arrowheadbob

We have a 2001 SLK320 with about 41K miles and the front pads are getting down. I called the dealer and they said like $250 if it is just pads and $650 if it needs rotors also. I asked them if when they did just pads, if they were going to turn the rotors to clean them up (no major grooves or anything), and they told me "you never turn the rotors on these - you just replace them". Does that sound true? Seems kind of odd. Has anyone turned the rotors on the front? Assuming that there is enough thickness. Replacing pads and turning rotors is no big deal to me - I have worked on my own cars for 30+ years whenever possible, and would prefer to do it myself.
Thanks

bazzle

Rotors for these are reasonably priced after market. Easy to change too.
Not normal to machine them.

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r170...ent-front.html

Bazzle

RobertG

most cars have more then enough metal on their rotors to allow for machining , Benz does not recomend this because it can lead to warping or overheating.

arrowheadbob

Thanks. Any recommendations on rotors? This car is not driven hard - my wife drives it to store and such and always under the speed limit. I saw Balo, Zimmermans for around $50-60 each and "aftermarket" supposedly oem replacements for like $40 each. I don't want junk, but just equal to oem.

E-Klasse

I went with Brembo crossdrilled rotors but the they cost over twice as much as the original ones. You can get a stock set of rotors for $75 and pads for $45. You will need a set of sensors as well for $3 each. You can do the job yourself in an hour.

I was told that in order to save weight, the rotors are not intended to be turned but replaced. In your case you may just need pads but you can check to see if you are down to the minimum thickness. On my other Benz, I was able to go until my second set of pads before replacing the rotors.

RobertG

I put Zimmermans on and no problems.

arrowheadbob

When you put the second set of pads on, did you do anything to the rotors, like rough them up slightly?

E-Klasse

I did take some sandpaper and give them a dull finish. I also cleaned off the remaining brake dust. Then I took it for a test drive with several slow and easy stops.

arrowheadbob

Thanks for all the advise. I was thinking of using Jurid pads - I saw them online and they say OEM by them. Sound okay?

E-Klasse

You could go with a better pad to get rid of a lot of the brake dust that an OEM stock pad will give you. Axxis or Porterfield pads cost more but have a lot less dust.

Buellwinkle

I typically don't turn rotors unless they are warped or grooved but you do have to clean them up, specially if you change pad formulations. I do mic the rotors and compare to specs on the rotor to make sure it's not too worn (safety first). The residue from the old pads will cause a weird effect where it grabs and slips differently until the old pad residue wears off and it develops a coating of the new pad material. Some people think this is rotor warping but it's not but can feel that way. So I like to remove the rotor, use emery cloth to sand down the old residue and then wash it with brake cleaner to get the grit off and then it's fine.

As for turning rotors, to me, if a rotor is so badly grooved or warped that it needs turning, I just get new rotors. They are relatively cheap and I don't have hours to spend dropping rotors off to be machined and then picking them up hours later while my car sits on jack stands. Also, the grooves that most rotor machining equipment puts on the surface can actually cause more noise and problems than it's worth.

kameljockey

My rotors were starting to wear down, and when it was time for new pads I bought the Porterfield Kevlar pads online, and I got a sweet set of Brembo discs from this eBay seller in Toronto. They were CHEAP, like $260 for all 4, cross-drilled. I did the install myself, it was pretty straightforward (i've done brakes on other cars), but I had to use a sledge hammer and a blow torch to get the rear rotors off. They were rusted on pretty good. After that job, not only does my braking system look better, but I can stand still from high speeds at a rediculous rate. The combination of porterfields and drilled Brembos made a noticable difference on my SLK.

twowheelin

I'll second the Porterfield pad recomendation. I put them on my 320 at about 38K miles and have been amazed by not only how little brake dust there is, but also how easy it is to clean. I'm reaching 60K miles now, and there's plenty of pad left but the rotors are showing some signs of wear. If seems that newer cars use lighter rotors that don't have much 'meat' on them to be turned once the start getting grooves. The backs are original and look ready for replacement.