[R129 SL] Less brake dust/what kind of pads, etc.

[Tom Reynolds]

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Two more, one long, one short and succinct from a master Mercedes mechanic.
 This should about be the end of the thread from me, by the way, as I was
just wondering what kind of pads I should use next time they need
replacing, and I think I have some pretty good ideas now.

Regards,
Tom Reynolds
Hereford, AZ

>Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2003 11:41:55 EDT
>From: SGR100@aol.com
>Subject: [MB] Re:Brake pads - Metal Master experience
>
>Gary,
>
>Your post to the list Re: Metal Masters is almost identical to the post I 
>made several years ago when I first got our 400E and tossed the high dusting 
>Textar pads for the Metal Master's I'd used on my Porsches and Volkswagens
for years. The resident list expert and co-list owner Stu Ritter, offered his 
>contrary opinion based on years of servicing customer's Mercedes and
flatly slammed MM pads as too hard, taking too long to warm up with poor
braking performance and a host of other complaints. I didn't buy this
because of my previous experience with these pads, so I installed and ran
these long wearing pads for almost 4 years on our 1992 400E and continued
to run them on my 944T street car while I graduated to Pagid orange
competition pads on my Porsche racecar (absolutely NO comparison to any
street pad both in braking performance and noise).
>
>Fast forward to April of 2003. We come by this awesome deal on a loaded
2002 Camry for my wife and decide to off her 400E for something newer for
me to drive. Without comparing this car to a Mercedes (how can you?), I
have to say that the brakes on the Camry are very good, contrary to past
models of this car. Great pedal feel, excellent fade resistance with very
large pads and over 12" in diameter rotors on the front. At full song
(125MPH) the car stops almost as well as my Porsches! 
>
>My wife and I swap cars for a day and she gets back into the 400E (used to
be 
>her daily driver) and promptly calls me to report that the brakes
are...well...she used stronger words, but they "...don't stop well". In
fact she says they barely stop the car! Meanwhile I'm in the Camry
wondering why this car stops so much better than the 'Benz.
>
>I quickly realize that the high pedal pressure and poor low to medium 
>temperature performance of the Metal Master's have her convinced that the
brakes are bad! I agree with her after we trade cars back and I promptly
replace the pads with Textar OEM style pads and quickly realize how poorly
the MM pads work in normal everyday situations, like panic stops and
aggressive commuter driving. I think because we had MM's on both our cars
in the beginning, we were used to the high effort, long stopping distances
that are normal with the Metal Masters. The exact poor performance Stu
(Ritter) commented on when I posted my postitive comments on MM pads a few
years back.  
>
>So, I'd STRONGLY urge folks to NOT run the Metal Master pads on anything
that requires good braking performance at all temperatures with normal pedal 
>pressures. The additional dust is worth the improved performance of the
OEM Textar or Jurid pads. I won't run Metal Master's on anything now.  
>
>My experienced .002
>
>Steve Russ
>

and the last comment;

>Steve, you had the unique experience of being able to compare pad A and 
pad B.  Most owners never get to do that. They have their brake pads and
that's it. There is little human memory for retardation rates and pedal
fee. >Now, once you've been a professional and have driven thousands of
nothing but Mercedes, you really know what the brake pedal should feel
like. As I've stated before, give me 50 feet and I'll tell you if they are
MetalMasters or not. Those pads just don't stop the car until they get warm
and when you need brakes the most they are ice cold. They also chew up
brake rotors in my >experience. They leave lots of ridges on the rotor face
while Textar
leave a nice smooth clean braking surface.

>Stu
>(who also adds)  >Simply put, Metal Masters are the worst brake pad I've
ever experienced.
>Period.
>



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