W211 with SBC H brake pad change - my positive experience

pcman_jh

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Just changed te brake pads on all 4 wheels on my 2004 E220 CDI estate. Was nervous about starting te job after Reading about the EBC brake hold function that's on this model - the one where it holds the brakes if you pulse the brake pedal.


A 'Brake wear - visit workshop' message was being displayed in my centre screen in the speedometer.

I bought all 4 brake pads and sensors from eBay - the seller was very helpful - Doctorcar I think was his name. The only glitch was he said I'd need 3 sensors of one type, and 1 of another, but only needed 2 of the first type (and the 2nd type).


As per other postings I simply did the following-
Made sure the bonnet was open
Switched off the parking lift alarm (a switch under the rear view mirror) otherwise the alarm will sound when you jack the car up.
Locked the car with the remote then put the key in a safe place.
Disconnected the large electrical connector to the brake module on the drivers side under the bonnet- note the connector has a grab handle shape at the top that, when pulled up, will also cause the connector to self extract itself from the assembly.
(The above also stops any faults being recorded on the computer, or the EBC module trying to charge itself, or pushing the brake pistons pushing out when your fingers are in the way.)

Change the front pads as per any other car - 2 half inch retaining bolts to remove to allow the caliper to be moved out the way. NOTE: The passenger's side hub needs a different sensor to the other wheels - this hub's sensor cable inserts into the new brake pad half way in - I'm assuming for the 50% warning or the + symbol that's displayed with some service letters ie B+ .
The rear hubs require a Torq bit to remove the caliper retaining bolts noting their heads are covered by a rubber shroud. The sensor cable is only fitted to the rear driver's side Nd is the same As the front driver's side hub. There was no sensor on the rear passenger side.
Reconnected the EBC connector under the bonnet.
Job done!!!
 

television

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And you are a happy man :D:D
 

Alex Crow

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happy days, odd that you have imperial bolts though :D
 
OP
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pcman_jh

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Under £70 for everything - includes both front an back pads from doctor_car, and the sensors from wunderpartz, both eBay. Note my comment about only needing 2 of one sensor and 1 of the other therfore prob nearer £65 if I hadn't bought the 3 sensors.

Re imperial bolts on front calipers - it could have been a 13mm but my 1/2" socket fitted!
 

mrracey

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Bolt size

Just changed the front pads on my W211 E220 and also found the caliper bolts were 1/2 inch. I checked the thread and it's 5/16 UNF, not metric. All very strange.
 

jasonyw

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Won't it be simpler to disconnect the negative terminal of the system and backup batteries?
 

N4D5

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Without starting a new thread, sorry for jacking this one, what would you say a good price is for front brake disks and pads fitted including 1 sensor i think.

I have been quoted £400 for service A plus the front disks and pads, all parts supplied and fitted. E320 cdi Sport 55.

Also was thinking about getting rear pads done, what would the rough cost be supplied and fitted.

Thanks
Nad
 

alan782

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I just pull the plug to the sbc pump, change the pads/ disks, re-connect the sbc pump then reset the fault with a fault reader. Very quick and simple providing you have a reset tool. These are quit cheap now (even cheeper if you get them from your dad!).
 

jberks

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I've done 2 now. Didn't disconnect anything. SBC can potentially wake up on unlock or within 20 mins after.
So I unlock it, open the bonnet, boot, wind down the windows, shut the doors, then put the key out of reach and make sure nobody is going to open anything. (Ensure the Mrs, Kids etc are somewhere else)
Jack up the car and remove the wheel and ensure that at least 20 mins has passed since I opened the door. Once it has (tend to leave 30 to be safe), crack on.
Not had a problem. Its not officially approved and of course you don't leave your fingers in harms way, but I am told this is the way most garages do it if they're honest.
Of course it goes without saying 'at your own risk' but it works for me.
I seem to remember Malcolm warning against pulling the plug as it could (potentially) harm the electronics in the pump. Disconnecting the batteries can also be a tad risky given the sensitive electronics - hence why I follow the 30 minute rule.
 

jasonyw

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I've done 2 now. Didn't disconnect anything. SBC can potentially wake up on unlock or within 20 mins after.
So I unlock it, open the bonnet, boot, wind down the windows, shut the doors, then put the key out of reach and make sure nobody is going to open anything. (Ensure the Mrs, Kids etc are somewhere else)
Jack up the car and remove the wheel and ensure that at least 20 mins has passed since I opened the door. Once it has (tend to leave 30 to be safe), crack on.
Not had a problem. Its not officially approved and of course you don't leave your fingers in harms way, but I am told this is the way most garages do it if they're honest.
Of course it goes without saying 'at your own risk' but it works for me.
I seem to remember Malcolm warning against pulling the plug as it could (potentially) harm the electronics in the pump. Disconnecting the batteries can also be a tad risky given the sensitive electronics - hence why I follow the 30 minute rule.

