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Planning on doing the rear brakes soon, will rebuild the calipers as well, and inspect the parking brake shoes and hardware, hose, clean up the dust shields. I’m thinking about the changing the rotors, but just wanted to get your opinions on the surface wear, and make sure sure I’m not tossing out still serviceable rotors. They are nothing fancy $100 Brembo rotors installed with fresh Akebono pads about 120000 km or 75k miles ago. Barely a lip but some raised grooves that you can feel more noticeably just below the middle. For comparison the picture of the fronts, they feel nice and smooth. Leave them in or just get a new pair?
theyre useable right now but you should always replace rotors on a Mercedes with the pads. It's always cleaner, you can use coated rotors to fight corrosion down the line, there isnt' enough material to last multiple pads while providing OE quality braking in all weather. And uh I would definitely bleed the brakes while youre in there
If you don’t cut the rotor it will possibly not break in right and pulse , you can try. If you cut rotors very possibly they will be to thin and warp. You can measure thickness , you can try to get someone to cut the minimum off, but you have to be at the machine shop and see if they will do it. I had a shop just ruin my rotors making them to thin. Replacing all Will be a no mistake job now. Don’t forget flush all brake fluid. You will notice much better stopping if you have not done it. I think MB states to flush every 40,000 m . I think it’s to preserve the ABS and stability systems
This is what I used when I did the rears. They've gone thru 2 Midwestern winters and still no rust. The stopping power is awesome and there is hardly any dust, unlike the originals.
$100/75k =$1.333/K. I think that I would say it was a good value and just replace them.
Stock thickness rotors don’t have enough metal to turn them on a lathe and most shops don’t have stones to refinish them. Also the lips could lead to lots of brake squeal.
I've had nothing but good results reusing rotors that looked like that. Yes, the pads have to break in to the grooved surface, but I've never felt / seen any down side (might be different if I tracked my cars, but on an SUV?).
That said, the one thing I've determined to do if / when I actually wear out my rotors is to get rust-free rotors. I really, really detest the way that not only the rotors rust (when driven in winter / salt / rain / snow / slush conditions) but how the rust inside the rotor exits and coats the caliper and all the brake hardware. Rust-free rotors aren't a lot more money, and would be the same kind of great investment that the Akebono dust-free pads are - just another way for us lazy owners to keep our cars looking good. ;-)
And yeah, I did a video on that (cleaning up the rusty rotor and effects of the "thrown rust" from the rotor.
2014 GLK350 base model (active) ; 2001 E320 base (retired); 2001 Wrangler soft-top
Personally (my opinion), if I'm gonna hassle to remove the rotors to go have them turned, I'd just as well have brand new rotors that I can install immediately and be back on the road. Plus, with new rotors, you'll not have to think, "maybe I should have changed them".
I did a front brake replacement on the GLK a while back, to include pads (Akebono) and new rotors. it was a "kit" I got from RockAuto. I replaced the rotors on purpose, so that I would be confident "all is new" with no worries.
I also did the same for the fronts on the 2001 Jeep. And I went a step further ... I thought about rebuilding the calipers, but said to myself, "it's gonna be damb easier to just bolt on new calipers". And so I did.
I will soon need to do the rears on the GLK, and I've checked the Link @andreigbs provided ... that's the same kit for our 2014 GLK350 Base ... so I've bookmarked the link for the future purchase. Personally, Akebono are top notch !!
I was looking for rear caliper pistons to have on hand when taking out the old ones, slim pickings, rockauto has a a couple, but thats about it, and nothing locally, dealership only sells the whole caliper. The Brembo rotors were UV coated, but not going back to them, the rears got hit worse than the fronts by the weather/salt as you can kind of see. Im taking them off anyway to inspect the parking brake components, so may go with something like the coated Zimmermans or the geomet StopTechs, but tempting to just save a buck and clean them up like in habbyguy's video. Yes, will bleed the lines, still have half a can of fluid from last brake line job I did last fall.
Took off the rotors and one of the parking brakes to get it ready for cleaning. Brake line is cracked on bottom of caliper end of each end, so will have to go, but have some nice rust on the line connecting the passenger side brake hose, some on the driver side. I might have to do some line work again.
Brake pads have indents on inner and outer ends, shoes have some small groves along them. Calipers don’t look bad, but still want to take a look at the pistons.
2014 GLK350 base model (active) ; 2001 E320 base (retired); 2001 Wrangler soft-top
Originally Posted by SAVZ
Calipers don’t look bad, but still want to take a look at the pistons.
Hmmmm. The "calipers don't look bad" ????
I'm slightly confused. To my eyes, they have some horrendous rust buildup !! Or maybe my eyes have caught up with the rest of my old retired self 😀
Me? I would NEVER consider reusing those calipers. (ours have zero rust)
The one pad shows uneven wear, so something is rwong (rotor?).
Seeing all the terrible rust in most all the photos prompts me to ask ... are you aware of the "Sub-Frame Extended Warranty" ?? If not, better look into it - see attachment 👍
Last edited by calder-cay; Mar 22, 2025 at 12:06 AM.
