My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320 aka The Benz

[Chuck Norris]

She's pretty enough. I like the simplicity and detail of the interior. I'd like to see some hot lookin' wheels on her if she were mine, but she is very clean either way. I bet she is a great daily driver!

[87gtVIC]

If I were to do it again I would have purchased a different style of OEM Mercedes wheel. I picked up an extra brand new set of aftermarket wheels so I can run winters and summers easily. I would have liked to change up the style but at the time was unsure of what fits and what doesn't. Im cool with it though. The summer set I have on now is MINTY fresh bling shiny.


Other things worth mentioning... Ordered new front rotors and pads as the steering wheel began to death wobble under moderate to severe braking. The are also OLD and have a huge ridge on the outside of the rotors. Upon a quick visual inspection the pads appear to be wearing unevenly. Hope the newness will cure the problems. Will have to lube up slide pins if there are any on this German car???

Last week the heat also decided to quit working. Boo. It was cold this morning too! Did a little googlfu and determined that the "heather control valve" is fubared. Has a little motor in a housing with an octopus amount of coolant ports, The thing leaks internally and the motor goes kaput. Ordered that doodad and some clips that break doing the install. The unit is housed underneath the windshield wiper assembly and cowl plastics.

Hope to receive the heater control valve soon and install it along with the fresh front brakes.

[jaywish]

I don't know about yours but my 02 still uses the nail, that you drive out with a punch, to hold the pads in place. It seems repair tasks on a Mercedes are setup to be amazingly easy for the service tech or insanely convoluted. No in-between.

[Tiggie]

I put brakes on a 72 280SE. Worst. Experience. Of. My. Life. Really liked the car otherwise. Had a nice moonroof. And factory cassette which was quite the thing in '72 I suppose.

Did some of these have a factory type chrome finish wheel? I've seen them around although I am unsure of the model they came on.

[87gtVIC]

I don't know about yours but my 02 still uses the nail, that you drive out with a punch, to hold the pads in place. It seems repair tasks on a Mercedes are setup to be amazingly easy for the service tech or insanely convoluted. No in-between.

I quickly watched a video on W211 brakes.. and I seen the nail. w211 is the chassis for those wondering.

I put brakes on a 72 280SE. Worst. Experience. Of. My. Life. Really liked the car otherwise. Had a nice moonroof. And factory cassette which was quite the thing in '72 I suppose.

Did some of these have a factory type chrome finish wheel? I've seen them around although I am unsure of the model they came on.

No clue on the wheels. I am not on any forum with that car.

[Chuck Norris]

I put brakes on a 72 280SE. Worst. Experience. Of. My. Life. Really liked the car otherwise. Had a nice moonroof. And factory cassette which was quite the thing in '72 I suppose.

Did some of these have a factory type chrome finish wheel? I've seen them around although I am unsure of the model they came on.

My landlord has a mid-90's Mercedes with some cool chrome finished Wheels that were oem, but not for his specific car. He picked them up from someone else, so I don't know what model they are from. Look good though, real simple design and not gaudy. They have a seperate tower-style center cap.

[87gtVIC]

Did the front brakes on the Mercedes this afternoon. No pins, I must have been watching an incorrect video! Anyways an easy job to complete. Two caliper bolts 13mm and two 18mm caliper bracket bolts and a t30? Torx and your rotor comes off if it aint all rusted in place. If so out comes the BFH. And out it came for both sides.


Passengers side new rotor and old rotor:



P.side rotor less:



New goodies for the caliper brackets:



P.side caliper bracket loaded with new Mercedes pads:



P.side all buttoned up:



Drivers side new and old rotor:



Drivers side old rotor up close:



The drivers side was worn pretty good:



All buttoned up on the drivers side:



Ready to roll:



And roll she did…drivers side:



Passengers side:



Feels good so far. Will see about the death wobble tomorrow.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

Death wobble? If this is indeed what you have then no amount of brakes work will fix it for you, unless you're also replacing the hubs at the same time, and even then it's just a "maybe"...

[87gtVIC]

Over exaggeration. All betters now. Definitely had a warped rotor causing it.

[Chuck Norris]

I sold a set of Brakebest pads and rotors to a Mercedes owner the other day. He brought in his rotor for comparison because his car had two brake options. I was surprised that neither the new or old unit was slotted. Seemed odd for a high-end car. I see yours is slotted however. I'd rather have the slots for heat dissipation personally, but on the non-sport version of his model, just plain-jane slab style rotors.

[gadget73]

Brake setup looks very similar to the 98-02 Panther stuff.

Are those rotors painted? Are you supposed to wipe that off first or does it just grind off with the pads?

[jaywish]

I thought exactly the same thing, panther brakes.

[87gtVIC]

Just let the pads do the work. Does not glaze them at all.

Brake setup looks very similar to the 98-02 Panther stuff.

Are those rotors painted? Are you supposed to wipe that off first or does it just grind off with the pads?

[Bobcat]

Just let the pads do the work. Does not glaze them at all.

My rotors had the same coating, David is correct.

But I had the coating put on them.

[87gtVIC]

Boo. Drivers side lower ball joint and radius arm are wasted. Will order replacements (including a p.side lower ball joint) and install when I get back from Detroit.