Are you saying we are actually paying most garages 20 minutes for doing nothing?:rolleyes:
 

Steve@Avantgarde

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I have had some SBC Cars throw a right wobbly if you change the pads with out deactivating the SBC, I have seen pumps fail too. Have to be very careful with these, its never worth the risk I always deacivate and reactivate properly but then again I have star and not everyone does!!
 

dieselman

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Not had a problem. Its not officially approved and of course you don't leave your fingers in harms way, but I am told this is the way most garages do it if they're honest.
The risk of finger trapping is negligible, the pads move unmeasurably each pulse.
The only real risk would be that the pistons could pop out of the calipers or you could trap your fingers if you fell asleep halfway through the job.
 

jberks

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I have had some SBC Cars throw a right wobbly if you change the pads with out deactivating the SBC, I have seen pumps fail too. Have to be very careful with these, its never worth the risk I always deacivate and reactivate properly but then again I have star and not everyone does!!

I've seen it throw a wobbler when I was unable to change one side, (Still don't understand how it knew) but once that side was done, it was happy again. If we all had star...:)
, but with the options of disconnecting the batteries, pulling the plug or leaving well alone, I leave well alone. Reconnecting the plug could blow something in the pump, reconnecting the batteries could cause a surge but leaving well alone only runs the risk of crushed fingers ;-)
In reality, SBC doesn't run all the time, or else we'd all wake up to flat batteries all the time. 20 mins is the limit of unprompted wake-up unless there's a fault. So, don't prompt it by opening a door etc and you should be safe.
 

sogaro

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Just changed te brake pads on all 4 wheels on my 2004 E220 CDI estate. Was nervous about starting te job after Reading about the EBC brake hold function that's on this model - the one where it holds the brakes if you pulse the brake pedal.


A 'Brake wear - visit workshop' message was being displayed in my centre screen in the speedometer.

I bought all 4 brake pads and sensors from eBay - the seller was very helpful - Doctorcar I think was his name. The only glitch was he said I'd need 3 sensors of one type, and 1 of another, but only needed 2 of the first type (and the 2nd type).


As per other postings I simply did the following-
Made sure the bonnet was open
Switched off the parking lift alarm (a switch under the rear view mirror) otherwise the alarm will sound when you jack the car up.
Locked the car with the remote then put the key in a safe place.
Disconnected the large electrical connector to the brake module on the drivers side under the bonnet- note the connector has a grab handle shape at the top that, when pulled up, will also cause the connector to self extract itself from the assembly.
(The above also stops any faults being recorded on the computer, or the EBC module trying to charge itself, or pushing the brake pistons pushing out when your fingers are in the way.)

Change the front pads as per any other car - 2 half inch retaining bolts to remove to allow the caliper to be moved out the way. NOTE: The passenger's side hub needs a different sensor to the other wheels - this hub's sensor cable inserts into the new brake pad half way in - I'm assuming for the 50% warning or the + symbol that's displayed with some service letters ie B+ .
The rear hubs require a Torq bit to remove the caliper retaining bolts noting their heads are covered by a rubber shroud. The sensor cable is only fitted to the rear driver's side Nd is the same As the front driver's side hub. There was no sensor on the rear passenger side.
Reconnected the EBC connector under the bonnet.
Job done!!!
As educative as this piece is, am a bit confused on some lines and would need a few clarifications please, firstly you got 4 sensors (3 were similar and 1 different); the right passenger sensor is the different one, and eventually you fixed the sensors but the rear right had no sensor!!! Where would the fourth sensor have fitted to if it was to be used? Also, in some other fora, i read that the driver side sensor is the diffeent one and its called White sensor, is this car specific as in E240 is different from E350? Diesel from Petrol?

P.S: Guess my confusion is addressed here; http://tech.bentleypublishers.com/s...-184986-2215/W211 NOte AH42.10-P-0003-01A.pdf
 
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television

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Though the big plug is pulled for training purposes its not good to do as it is always live.

The sensors should be all the same in the way that they work, probably the odd one was from a previous service
 

anyweb

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hi Malcolm,
after seeing your post about painting the callipers i wanted to do the same on my E320, however i don't know what is the correct procedure to take them off, undoing the two bolts is easy, but then what, and from reading this thread there is discepancy between how to disable/turn off SBC,

is there any 'recommended' way of doing this (for people who don't have access to STAR)
 

television

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If you are not taking the pads out, then you need not do anything, just paint as best you can. if you are going to take the pads out, then disconnect both batteries, the little one up front is the SBC battery.

You will have to reset the windows and sun roof but that is easy.

I think that the main battery has to be disconnected first, but I will check for sure
 

anyweb

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hmm so where exactly are the batteries and aside from the windows and sun roof what else do i need to change, ie: will it forget all my radio stations, and other things ?
 

television

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hmm so where exactly are the batteries and aside from the windows and sun roof what else do i need to change, ie: will it forget all my radio stations, and other things ?

Nope every thing else stays as is, when you join up the ESP lamp will be on, just start the engine and turn the steering from lock to lock a couple of times.

With the windows, key turned to 2 (ign) close the windows on the slow lift and hold the switch in that mode for 5 seconds.

Big main battery is in the boot, little one under the bonnet
 


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