mikefili

I would like to change out stock pads to dustless pads, What aftermarket pads seem to be the best, and where to buy?

Benzo 003

Im not sure about M/B specifically, but I installed a set of ceramic pads on an american SUV along with new factory rotors and completely destroyed the rotors within 10,000 miles.....wheels were very clean, but not very cost effective. I would rather clean wheels than do a full brake service that often.

sosh

Any aftermarket pads with less or no dust will wear the rotors to a greater extent than the OEM pads and will in effect lessen the braking available.This lessing the braking will in some cases be noticable and others not so much as it depends upon the hardness of the pads used. MB pads are formulated to give maximum braking as that is what the brakes are for.

Benzo 003

some guys in the detailing section were hyping up these pads....look and sound good....

http://www.akebonobrakes.com/aftermarket/euro/index.asp

available at placeforbrakes.com

Jim Ma

I had used 2 sets of Akebono ceramic pads on my W163 and they were great. No dust and lasted about 40K miles per set. No issues with the rotors either. Not sure if they have them for the W164 but if they do I would definitely replace the oem pads with them if you are tired of cleaning all the brake dust off the rims. I purchased them from the Tire Rack.

DUTCH

Rotex Gold. 90-95% dust free, perform as well as the OEM pads and don't squeal. I have them on my G500 and put them on my ML320CDI. No more rotor wear than experienced with the OEM pads. Hands down my favorite!

mikefili

Thank you for the replies, the dealer put a set (they did not tell me the brand) of aftermarket pads on an SL 500 I had, worked great, and they have changed out the rears on my wife's C300, those are MB pads, no more dust, the dust is so corrosive on the ML that the wheels are pitting, have to get them off.

roadrutz

I have to disagree. You can argue that a specific brand of pad is or is not as effective as OEM pads, but you can't generically discount all pads. I ran Repco/Axxis pads (not available for the ML) on both my last two BMWs with no noticeable or measurable loss of performance, no additional wear on the rotors, and not so much as a speck of brake dust on the wheels.

VelociRaptor

Wagner Thermo-quiet pads are what I put on Mercedes vehicles when customers didnt want MB pads when I worked at Midas years ago. They did well.

lkchris

Read this:

mikefili

I tried the Akebono pads on their website, it says that there are NO pads for a 2008 ML350,
Any other thoughts?

Jim Ma

The Akebono web site show that they do have front pads, part # EUR1123. No rears though.

vinceching

its pointless to disagree with sosh. sosh is one of those fanboi's who always believe everything from the factory is gospel, and the best or it wouldn't have come from the factory. if you remember, he's the one who loves to go to the dealer for overpriced oil changes.

for the others who aren't stock fanboi's... using dustless or low dust will not case any ill effects on stopping distance, or wear to the rotors.

if there was any performance differences, it would be so mininimal you wouldn't even notice it.

even on a stock brake setup, you can pass the thermo efficiency of the pads, and rotors and experience brake fad. its the main reason why you are never supposed to be riding your brakes all the way down a long steep descend, and instead should be using your engine to help with the braking.

lkchris

OTOH, isn't it interesting that both BMW and Mercedes have used "dusty" pads for decades?

Somehow I believe they've extensively tested them.

As for aftermarket companies, well perhaps they "tested" long enough to get the pad dimensions close to correct.

Kind of makes one wonder why anyone would own a Mercedes if somehow they think they aren't so well engineered. After all, engineering is all about clean wheels, isn't it?

vinceching

just because something is used for a long time doesn't default the reason to it is good/the best... flawed reasoning on your part, and consistent with being a stock fanboi.

for the longest time we used ddt, lead, etc. did that prove to be the best/good idea?

first thing a lot of you have to get over is, the engineering on modern day cars is more of a compromise for the general public, and not necessarily the best the manufacturer has to offer. another compromise is the tire psi on the gas tank. notice the fronts are always lower than the rear? like 32 psi in the front, and 38 psi in the rear? its a compromise for ride handling for the general public. think that makes sense to have less tire pressure in the front holding up the load of the engine weight, and any transferred weight pressure to the tires in extreme braking situations? most people either run the same psi all around, or something to better suit their driving dynamics.

stock "dusty" pads are soft to prevent more than anything the brake squeal harder compound pads can emit. if you take a look at racing applications, and those vehicles coming to a slow stop, you will hear almost excessive brake squeal. racers don't mind since the most important thing to them is the brakes work, and not fad on the track when they are in the triple digits.

manufacturers got tired of the constant complains the general public came back with thinking the brakes were broken since they squealed too much. the other complaint was usually, "a car this expensive should not squeal so much"

for me, i'm a detailing nut and will gladly trade some brake squeal for less brake dust any day.

u001elg

I am new to this forum, but I have 10+ years experience of owning and DIY repairing M-B's...

I changed from stock pads to Brembo ceramic pads on the 'C' due to an urgent need over a weekend when stock M-B parts were not available. The pads did require a little more effort and wore the stock MB rotors (I had a set at home) quickly. I then replaced the rotors with a set of Brembo rotors and the pads and rotors wore at about the same rate.

Learning - 1) try to keep parts designed to work together with each other and don't mix and match manufacturers.

Learning - 2) cleaning of brake dust is neither a performance or engineering issue, but a personal preference... i.e. I use the ceramic pads (Akebono) on my wife's ML because she goes ballistic if the wheels appear dirty, but I went back to the stock MB parts because they were chaeper and I frequently wash my car and don't care if the wheels appear dirty the day before I wash the 'C'.