The invention relates to a method for producing a friction element (3) comprising the steps: providing a metal main body (10), hardening the main body (10) on at least part of its surface (11, 12) in a salt bath, wherein the salt bath hardening is the final method step, and no further processing of the hardened surface (11, 12) is performed. Furthermore, the invention relates to a friction element produced according to this method and a friction component comprising the latter.