When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hey all, just paying back and wanted to share my experience and hopefully provide a few tips.
I have 2020 GLC43 with 26,000 miles and 4 days before Christmas and 500 mile trip, the brake light came on. I decided to replace the brake pads myself since most shops were busy and I really wanted to put Power Stop Z23 brake pads. They are ceramic carbon and I had them my V8 Dodge Charge Scat Pack and they were awesome. Reduced brake dust by a lot, silent and I did not notice any change in braking power on my Charger and I do have a pretty heavy foot. Most shops would not install the brake pads supplied by you.
I spent probably 5-6 hours watching/reading/researching/shopping for parts and about 6 hours of the actual work. I do like to be prepared and it is my second time in my life changing brake pads so if you work on cars often, I am sure you will be done in 3-4 hours.
I had most of the tools already but had to buy a few more and had additional concerned that turned out to be fine:
I have 3 ton low-profile jack from harbour freight and thought it will not go high enough to lift GLC - I was wrong, it was more than ok
I had to get a little jack pad due to the odd shape of the jack stand mounts (some pics below). "POTAUTO Universal Aluminum Jack Pad Jacking Puck Adapter Support Compatible with Mercedes Benz Vehicles 2000-Present" from amazon worked out great and was $9 from Amazon. It is made from aluminum, not crappy rubber. Fits right in, pretty much like factory emergency jack.
You need 2 brake pad wear sensors (one per axle, passenger side) - Power Stop has them. One sensor was throwing alert (turned out the rear one, you can see on a pic how sensor was on the same plane as pad top), the front sensor was ok, but I swapped it anyway
Only REAR - need 7mm hex bit socket for guide pin. I had to buy a cheap set on Amazon (DURATECH Allen Bit Socket Set, 3/8'' Drive Torx, 21-Piece, Premium CR-V Socket and S2 Bits, Metric&SAE) but turned out I could just use 7mm hex allen key. It is HEX for sure, not TORX.
Only REAR - You supposed to torque to spec guide pin to brake caliper support (bolt for guide pin to brake caliper) to 25Nm (18.4 ft-lbs). Reality it means it is almost like hand-tight. I did get this cool set of adapters for my 1/2 drive torque wrench from amazon (LEXIVON Impact Socket Adapter and Reducer 4-Piece Set | 1/4" - 3/8" - 1/2" Impact Driver Conversions, Chrome Molybdenum alloy steel (LX-112) but honestly I could just hand tight them.
I DIDN'T need caliper spread tools - while old brake pads are still in place, just use flat screwdrivers to move pistons out of the way - otherwise you won't be able to fit new pads. If you realize you need more space, just put back old pads and pry again with flat screwdrivers.
It took me a few times to enter brake maintenance mode, not sure why - i think depending on the car trim/year, the sequence of buttons is different.
Some tips:
Once you enter brake maintenance mode and get emergency brake out of the way for rear pads replacement, you can turn off your car. I left mine on and then started to get alerts 2 hours later about battery voltage.
Always use jack stands (see good video below) for safety. I jacked the car using jack point on the side and put jack stands like the guy in the video. For extra safety, once you remove the wheel, just put it under the side of the car. Also leave jack under side jack point for another safety point, does not hurt at all.
It is recommended to lube new brake pads - luckily most brake pads come with lube (link below for quick video from power stop)
Takes a few times to fit the new pads in (see above about using old pads and screwdriver to compress the pistons)
SUPER IMPORTANT After pads are installed, remember to pump brakes a few times till they get hard!!!!
Front brakes do not require caliper removal but somehow I spent more time on them than rear ones. GLC43 has 4 pistons on front and it was tricky to compress pistons. I ended up putting back and forth the old pads and work one side (outside), and then the new pad was in for the outside, I did the same with the inside. Just be patient and use old pads to compress pistons.
- 5 moderate to aggressive stops from 40 to 10 rapidly
- 5 moderate stops from 35 to 5 rapidly
- Drive 5 minutes at moderate, try not to stop
Hugo thanks to community and these YT guides - they were great help to me and I suggest watching them a few times. I would not be brave enough to start this project if not these awesome people below:
Jack points with a POTAUTO jack adapter compare to emergency jack:
I guess something about MB design but rear pads were almost gone and front pads still had tons of life in them. They are also much much smaller than front pads. Note how sensor was shaved on rear:
the pesky 7mm hex bit socket for guide pin - hex indeed:
I vaguely recall reading somewhere (probably another post here) that the rear brakes engage when using the adaptive cruise control, and that's the common cause for faster rear brake pad wear.
Nice write up on the brake job...thank you for the post!
PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Originally Posted by blockage
I vaguely recall reading somewhere (probably another post here) that the rear brakes engage when using the adaptive cruise control, and that's the common cause for faster rear brake pad wear.
Nice write up on the brake job...thank you for the post!
Yes that is correct and the rear brakes also engage first on light braking and the front will kick in when you brake harder.
