Advice on getting brakes done W202 C200

[LittleRestraint]

Hi,

I have an old C200 that I bought as a cheap runaround but consequently fell in love with. It's my first merc

I had the front wheel off today and the discs and pads need changing. I'm going to check the back tomorrow, but I'm going to assume that they will need doing too.

I'm a fairly practical person, and used to work on small motorbikes in my youth, but I'm far from being a car tinkerer. I know the basics though.

It's it reasonable to think I can change the discs and pads myself without too much bother? I have a Haynes manual, axle stands, and tools etc.

What sort of money would I save on labour? What sort of ballpark figure would a garage charge for new discs and pads all round?

And finally, is ECP the best place to buy? Any tips on brand etc?

Thanks, I realise most of this well have been covered before, but I'm struggling to put all the info together concisely.

Thanks everyone

 

[merc85]

Quite simple really, take your time and make sure you grease the caliper slider's etc,

Good Brands Mintex(TMD) Textar, Pagid you get what you pay for imho when it comes to brakes.

 

[LittleRestraint]

Thanks, any idea how much I'd save on labour roughly?

I'm pretty confident I'll be ok, just wanted to check I'm not setting myself up for anything too awkward.

Nice looking Volvo, I used to have an 850 saloon, wish I'd kept it, fantastic motor.

 

[Del80y]

Put you car model and replacing brakes into Youtube it will give you a lot of videos that you can watch to see whats involved

Merc quote me £99 just to replace rear pads which takes about 10 mins a side to do..........

 

[tonyc280]

Changing brake disks and pads on the c200 is a breeze and even if your not brilliant at mechanics you should still find it easy. A Haynes manual is a god send for small jobs like this. good luck. ps you will find it hard to get a better price than euro car parts. I bet you'll save at least £100.00 in labour charges if you do it yourself.

 

[LittleRestraint]

Brilliant, thanks lads. I've got my trusty Haynes manual at the ready, so I'll be tackling it next weekend.

If I get stuck I'll be posting here

 

[LittleRestraint]

One last thing....

Obviously when I do the discs/pads I will be giving everything a clean with brake cleaner and/or a wire brush. Is it worth painting the calipers with something like black Hammerite?

I don't mean from a cosmetic point of view (I have steel wheels and hub caps), but as another layer of protection from wear. Or is it totally pointless?

Just wondered, whilst I will have everything in bits anyway.

 

[merc85]

One last thing....

Obviously when I do the discs/pads I will be giving everything a clean with brake cleaner and/or a wire brush. Is it worth painting the calipers with something like black Hammerite?

I don't mean from a cosmetic point of view (I have steel wheels and hub caps), but as another layer of protection from wear. Or is it totally pointless?

Just wondered, whilst I will have everything in bits anyway.

Pritty pointless protection wise, wire brush where the pads would sit and grease sliders up.

They will look better with a coat of hammerite

 

[dibblodocus]

When you grease the calliper slide pins you should use a silicone grease. I'm going to do mine soon and have bought silicone grease for the slide pins and Cera Tec brake grease for the back of the pads and the point where the pads make contact with the callipers...I also bought a can of brake cleaner to give it a good going over. Good luck and make sure your axle stands are good and solid!

 

[LittleRestraint]

Thanks again lads, looking forward to tinkering now.

Rust has started to show on the arches (no surprise there), so I thought I'd have a bash at worst one last week. Still needs flatting and polishing but looks surprisingly good so far, especially considering it's that pimp shade of 'smoke silver'

Will get some photos up when finished

 

[dirtbikerthree]

dibblodocus - can you explain why to use slicone grease? I thought most people just use copper slip??

 

[BlackC55]

Because it doesn't eat away at the rubber I expect.

 

[dirtbikerthree]

It seems the copper slip was more the older traditional mechanics choice, as pointed out above by Ollie, valid point, had overlooked this in the past. Also apparently the copper slip may be bad for vehicles with sensors as it may be conductive.

Point taken ;-)