silverspecial

I've seen numerous threads with questions about brakes so I thought I would share my experience. First off...here's the materials I used. All was purchased from www.autohausaz.com They totally destroyed everyone elses prices for brakes from what I saw. I have an '05 ML350 with 30K miles for reference.


Zimmerman Brake Disc/Brake Rotor; Front Left/Right; Vented $91.96 for 2

Zimmerman Brake Disc/Brake Rotor; Rear Left/Right; Solid $66.40 for 2

That's $158.36 for the rotors


Mintex Brake Pad Set; Front with Sensor; OE Supplier Compound $53.00/set

Mintex Brake Pad Set; Rear; OE Supplier Compound $41.13/set

Add $94.13 for the pads


Then add $7.23 for the brake pad spreader I got from them

Plus $7.44 for 4 packets of the MB brake paste

Finally add $4.32 for the 7mm hex head for removing the rotor screws (autozone)

In all I spent $271.48 for the job plus 4 hours on a Sunday morning


Observatoins during the job:

It was super easy to get off the caliper and pads. Just a couple of bolts then pry the pads out with a screwdriver.

Getting the rotor off was by far the hardest thing. It was held on with the 7mm hex head but it was almost fused to the hub with rust. I beat on it about 600 times with a rubber mallet and it finally broke loose.

Finally, the rear pads I got did not have a sensor slot, so I just tied the sensor up and out of the way...no big deal, it's the rear sensor so it's not terribly important to me.

No squealing, squeaking, and hopefully should have less dust than OEMs, I'd recommend this project to anyone with basic tool exprience as it was not hard at all!

cyeung65

Curious - why did you change the rotors? Were they below min thickness already at 30K? I changed the pads on my 00 at about 27k, rotors were still good. Also tied up the rear sensor like you did.

Also - even with the new pads, the pedal feels more spongy than "normal" for the ML. I did not bleed the brakes, did you?

Thanks

silverspecial

I changed the rotors since I had seen many folks on the forum talk about how the brakes squeeked after they changed just pads (esp the backs). The price was relatively inexpensive so I just decided to go ahead and change the rotors too to reduce my chances of squeeking, plus to ensure I wouldn't have to worry about the brakes for another 30K miles.

I'm not feeling anything spongy so far, it feels good to me but I don't drive it as often since it's the wife's car. She is happy with it so I am happy I don't think the manual calls for brake bleeding until the 50K timeperiod, and there's really no need to do it unless you open up the braking system, which of course you don't do with a normal pad and rotor change....so no, I didn't bleed the brakes either.

lookaught

I changed my rotors on my ml500 at 50k and they are again nearing replacement time at 95k and will need to be changed before the next inspection in February 2007. I tow sometimes with the car (about 4,500# trailer) so that has contributed to the wear. I also tend to brake pretty hard so maybe that increases wear??

I basically just wait until the car wont pass inspection to change, it is technically due to thickness but you can look at them and see how much is worn off and pretty much infer how much longer they have...

and yes, 30k miles is rather low milage for a change but they *could* have been worn out that fast. I wore out a set of Stoptech rotors on my Audi S4 in less than 15k! (track days....)

nematoad

I just bought some Zimmerman rotors for my 2007 ML320 CDI. I tried to remove the old rotors with a rubber mallet. But the old rotors are fused on now. Question: do you need to remove the Caliper frames too? How do you remove rotors with a rubber mallet?

ivanho67

Go to your local parts house and buy or borrow a large pulley puller. I went to Pepboys, it made short work of the stuck rotors. Just be carefully, they shoot off with some force, so stand off to the side.