My friend wants me to help him change his brakes on his 99 e class turbo diesel. I've done brake jobs on american and japanese cars but never german.
Does anyone know if there are any special tools I will need or if there are any procedures that would differ from a normal brake job.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Need help changing brakes on a mercedes e class?
The W210 chassis is like most cars as far as brakes. A few tips:
You'll need to unbolt the front calipers to do the pads. The bolts on these cars are installed with anti-sieze, so you want to use a snug fitting six point wrench to pull the bolts. If you use a twelve point socket, you'll stand a good chance of stripping the heads, and it will become a character building exercise.
The rears are pinned, you need a 5mm punch (or a nail) to push them out. The pins and crosstrees may be rusted to death, so save some time and buy new hardware. If you're doing the rotors, you'll also have to unbolt the caliper. Like the fronts, these calipers are locktited, so use a quality tool to remove them. Mercedes wants you to use new bolts when you put it back together, but I don't. Nor do I use locktite, just tighten them well.
The rotors have a small metric allen screw which holds them in place. These often become rusted and need to be drilled out. You can install the rotor without the screw, which is only used for position. It's the wheel bolts that actually hold the rotor in place. If you find the rotors stick to the flanges, whack the hub sideways very hard with a very heavy hammer while pulling outward on the rotor...really...it won't hurt anything, and the rotor will pop off.
You'll need a new pad wear sensor for each wheel...you can get these from wherever you're buying the parts for a couple of bucks. It's important to replace them, as there are no audible telltales as there are on US cars.
When you bleed the brakes, be aware that when you refill the master, you have to fill it nearly to the brim. Otherwise, the rear brakes will never bleed.
Need help changing brakes on a mercedes e class?
It's pretty much the same as your used to. You will need a long thin centerpunch or similar to knock out the pins that hold the pads in place. If your just doing pads that's pretty much it- very easy. Wiggle pads out, squeeze piston and put new ones in
If you do rotors too, unbolt the calipers. No biggie.
Remember to buy new pad wear sensors and rotor set screws.
I've changed brakes on my W126 and W140 Diesels and it's just like any other disc brake. Altho' on the W140 I think there is a way to replace the pads without taking the caliper off but since I didn't know it I just did it the old way.
