I recently replaced the brake pads in my 2007 Vanden Plas with ceramic pads (instead of the stock semi-metallic which produce a ton of brake dust). I have optional Rapier wheels which have 20 wedge shaped slots in each wheel which took forever to clean. Ceramic pads are supposed to be dust free. I’ll post an update on the brake dust situation after I have some miles on them.

A lot has been written about the feel of different brake pad materials. Frankly, I don’t notice any difference. The stock brake pads gave tons of smooth braking power and the ceramic ones do too.

Over in the X308 section of the Forum there is an excellent step-by-step tutorial by Princemarko on the front brakes. You can find it Here . He did a fantastic job and everything he wrote was correct for the X350 with a few minor differences. My rotors were fine so I replaced only the pads.

Step 2: My spring clamp is a stamped springy steel piece rather than a wire. The trick to getting it off was that the part that goes into the holes on the outside has a lip that has to be pulled up and then out. Not a big difference but took me a while to figure out that is why it wouldn't pull out.

Step 3: Several (actually most) YouTube videos and write-up say to use a T45 Torx socket to remove the calipers but it is actually a 7mm hex. I used a 7mm Allen wrench; the old fashioned kind that is “L” shaped. I then used an 8" piece of iron pipe I had laying around to put over the end of the wrench for leverage and they came loose easily.

Other than that his X308 instructions are spot on.

Here are the ceramic pads l used:
Carquest Wearever Gold Ceramic Brake Pads - Front (4-Pad Set) Part No. GNAD1241. Advance Auto Parts $42.99
Carquest Wearever Gold Ceramic Brake Pads - Rear (4-Pad Set) Part No.GNAD1095 rear. Advance Auto Parts $44.99

Due to the pandemic I ordered online and got a 20% off coupon and free shipping.

On the rear brakes the big difference is that the parking brake pushes on the caliper piston just like the regular brakes. The first and most important step is to make sure the parking brake is not engaged before you begin. On my 2007 VDP when you turn off the car and get out the electric parking brake automatically engages. To over ride this you turn the engine off and with one hand press DOWN on the parking brake button and while holding it down pull the key out of the ignition. Be sure to chock the wheels before you Jack up the car.

Rear instructions by OrJaguar posted here were invaluable.

The only part that was not clear to me is that to get the caliper piston to retract you have to TWIST and PUSH at the same time (actually I used alternating little steps). I used a large clamp and large socket like OrJaguar said but I used large vice-grips to TWIST the piston. With the caliper sitting nicely on the top of the suspension. I gave the clamp a little twist to apply downward pressure and then a little clockwise turn of the piston with the vice-grips. Alternating back and forth it took maybe 15 little twists on the clamp and little turns on the piston to get it screwed all the way back in the caliper. Be careful to not damage the rubber bellows when turning the piston. You DO NOT have to open the bleeder valve to get the piston back in.

With the above mentioned Forum write-ups and a couple YouTube videos the entire project is quick and easy. Next week I am going to flush the brake system and refill with new clean brake fluid.

Jeff

 

I upgraded to ceramics a few years ago. Never looked back. I did feel just a tiny bit less bite, but totally worth not having to clean the rims every 2 days.