I'm slightly confused. To my eyes, they have some horrendous rust buildup !! Or maybe my eyes have caught up with the rest of my old retired self 😀
Me? I would NEVER consider reusing those calipers. (ours have zero rust)
The one pad shows uneven wear, so something is rwong (rotor?).
Seeing all the terrible rust in most all the photos prompts me to ask ... are you aware of the "Sub-Frame Extended Warranty" ?? If not, better look into it - see attachment 👍
lol, compared to the rest of what I saw, I’m going to try to salvage them, have new pistons and seals, so will take them apart and clean them up, and test them.
I inspected the subframe and the rest of the rear, the subframe has some surface rust but no perforations, I think dealer said it’s like $140 to inspect and if they determine it’s worthy of replacement you get the inspection fee back, but the rust is nothing compared to the rear brakes. Suspension is pretty much rust free, just some on the spring control arm, exhaust and drive shaft are ok.
Those pictures don't look great. Everything is being eaten by rust. You are going to need to overhaul everything.
brakes system for sure, but as noted above the rest doesn't look that bad, inspected the front and it looks really good, like looking at a different car.
2006 Alfa Romeo Brera, 2010 GLK350, 2018 BMW 640i GT, 1997 Subaru SVX, 2012 Moto Guzzi Norge GT8V
Your brakes look very much like mine. I replaced pads and rotors, calipers are fine. They look rusty but it's the guts that count. My parking brake components turned to rust dust. Two years plus and I haven't quite got around to replacing them. I have the parts.
My subframe is very rusty but no perforation...yet.
Last edited by Silver Shadow; Mar 22, 2025 at 08:03 AM.
Zimmerman rotors do make brakes produce less dust. A lot less dust. My fronts rims used to always be a mess. Zimmermans are coated .
I got a pair as suggested in the thread. I got a can of clipper paint, was going to spray the calipers and shields when done with them, wondering if it’s a good idea to spray the hats and vents of those new rotors.
Your brakes look very much like mine. I replaced pads and rotors, calipers are fine. They look rusty but it's the guts that count. My parking brake components turned to rust dust. Two years plus and I haven't quite got around to replacing them. I have the parts.
My subframe is very rusty but no perforation...yet.
I was unsure how the rotors would come off, I had rotors form a rust groove on the inside and get stuck to the parking shoes in the past. I did put anti seize paste last time, so wasn’t a problem, I did try loosening the parking brake star wheel adjustment, it wouldn’t budge at first but after soaking it in in WD40 for a few minutes it turned pretty easily. BTW when looking down at the wheel it would be counter clockwise to loosen and clockwise to tighten. Would be at the 2pm hole on driver side and 10pm hole on passenger side.
The pistons and seals looked good. @calder-cay I used those plugs you mentioned in a brake like thread a while back, stuck them in the hoses with clamps, and the opening in the calipers when painting. I’ll used them when doing the lines tomorrow.
2014 GLK350 base model (active) ; 2001 E320 base (retired); 2001 Wrangler soft-top
Originally Posted by SAVZ
The pistons and seals looked good. @calder-cay I used those plugs you mentioned in a brake like thread a while back, stuck them in the hoses with clamps, and the opening in the calipers when painting. I’ll used them when doing the lines tomorrow.
Wow ... you're making great progress!
For many many minutes, I tried to figure what the "plugs" are. Just realized they're the silicone plugs kit in various sizes. They are a great solution for sealing various things. I first discovered their use during my enjoyable motorcycle fixit days. (riding for over 50 years, recently had 5 Honda's at once 👍 )
Keep up the great brake progress and thanks for sharing.
Be very careful putting that clamp on the brake line. I feel that in order to block the flow of fluid you will have to make it tight enough to do damage to the hose.
I got a pair as suggested in the thread. I got a can of clipper paint, was going to spray the calipers and shields when done with them, wondering if it’s a good idea to spray the hats and vents of those new rotors.
Yes, it's a good idea. It's hard to get 100% coverage between the plates of the rotor (down the "vent holes") but any paint you can get down them will only help, I suppose.
FWIW, I did a video where I re-hab'd the brakes on my 2011 GLK after it spent too much time in the frozen north one winter. I painted the rotors as I mention above - FWIW I didn't get too twitchy about overspray on the braking surfaces, since it goes away during the first couple "real braking situations"...
For many many minutes, I tried to figure what the "plugs" are. Just realized they're the silicone plugs kit in various sizes. They are a great solution for sealing various things. I first discovered their use during my enjoyable motorcycle fixit days. (riding for over 50 years, recently had 5 Honda's at once 👍 )
Keep up the great brake progress and thanks for sharing.
Thanks, The smallest one in the set was able to close up the brake line without a drip for a few hours
Be very careful putting that clamp on the brake line. I feel that in order to block the flow of fluid you will have to make it tight enough to do damage to the hose.
The hoses were already cracked and was going to replace them, was going to rely on just the plugs until I saw the cracks. Where did you get your plugs from?
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