Kent has set out to try to find a solution for the annoying brake dust problem on his 300SL. For many of the older factory alloy wheels, brake dust covers are a good solution, but for the AMG wheels dust shields just don't look good and could affect brake cooling at high speeds. Of course Kent only drives slow.....
Problem & Solution
Common among these chassis:
As with most everything there are always tradeoffs. If you want less dust you might have to deal with more brake rotor wear and possibly a harder than normal brake pedal feedback. Using high quality OE pads would usually eliminate those two problems but you would have to wash your wheels more often. If you did not wash your wheels the dust would often end up permanently staining the paint.
He has taken another look at the new generation of ceramic brake pads to see if they deliver on the promise of performance as well as less dust. As of April 25, 2012 he has installed ceramic pads on his 1990 300SL as well as his 1990 190 2.6. He has been pleased with the results. The best performing and lowest rotor wear ceramic pads will still produce some dust, but the dust is finer, a much lighter color (harder to see) and very easy to wash off.
When switching over to ceramic pads you will need to replace your brake rotors if they are badly scored. Badly scored rotors will increase ceramic pad wear and dust and lower braking performance.
Be sure to watch Kent's video explaining the difference and showing the results of these new pads: Reducing Brake Pad Dust on Your Mercedes Alloy Wheels Part 2: Let's See The Proof