cyeung65

I just replaced my front and rear pads on my 00 ML320. EBS brand in front, Mintex in back. The front pads were down to about 1/4 thickness and the rears were 1/2. First, changing the front pads got some pedal height back - but brake fade was still perceptible. After putting in the rear pads, fade is less and the pedal stays firmer from initial bite to a full stop. It made a bigger difference to pedal feel and height than changing the fronts did. But they still don't feel as hard as I like. I race a Corvette and maybe am spoiled a bit with those brake and I know the Mercedes BAS is notorious for a spongy pedal. But my Sienna minivan has better brakes! Any suggestions on different brand pads or are there any stainless steel brake line kits out there to get the pedal a bit harder?

Kar don

not going to get firm pedal feel on an ML, sorry.

00ML430 Bulldog

When was the last time you changed your brake fluid??? I would try that (MB brake fluid) and also make sure you bleed all the air out of the lines. If that does not work your master cylinder might be going south.

cyeung65

Its only 26k miles on it, and the MB dealer changed the fluid. But I noticed that the brake bleeders were untouched. Should have done that already, but needed an assistant.

saturnstyl

Faulty master cylinders are not that uncommon on an ML. Bleed the living hell out of the system, one guy at work has great success bleeding at the line connection to the master, then moving to the lines at the abs pump, then going to the wheels.

337flyer

Stainless steel brake lines will make the pedal hard. The problem is finding the right conversion parts for your ML. Try looking at the lines for the 320, 350, or 55.