Mercedes GLE brake pad

[MaximaGuy]

My rear brakes and rotors need replacement and would like your opinion on pads.

I intend to resurface the OEM rotor and use high quality pads. On FCP Euro they have semi-metallic (OEM) and ceramic (aftermarket) and your recommendations would help. I also intend to flush the brake lines with DOT4 fluid (recommendation is DOT4 plus).

I am disappointed with semi-metallic OEM pads as they ruined the rotors (40K miles on the odometer).

 

[Marcozi]

I no longer resurface rotors. Modern rotors are pretty thin. I either leave the rotors as is or replace them. Pads? Stick with the factory pad, unless you track the car.

 

[GMBoy]

Buy new rotors. The labor, cost and time wasted to resurface your current rotors outweighs the cost of brand new....and when you resurface you have thinner rotors which can warp easier. Secondly, FCP Euro and quality doesn't always fit in the same sentence. Not to say they are all bad, I actually use them often for Euro cars in the shop for hard to get stuff or if a customer is on a budget...most of their aftermarket stuff is the same offshore parts you get elsewhere. My recommendation is a good quality rotor and brake pad set from Rockauto or Autozone Gold series line.

 

[JohnnyG]

Once, when I was at the Mercedes dealer I noticed that they sell upgrade ceramic pads for most of their models.
Not sure what they cost, but supposed to be less dust and higher performance braking.

 

[bigjl]

My rear brakes and rotors need replacement and would like your opinion on pads.

I intend to resurface the OEM rotor and use high quality pads. On FCP Euro they have semi-metallic (OEM) and ceramic (aftermarket) and your recommendations would help. I also intend to flush the brake lines with DOT4 fluid (recommendation is DOT4 plus).

I am disappointed with semi-metallic OEM pads as they ruined the rotors (40K miles on the odometer).

I put original ATE pads front and rear on my old W222, also put Pagid pads front and rear, and EBC Redstuff on the front before I sold the car.

If I had kept the car any longer I would have put EBC Redstuff pads on the rear aswell

I wouldn’t resurface the discs personally but as long as you are still within Mercedes tolerances for discs thickness then why not.

EBC Redstuff were the best pads I had on the W222, less brake dust than any other pads I used.

I would put them on the 7 series but it’s a PHEV so it’s very easy on brakes.

It’s on the original discs but had the front and rear pads changed by BMW at 21k for some reason.

Anyway, after nearly 70k the front pads are on 9mm thickness, so god knows when they will need replacing.

It will be with EBC discs and pads though.

 

[Jetronic]

Once, when I was at the Mercedes dealer I noticed that they sell upgrade ceramic pads for most of their models.
Not sure what they cost, but supposed to be less dust and higher performance braking.

Doubt the higher performance claim Ceramics are lower performance but less dust generally

 

[loneryder]

I put Pagid oem pads all the way around on my ML350. Left the rotors as is. They work just like what came on the vehicle.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Akebono Euro is the gold standard for Euro ceramic pads. There's also Wagner OEX.

Pair them with Powerstop Geomet coated rotors.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

I just recently went through the thought process of machining OE rotors on my wife's Sentra big time fail.

 

[Andyd95]

I would buy Genuine MB pads and Zimmerman rotors if I were in your shoes. That said if you want ceramic, Akebono is the appropriate answer. I would not resurface those rotors, buy new.

 

[MaximaGuy]

May I ask your reasoning for new rotors - they should last for the life of the vehicle right (OEM from factory rotors are the best, aftermarket and OEM retail parts stores have been a failure for me).
At least all my earlier vehicles have lasted 200K miles - the OEM semi metallic rotors have been hard on the rotors. Time to move to ceramics.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

May I ask your reasoning for new rotors - they should last for the life of the vehicle right (OEM from factory rotors are the best, aftermarket and OEM retail parts stores have been a failure for me).
At least all my earlier vehicles have lasted 200K miles - the OEM semi metallic rotors (you mean pads?) have been hard on the rotors. Time to move to ceramics.

you said you need new rotors, and that your pads have been hard on them

And I'm from a place that suffers from rust, so you need to replace the rotors with the pads every time

My rear brakes and rotors need replacement and would like your opinion on pads.

I intend to resurface the OEM rotor and use high quality pads. On FCP Euro they have semi-metallic (OEM) and ceramic (aftermarket) and your recommendations would help. I also intend to flush the brake lines with DOT4 fluid (recommendation is DOT4 plus).

I am disappointed with semi-metallic OEM pads as they ruined the rotors (40K miles on the odometer).

If the pads ruined the rotors, it sounds like they need to be replaced.

Do you have an on-car lathe to resurface the rotors with? If you take them somewhere to get resurfaced, the cost is almost as much as a new rotor anyway. And what if it turns out that after resurfacing, it gets below the minimum thickness and you need to replace them anyway?

You can get quality coated rotors for under $50 each

 

[MaximaGuy]

Local Oreily parts store resurfaces rotors for $20/piece - the store will not turn the rotors if there is much to remove (have turned the rotors a few times on my other vehicles and its been alright).

 

[MaximaGuy]

Bought Akebono Euro ($124) from NAPA and will tackle this in a few weeks.

 

[Egg_Head]

New rear pads after 30k miles? Wow, you must be tracking this car. I would get new rotors for sure.

 

[Astro14]

Akebono pads have been great on my Mercedes and Volvos. New rotors are not expensive and often, there is not a lot of “meat” between new rotors and the specified minimum thickness. I would order new rotors. Zimmerman or Mercedes rotors are good. Often, Mercedes rotors are the same price as aftermarket.

 

[Jetronic]

Akebono pads have been great on my Mercedes and Volvos. New rotors are not expensive and often, there is not a lot of “meat” between new rotors and the specified minimum thickness. I would order new rotors. Zimmerman or Mercedes rotors are good. Often, Mercedes rotors are the same price as aftermarket.

Can't think of any instance on a passenger car where more than 1mm of wear per side is allowed.

 

[97prizm]

Once, when I was at the Mercedes dealer I noticed that they sell upgrade ceramic pads for most of their models.
Not sure what they cost, but supposed to be less dust and higher performance braking.

From my understanding depending on how "ceramic " the pads are will determine how quickly the rotors get chewed up.

 

[The Critic]

May I ask your reasoning for new rotors - they should last for the life of the vehicle right (OEM from factory rotors are the best, aftermarket and OEM retail parts stores have been a failure for me).
At least all my earlier vehicles have lasted 200K miles - the OEM semi metallic rotors have been hard on the rotors. Time to move to ceramics.

Stop trying to fix European cars in the same manner as your prior Asian vehicles; apples to oranges.

 

[nthach]

The Germans want new rotors every time pads are swapped out. It’s just the nature of the beast - the Europeans love abrasive friction, unlike the Asians and Americans going with cohesive friction. They also hive stuck with low-metallic friction.

If it was me, a good Euro-branded pad and Textar/ATE rotors or OE parts. @The Critic did show me a box of Indian-made Mercedes StarParts “value” line pads - think Toyota’s “warranty” pads and TCMC pads for customer-pay work. The markings on them look like the same ones on Bendix/Duralast Gold/BrakeBest Select/Carquest WearEver pads - they’re made by MAT Rolunds in India, R&D in Denmark. The aftermarket has been claiming ECE90-compliant pads for Euro applications, Wagner has been boxing up Ferodo pads for Euro applications.