I vaguely recall reading somewhere (probably another post here) that the rear brakes engage when using the adaptive cruise control, and that's the common cause for faster rear brake pad wear.
Nice write up on the brake job...thank you for the post!
I'm pretty sure your rear brakes don't engage first with Distronic, or any braking situation for that matter.
That would be pretty dangerous, especially in low traction conditions such as ice, where you might just spin off the road!
But if you do have Active Lane Keeping Assist engaged, one rear brake will engage to pull you back in line.
PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Originally Posted by mikapen
I'm pretty sure your rear brakes don't engage first with Distronic, or any braking situation for that matter.
That would be pretty dangerous, especially in low traction conditions such as ice, where you might just spin off the road!
But if you do have Active Lane Keeping Assist engaged, one rear brake will engage to pull you back in line.
My rear brakes likes to squeal, under light braking, I can hear and my rear passenger hears my rear brakes engage on light braking first. My front ones then squeal when I brake harder as the rear ones continue squeal.
I guess our systems are sophisticated and react quick enough to counter the spinning off issue.
My rear brakes likes to squeal, under light braking, I can hear and my rear passenger hears my rear brakes engage on light braking first. My front ones then squeal when I brake harder as the rear ones continue squeal.
I guess our systems are sophisticated and react quick enough to counter the spinning off issue.
My interpretation would be that your rear brakes squeal more than your fronts.🙂
Definitely not that the rears engage first.
It sounds like you need to do some brake bedding-in. Four or five very aggressive stops, 60 to 10, but don't come to a stop. Repeat.
That will probably get rid of your squealing, or at least even it out.
Stops from 80 are better, but it's hard to find a place to do that repeatedly.
PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Originally Posted by mikapen
My interpretation would be that your rear brakes squeal more than your fronts.🙂
Definitely not that the rears engage first.
It sounds like you need to do some brake bedding-in. Four or five very aggressive stops, 60 to 10, but don't come to a stop. Repeat.
That will probably get rid of your squealing, or at least even it out.
Stops from 80 are better, but it's hard to find a place to do that repeatedly.
My driving habits dictates the squeal to be honest. No bed-in works if I drive "soft" daily. After every bed-in I go back to that "soft" driving routine.
PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Originally Posted by mikapen
My interpretation would be that your rear brakes squeal more than your fronts.🙂
Definitely not that the rears engage first.
It sounds like you need to do some brake bedding-in. Four or five very aggressive stops, 60 to 10, but don't come to a stop. Repeat.
That will probably get rid of your squealing, or at least even it out.
Stops from 80 are better, but it's hard to find a place to do that repeatedly.
Thanks for those links. They come from reliable sources, so there must be something to it.
However, it still doesn't make sense to me, although it's possible with new tech. If that "rear brakes first" is real, I would expect that the algorithm doesn't wait for ABS to kick in, potentionally spinning the car.
It also doesn't fit my experience with our GLE, where at 30,000 mi I have more front pad wear than rears.
I use Distronic a lot. And I let it do braking for me when the traffic in front stops or slows.
I don't use Active Lane Keeping Assist ever.
Obviously I don't have a rear pad wear problem at 30,000 miles. Are GLC/GLE's different from the linked C63 thread?
PFL205.064 with M276.823 (Oil pump solenoid defeated)
Originally Posted by mikapen
Thanks for those links. They come from reliable sources, so there must be something to it.
However, it still doesn't make sense to me, although it's possible with new tech. If that "rear brakes first" is real, I would expect that the algorithm doesn't wait for ABS to kick in, potentionally spinning the car.
It also doesn't fit my experience with our GLE, where at 30,000 mi I have more front pad wear than rears.
I use Distronic a lot. And I let it do braking for me when the traffic in front stops or slows.
I don't use Active Lane Keeping Assist ever.
Obviously I don't have a rear pad wear problem at 30,000 miles. Are GLC/GLE's different from the linked C63 thread?
Yup that is what I am thinking too.
As for front vs rear wear, it depends on if you mainly do city driving, highway driving and also if you corner a lot I think?
An update after 1500 miles. No squeal, no funny noises, after I did the bedding procedure, they stop and work as good as old MB pads, same braking/stopping power to me and I drive pretty aggressively. A huge huge difference in brake dust - before I could wash my car and 2 days later wheels would be covered in black dust and my wheel would start looking as almost black Highly recommend these Power Stop Z23 pads.
I'm pretty sure your rear brakes don't engage first with Distronic, or any braking situation for that matter.
That would be pretty dangerous, especially in low traction conditions such as ice, where you might just spin off the road!
But if you do have Active Lane Keeping Assist engaged, one rear brake will engage to pull you back in line.
I do not have Distronic or lane assist and never use cruise control. When I do not need to brake hard, I normally lift the throttle or apply light brake pressure. So very odd to me why rear inner pads were so worn and outside rear and fronts still had tons of life.
12-25-2023, 06:02 PM
Highly recommend these Power Stop Z23 pads.
