caliper to replace pads... only the pad pins and spring need to be removed.

Arrie

Very interesting. In my 2010 E550 I do not need to remove the caliper for pad change. I just pull two pins and the pads come out. In rear I need to remove the caliper as is normal around with cars.

Wonder what kind of brakes my car has in front?

bmwpowere36m3

E550 has fixed calipers up front, whereas E350 has floating... so they need to be removed or at least swung out of the way to access the pads.

Senecat

Doesn't matter. It's just brakes. Take em apart and service them.

Fliplegend

You don't touch those torx looking bolts at the front. Like already mentioned, the bolts that attach the caliper to the bracket are on the other side, not visible from the outside.

strife

I did my 2013 US E350 brakes recently and I did not find them terribly difficult, although the rear rotors were so tough to get off that I left them on (still had plenty of meat) because the pounding would probably get the entire neighborhood up in arms. Next time I will have room to do it in a closed garage. NOTHING of this Earth can resist my "Hammer of Thor" mini-sledge even my old, wizened state.

I used TRW "ceramic" brake pads, and I am disappointed in them because the brake dust from them is black and just about as bad as the brake dust from the original MB brakes. In their favor, no squealing (might have been my careful installation, cleaning, lubing) and they seem to stop well.
The front Zimmerman rotors were good, no pulsing, seem to resist rust (the MB originals were rusty AF).

bmwpowere36m3

Did you forget the little rotor screw

strife

No…due to unfortunate past experience, pulling those the FIRST thing that I do. Glad that these are TORX. I drilled out many a Philips from 50k mile rear rotors on FWD cars after stripping them, even after using an impact (snowy, salty road areas).

i’m not the first person who finds these tough; there is at least one YouTube video that conveniently skips over this unpleasantness on W212 rear brakes.

bmwpowere36m3

Sometimes the parking brake shoes hold… loosening the adjuster star helps. That and the retainer. A few strikes with a drilling hammer should be no match.

mrjetskey

when i got the car for my wife brakes had been replaced at 36k miles. I am going to change pads and disc as they have the typical grooves in them that most mercedes I have looked at with oem pads have the grooves in them.If it was just pads thats easy.On all videos it seems to show the two sliders being removed from rear and then 2 bolts that are 18mm on back to remove bracket,I see in pic those two torx are retaining pins they only are to hold one pad in place.. THANKS FOR ALL HELP!!

juanmor40

Just for curiosity, how many miles on the last set of pads? I am on 70K miles with the same set of pads. If your pads are not lasting what you expect, I would take a closer look when changing them to see if the wear is not normal, the pads are not the best, or driving habits are wearing them out too fast.

Arrie

Interesting that the E550 has this fixed caliper brakes in front but the first MB I bought was a brand new 2011 E350 and it also had front brakes the same way for pad change? I remember this well as I replaced the very dusty OEM brake pads just after a month or so having the car and was tired of looking at the very dirty rims.

Perhaps someone else with an early E350 can confirm this but my car certainly had front brakes like that. I thought they all do?

Perhaps MB changed this later. At least I heard from a German guy who said the cars shipped to US have smaller brakes than in Germany due to lower speeds and I guess less money they make with US cars.

mrjetskey

Am changing pads due to brake dust on the wheels, I havent decided which pads I'm going with but for sure NOT OEM! We have a lot of stop and go driving . Almost every Mercedes I see has grooves on stock rotors, even a friends s550 that had 20k on it.

juanmor40

You mean you are going with MB pads; otherwise, they are either OEM or any brand. Mine are original pads whatever MB put on it (not a clue which OEM pad manufacturer supplies them). I have more dirt on my wheels than brake dust. What color are your wheels, light silver/gray? so brake dust is more visible perhaps

atraudes

@Arrie I have an '11 E350 and it has floating calipers in the front.

Arrie

When was your car made? Mine was in May 2010.

atraudes

January 2010 for mine