[bigwiki]

OK. I replaced the all brake pads from 4 corners, front rotors and bleed the system with dot 4 fluid. The brake is still soft as compare to my 92
BMW 525 or Jaguar XJS. It brakes fine but it just a bit soft. Is this just how w124 brake system designed?

Next, I might replace the 17 years old brake lines.

 

[tirona]

crush a viagra pill and add it to the brake fluid reservoir, then your brakes will get harder for sure
on a more serious note, all mb's i have owned and driven have had hard and firm brakes. did you bleed by starting rear passenger, rear driver, front passenger, front driver? did you bleed by pumping the brakes? if so then when slamming the pedal to the floor sometimes can disrupt the master cylinder seals, but give it a few miles or days and the pedal will firm up again. i'm assuming you didn't allow the fluid level to drop too far allowing air into the master cylinder and abs. also new pads need to bed in.

 

[ps2cho]

You probably need to rebleed the brakes.

If your lines are original, replace them. They are only $10 a piece and will be much better and safer than the old cracked ones you probably have now.

My brakes are very strong.

 

[Sherman321]

Yep, even though my BMW weighs way less and is in the same overall condition my Benz still has a better braking feel. Hell I didn't even bother bleeding the brakes when I did them last month either. I say rebleed also

 

[bigwiki]

If viagra can solve the brake problem, I'll add some in since I have some left over.

OK. I bled the front brakes first and then the rear brakes. Does bleeding sequence matter? I use Motive brake bleeder.

 

[ps2cho]

If viagra can solve the brake problem, I'll add some in since I have some left over.

OK. I bled the front brakes first and then the rear brakes. Does bleeding sequence matter? I use Motive brake bleeder.

That's your issue. RR -> RL -> FR -> FL in that order.

Motive Power Bleeder great job :thumbsup:

Just make sure you don't top up mid bleed otherwise air gets in.

 

[augapfel]

Watch out for the "brake master cylinder really looks like it is full of fluid but it isn't" problem. Viewing the fluid level through the side of the reservoir is misleading since you see only the front chamber. If you keep adding fluid it will spill over some baffle and fill the back chamber too.

And remember that it will take a few miles for the new pads to "bed in" and mate perfectly with the rotors. Until then the pedal may feel a bit soft at the beginning of travel.

 

[bsmuwk]

If you would like some extra firmness in your brakes, stainless braided lines are the way to go. They don't expand like the factory rubber lines do and they look cool too. Just an extra step forward to make your brakes that much better.

100$ usually gets a set to cover all 4 corners.

 

[semis1]

In any car, when you are bleeding the brakes, you start from the one farthest away from the master cylinder and last one is the one closest.
Start from the right (passenger side) rear, then left (dr.)rear, then right (pas.) front
and last (dr.) left front.
A very effective way for bleeding brakes, is gravity bleeding. Take cap off master cylinder, put a CLEAR tube over the bleed valve on the caliper, crack it open (just enough where brake fluid will start coming out--make sure the clear tube goes in a bottle which you will NOT reuse.
This takes time but works great!!!
Make sure your master cylinder ALWAYS has brake fluid in it. If it runs out, you will need to redoo the entire process.
When no more bubbles are showing up in the clear tube, that caliper is done. Close the bleeder valve and move on to the next one.
Also, youtube might have instructional videos on this.
HTH

 

[bigwiki]

Thanks for the correct instruction guys. I bled in the exact opposite way (the nearest first).