Hi all. Yesterday I replaced the brake pads on the 16 Maybach. It had 73000 miles on it and the pads were getting close to the wear sensor.

I got my directions off WIS and went to town. About an hour later I was done. The rotors were 35MM thick which was still in tolerance so I did not replace those. I found the TRW (OEM for my car) pads on the internet for less than 100 dollars. You can go to TRW web site and get the part number for your car and then look for the pads on the net.

Guess I felt it important to post here since it took me an hour and less than 100 dollars to do the front brakes. It would not have taken much longer to remove the rotor if I had had to do that.

There is a part of me that says why would I pay someone $$ to do something I can do myself correctly.

Now my next fix is a slightly noisy front wheel bearing. Got my WIS directions to do this job and its funny how the price of the bearing ranges from 100 to 900 dollars. After lots of research I ended up buying the 130 dollar bearing since its got a warranty and is easy to replace if it goes bad. If I remember I will post about that repair when I do it.

Brakes are one thing I would never pay a shop to do. It's far too easy for the shop time that's charged to do it. On the flip side, I would never be bothered to change my own oil.. again.. easy process, but more of a pain, and I'd rather pay a shop to do that. lol

90laxracer its all good if you dont change your oil. With that said the S Class is the easiest car I ever changed oil in. You simply pump it out the top and the oil filter is rite there on top. Interestingly on my GT you have to get the oil filter from the bottom as well as drain the tank and then a half quart out of the oil pan. I read that the gt is the only Mercedes engine with the oil filter on the bottom.

It's not that it's hard.. it's a time/money thing.. many moons ago I used to swing wrenches at a GM dealership and book time for an oil change was .3 of an hour. where book time for brakes, if doing front and back, was 5 hours. This was back when you were cutting rotors on a lathe to true up.. Even with that, you could knock them out in no time. Now that in most cases it's just a rotor replacement.. it's even quicker. No need to pay book time for something so easy.

Paying to do the oil or any other fluid flush/change although is very straight forward.. the book time typically isn't all that steep, and you're not left with waste that you have to eventually get to a place to recycle. For better or worse.. that's just how I rationalize it anymore... lol

Do you mind saying what sort of tool you use to pump out the oil? Is it expensive? Any considerations on exactly how to pump it out?

I'm fairly new to using the WIS. It tells me to pump out the oil, but I don't see an indication of how or with what.

Congrats on the brake job! It sounds like you are more experienced or competent than I am. I've done it a couple of times on American cars, but it definitely took me more than an hour.

https://www.harborfreight.com/23-gal...tor-62643.html

There is the pump I use. It is used to pump out oil, do brake fluid flush, drain differential, and any pump out type job.

Awesome! Thank you very much.

Thanks for posting. Was this the first time the front pads have been changed, at 73k miles?

Yes this is the first time the front pads have been changed in the cars life. For the first time in my life I had to change the REAR pads at 60000 miles. I have never seen rear pads go before the fronts.

The rotors were at 35MM with a minimum of 34mm stamped on the rotor. I ended up reusing them since I dont have any warping of them.

sweet. Just so you guys know I have a pump that holds 10 qrts. Most only hold 6 and on these big bodies noone wants to stop midway to empty the container.

How do you defeat the auto parking brake to do the rears? I want to swap my pads to ones that don't kill the rims with dust but I have heard you just can't wrench away, you have to disable the PB...

There are TWO ways to get the rear parking brake to go to pad change position. First is to use a scan tool that can do this. The other way is to go into ASSYST through the steering wheel and center screen access and do it there. You must set the parking brake into change mode and then when done go back to normal setting. DO NOT TOUCH THE BRAKE PEDAL when parking brake is set to change position!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you need tips to get into assyst go on youtube.

Thank you.

Here are the notes I have.
1. Insert Key, turn to On ( Position 1 )
2. Make sure Mileage is showing on display
3. Pres and hold " CALL & OK " at the same time. (around 5 sec.)
4. Go to "Service Menu"
5. Choose " Brake Pad Replacement "
6. Then " Press OK "

Yes nice ride and when done you must turn off brake pad change in same assist menu prior to touching brake pedal. When ya do this the parking brake motors ratchet out and put pads in correct position.

Awesome info

Impressive mileage on both front and rear pads.

Bare in mind the calipers on my Maybach have AMG stamped on the side of them and the front pads were huge and heavy. If I recall they are a bit different than s550 and s450.

So perhaps different models will have different wear times.

Katie, it would appear that you have a stud that you put into your wheel hub when your tire is removed. Is that to make tire removal and reinstall easier? If so, what are these called and where can I find a few?

Thanks.

YES the stud is used for tire removal and install especially on spin happy fronts. I got them more so for the gtc with the ceramic brakes where WIS stresses to never let wheel bump rotors.

Many places to buy but one example

What size Katie... Thanks for posting the info. Useful item!

I did not know there where any different sizes. I thought they were all the same for Mercedes. If there is a selection then your going to have to get a caliper and measure the diameter of your lug bolts. I do know the Maybach and the GTC use the same diameter and thread size so the pins work for both cars.

you know that this tool came in the tool bag for the w221 s550.

Nope.…. Now all W221 owners are going to there trunk.... See what you started... What size is the Scalss W222. The link Katie posted at the site gives you several size options.
Thanks!

Ill go look later and see if theres a stamp on it. Great little tool for those of us who swap out wheels. Its basically a long wheel stud.