Some of you guys are new to Snake's Wit and charm...he is being sarchastic... excessive brake dust = crappy pads = cheap pads = not true Mercedes quality = junk = nothing to be proud of etc etc yada yada yada... and I suspect he is not real keen on the factory rims either
Of course, someone will instantly jump in a state/claim;
"What do you expect? It is an economy car. "
Yep it is that... so is my $14,000 2001 Ford Escort, and it's front brakes are still serviceable with plenty of pad after 7 years of daily driving here in Texas... Sure...it leaves some brake dust but no where near the build up of sooty black crap I see on several of the new smart cars....
I did a lot of reading the Brit sites and it seems the green EBC pads are real good but at the cost of increased rotor wear.... I am still searching options that do not include real expensive rotors also...
Yes, and you notice ole' Snake is smart enough not get that stuff on HIS hands. A2Jack.
I know that brake dust is a VERY common problem, especially with German cars. The next time you are at a stop light next to a BMW, Audi, VW, or Benz, take a look at the front wheel. It's always darker than the back. My brother has an A4 and it's really bad on his
WARNING!!! Although brake dust is relatively harmless, you NEED to clean it. If you leave it on to long, it will stick on there permanently and will ruin the look of your nice wheels. You can buy some wheel cleaner at Walmart, spray it on, leave it for a few minutes, then spray it off. Do it weekly.
The Benz folks really like them soft and dusty brake pads. The pads wear fairly quickly and make lots of dust.... On the other hand they work very well with a nice pedal feel and tend to cause very light rotor wear in a relatively even pattern. The rotors tend to hold up through several front pads on an M-class for instance.
I've gone to ceramic replacement pads on my Benz cars and had real good luck with them. They hold up longer and make very little dust in comparison, and still don't tend to cause excessive wear on the rotor disks. The pedal pressure required is sometimes just a hint more than with the OEM pads, at least on my vehicles. I would probably use ceramic pads on the Smart when they need replacement.
I think I will get ceramics at change time or sooner if the kids complain too much. IMHO the brakes are EXCELLENT if not little grabbish so ceramics might even improve the feel some. I'm sure there will be a refined consenses by the time I get around to it.
I got the chepoes on my XL7 and after a week the front rims look solid black.
All Mercedes are that bad, as evidenced by the excessive dust on my slk 350. Bimmers are even worse. Just a note, break dust is actually somewhat toxic, so make sure the kids thoroughly wash their hands and make sure they don't get it in their mouths (or better yet use a sponge to clean the wheels). (If the part about the kids was a joke than sorry for taking it too literally..) Anyways, if you clean the wheels real well, then let them dry, then, using typical car wax, wax the wheels, they will repel the dust. I know, sounds weird but after waxing, you can spray them with the hose every now and then and most of the dirt will come off. Also mothers and turtle etc. make spray on wheel cleaner that works pretty well. I generally spend the weekend obsessing over my cars (I spend an embarrassing amount of time washing them, the neighbors and family think I'm insane). Sorry about the wordy post!
All Mercedes are that bad, as evidenced by the excessive dust on my slk 350. Bimmers are even worse. Just a note, break dust is actually somewhat toxic, so make sure the kids thoroughly wash their hands and make sure they don't get it in their mouths (or better yet use a sponge to clean the wheels). (If the part about the kids was a joke than sorry for taking it too literally..) Anyways, if you clean the wheels real well, then let them dry, then, using typical car wax, wax the wheels, they will repel the dust. I know, sounds weird but after waxing, you can spray them with the hose every now and then and most of the dirt will come off. Also mothers and turtle etc. make spray on wheel cleaner that works pretty well. I generally spend the weekend obsessing over my cars (I spend an embarrassing amount of time washing them, the neighbors and family think I'm insane). Sorry about the wordy post!
np. I think I will try out the wax advice. I do use my children as cheap labor but I take good care of them so I also appriciate the advice about the brake dust. Anytime you grind something that fine, it must be bad for you. What are they anyway? Asbestos?
In recent years the formulation of brake pads have changed from asbestos material to metal or metallic material.* Actually, these new "metallic" brake pads are tiny particles of bare metal compressed into the mold of a brake pad.* During braking the brake pad is compressed against the rotor.* Since both of these materials are made of metal, brake dust is now in the form of metal shavings that adhere and embed into the paint finish.* Since all vehicles have metallic brake pads, there is no vehicle that can escape brake dust contamination.
In recent years the formulation of brake pads have changed from asbestos material to metal or metallic material.* Actually, these new "metallic" brake pads are tiny particles of bare metal compressed into the mold of a brake pad.* During braking the brake pad is compressed against the rotor.* Since both of these materials are made of metal, brake dust is now in the form of metal shavings that adhere and embed into the paint finish.* Since all vehicles have metallic brake pads, there is no vehicle that can escape brake dust contamination.
Good find JPaul, I was not aware of that. I guess anything is better than asbestos, so It's somewhat comforting to know that the dust is now essentially metal shavings. Interesting... I hear these new carbon ceramic rotors on the Lamborghini's and Ferrari's produce little to no dirt. I think when my Smart comes that could be the first modification
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A2Jack.
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