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Brake pads Mintex or OEM Mercedes
Reviews
I recently got a pair of pretty rusty 325 calipers for £50 (mine are the smaller ones from a 316) and sandblasted them back to clean metal. Then painted with high temp paint and rebuild kit £30 (pistons, seals, guide pins, bleed valves etc). I was pretty happy with the result which cost me around £100 for the pair. I then went with mintex discs and pads and a full set of braided brake lines my mate had. Full refurb prolly cost me £300 and are significantly better than they were but I don't think they will be as good as a 4 pot setup.
Pros: significantly better brakes
Cons: not as good as 4 pot
Vehicle:
BMW
I’ve always used Zimmerman rotors and Mintex pads, and have yet to find a better combo. I’ve tried Brembo, Stoptech, Bosch, but nothing has pleased me like Mintex [pedal feel, stopping power, no noise, very low dust [especially when used on drilled rotors]].
Pros: pedal feel, stopping power
Cons: nothing has pleased me
Mercedes has always had great brakes but until the 190E you didn't have many cheap upgrade options. I have E420 brakes on my 190E Sportline, and my god the stopping power is exceptional.
Pros: exceptional stopping power
I did Redbox pads on my B5.5 Passat with 312 rotors, and I loved them. I skimped out when I first did the upgrade and went with CARQUEST pads and absolutely hated them. Maybe that's why I liked the Redbox so much....
Pros: loved them
Cons: none
Vehicle:
Volkswagen Passat
Mintex Redbox are always on my list for Daily Driver pads on VWs. I just started into my 3rd set on my 180k wagon. In contrast, the Mintex are linear, fairly quiet, wear well, are easy on rotors, low dust and can tolerate a bit of spirited driving.
Pros: linear, fairly quiet, wear well
Cons: none
Vehicle:
Volkswagen
Mileage: 180000 km
Fantastic engine & brakes. I think they're very good looking cars, too. Mine bit me hard though, and I'd never own another.
Pros: fantastic engine, brakes
Cons: expensive repairs
Mintex is a step below the OEM Jurid/ATE/TRW pads in terms of friction coefficient. Mintex is an upgrade when it comes to dust. Right now, running Akebono Euro Ceramics... I won't come to my verdict until winter.
Pros: less dust
Cons: lower friction coefficient
I have some noise from the mintex pads as well. Im switching them all out soon.
Pros: none
Cons: noise from pads
Might I share an experience with my Mercedes Warranty Service: It was my last "scheduled" maintenace on my Benz before my warranty expired in a month... This is what my service rep told me behind closed doors...."We better schedule in as many repairs as possible" 4 new break pads and 2 new rotars for the front (even though they still had a few more thousand mile on them), replacement wood trims for 2 of the door panels, new wiper blades and arm, a whole new radio system b/c the tape player broke (even though I've put probably only 2 tapes into the bay for the 4 years I owned the car); a brand new driver seat b/c one of the heating element on the car seat would not power on (I live in Florida, rarely ever used it).....
Pros: warranty covered repairs
Cons: unnecessary repairs scheduled
Vehicle:
Mercedes
You wanna avoid mintex red box these days. The passat pads have a slight problem with burning up under hard braking.
Cons: burning up under braking
Vehicle:
Volkswagen Passat B5
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