Hi.. I am the proud owner of a 01 E320 and have been replacing brake pads every 15K miles... Using factory parts... isn't this a bit too frequent? Lots of freeway miles and I am a smooth mellow driver...
Love to hear some feedback!
Thanx.

 

Yeah, something is wrong with that.

These are the things that I know will prematurely wear pads.
1) I have noticed that cross drilled rotors have a tendency to "grate" off brake material rather fast.
2) I have noticed that brake shops often do a "less than Mercedes" job of turning rotors, actually creating two NEW problems. One: if the cutting bit is cracked or dull, while turning the rotors, it will leave a very abrasive finish, which will grate-off brake material for nearly a year. Two" if they do not mount the rotor on the lathe properly, it will be "out-of-plane", and not parallel with the hub, which causes it to wobble at speed when installed. Both defects are absolutely unacceptable; yet they happen every day. If you would buy a "dial indicator", youwould be shocked to see how much precision you lose after the first brake job. High-end brake shops know better; Race shops are usually experts, discount shops are often the worst.
3) Lastly, there may be an imbalance of brake pressure caused by polluted fluid, which would cause one or more pad set to perform most/more of the braking. Bleed your brakes;change out brake fluid each year.
4) Oh yeah, "damaged spindles" can cause the brakes to wear badly. Have you hit and curbs? A bent spindle can cause the rotor to be out of alignment to the caliper. You can determine this buy analysing the brake pads. Are they wearing flat, or do they wear at an angle?

tell me about it.

Blue

 

15k with high percentage highway. Something is wrong.

What criteria do you use for changing the pads? The warning light coming on or what? Are all pads equally worn or does one pad wear and the other appear little used. This latter condition signals caliper or rotor problems.

MB pads create an immense amount of brake dust which many owners do not like on their gleaming wheels. However MB pads do not squeak / squal / grate etc. and I recommend sticking with MB genuine spares as the best overall compromise unless the dust problem bugs you.

The "dust": comes from BOTH the pads and the rotors which are intended to wear at comparable rates. Usually rotors need to be changed every two (or possible three pad changes) DO NOT USE shop turned rotors. Once the rotors are at minimum thickness (the reason they need to be changed) they cannot be reused and if reused expect all sorts of problems.
If you have a braking problem returned rotors are likely to make the problem worse rather than better...unless of course the rotors have already been turned by somebody to overcome a brake problem of some type.

Infrequent use tends to cause the brake pads to wear excessively especially in hunid climates. Observe how quickly the discs RUST after a car wash assuming the rotors get wet. An overnight stand will allow the rotors to appear quiterusty. The rotors rust and then when applied wear quickly until the rotor surface is restored to the correct finish.

The finish on rotos is complex like cylinder bores. i won't go into details BUT it is NOT a simple turning job. Accuracy is required in microns NOT thousands of an inch. Biggest problem with rotors is thick/thin (rather than simple wobble/out oif true) the former being caused by the two braking surfaces not being parallel to one another. Rotor dismounted between finishing operations.

I would expect OE pads to last circa 35kmiles in "normal" use but life is dependent upon definition of normal.

Stuart