Just put on new rotors and brake pads (akebono) on the front of our 2013 merc a couple days ago. Checked it earlier to see how they're bedding in and noticed that both sides had the brake pads angled in the carrier/caliper. The bottom (nearest to the hub) of the pads are touching the rotors while the tops are a few mm away. Didn't brush nor grease the area where the ears sit and are clamped down by the caliper onto the carrier.

Should I have done cleaned and greased that area? Is it normal for the pads to sit like that? Just want to make sure I didn't goof and now putting undue wear on the brakes.
Cheers for any advice.

 

Couple of things come to mind:

1. Wrong pads were installed? Sport vs Non-Sport brake pads?
2. Outside pad and inside pad are reversed?

 

The pads are EUR1629, which according to ECS are the correct ones for our non-sport ML350.
As for swapping in/out, that would be impossible, as the inboard pads have clips for grabbing onto the caliper pistons and the outboard ones are flat.

I did see from my research that the OEM pads have adhesive on the back of the outboard pads. Not sure if that's the difference or if the adhesive is only to prevent rattling.

 

Can you post a photo of what you are seeing?

 

I bought a set of Akebono NON-SPORT rear pads for my 2014 ML 350 Bluetec. The boxes were labeled correctly as NON-Sport pads, but the pads were clearly not the correct pads as they were the SPORT PADS. So the vendor I bought the Akebono Pads from RMA'd the incorrect ones with correct ones. Even the vendor thought it was strange to have the wrong pads in the boxes.
​​​​​​​

 

I'll double check the pads when it finally stops raining here tomorrow. This could be the problem, though they did look to have the same dimensions.

 

For those following, it was just my own confusion. The pads were fine.
The mix up was from the weirdly cut edges on the pads that gave the illusion the pads weren't sitting flat. Had to look through the top of the caliper to see the mating surface.
Everything's good.