Whether for vehicles long out of production or for modern ones, your best source for Genuine Mercedes-Benz Parts is Mercedes-Benz.

We well remember a couple of decades ago when we first stumbled upon the Mercedes-Benz pad wear indicator system — we hadn’t been aware that such a thing had even been invented. Wow, a warning lamp on the dash goes on when it’s time for new linings, and it’s so simple.  Just have a ground pin on the pad that contacts the rotor when the friction material gets thin.  Much more elegant than the noise-generating steel tab used by other makes — no matter how little the motorist knows, or cares, about things mechanical, he or she can read, so will know this actually concerns brakes, whereas just hearing a high-pitched squeal will just alarm him or her without pointing in any particular diagnostic direction.

Fine, but working as an independent at the time, we quickly found out a distressing fact:  The aftermarket pads we normally bought didn’t have any facility for attaching the old ground pin assembly — and certainly no new assembly.  In other words, installing non-O.E. pads absolutely defeated this useful feature.

With a genuine Mercedes-Benz O.E. pad set, on the other hand, you get everything you need for proper assembly.  Not only pads that’ll accept the ground pin, but also the whole assembly and connector.  That means the pad wear system will be completely renewed, and you can expect it to work just as it did on the first reline cycle.

There’s more, though.  You also get the proper pad shims, spring clips, hardware, etc. to bring that disc brake caliper assembly back up to like-new condition.  Even more important, you can rest assured that the friction recipe is ideal for the application. It’ll go a long way in preventing comebacks.  Plus, it won’t hurt that you’ll be able to advertise that your brake jobs are done using genuine Mercedes-Benz parts exclusively.