I need to replace the front brake pads on my wife's 1998SLK 230, and I have3 and 1/2 questions.
1)Where can I get a repair manual? Auto parts stores don't carry them, and the dealercharges a fortunefor access to their repair manual.
2) What is the minimum allowable thickness for the front rotors?If Ileave rotors with less than the minimum thickness on, is it really a safety issue or just a performance/wear and tear issue?
3) Replacing the pads looks pretty straight foward, similar to american and japanese cars I've worked on before.Is there any special trick or suprises I should know about?

 

the thickness is stamped on the rotor. sometimes hard to see but it is there if it is a MB rotor. will have part # then spec in mm'syes the brake job is straight forward. if you dont see a huge lip around the edge of the rotor you prob ok then. the worst that usually will happen is brake squeel or vibration when braking.

 

Check Ebay for the repair manual. Way cheaper than the dealer.

 

Thanks for the info. Actually there is amoderate lip around the edge of the rotor, probably a little more than 1/32 inch, definitely less than 1/16 of an inch. I'm fairly sure the front pads were replaced once before by the previous owner. One more question--do the OE pads from mercedes contain asbestos?

Thanks!

 

not sure on that, but im sure that they probably do.