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I've put 17,500 miles on my car so far and my rotors started warping about 5k miles ago. The car only had 40k on it after 10 years, so who knows what condition they were in when I got it. Currently at 57,000mi total.
Anyways, I'm torn between two options right now. There aren't a lot of aftermarket mods for this car that will boost HP without significant cost. I already put Traklite rims on it which gave it a decent increase in pep off the line. So I'd kind of like lightweight rotors to decrease rotational mass further and get more HP to the ground. On the other hand, I know I drive hard and I'm worried about blowing through rotors over and over, so I've also considered upgrading---at least to a better brand or possibly cryo treated.
Has anyone had the same issues or do you otherwise have input? Has anyone tried going with lighter weight rotors? If your recommendation is to upgrade, do you have any suggestions for brands or part swapping from other models?
Not looking for a full-on breakdown or how-to. I don't mind doing the research---links would be nice, but I'm mostly just asking for a collective of opinions. I read through the posts I saw related to warped rotors and didn't find much other then it should be hard to warp them.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
Genuine MB rotors can be pricey. I would avoid slotted rotors, but cross-drilled are fine. My experience with slotted is that they get noisy or rough feeling as they get worn.
Since we don't know what year or options are on the car, you could start with www.rockauto.com which usually gives you a selection from inexpensive to expensive. My favorite go-to site for parts is www.fcpeuro.com since any part you buy has a lifetime replacement promise. When it wears out, you buy a replacement and send the old worn part back for a refund.
Oops. Thanks for reminding me. 2011 C300 Luxury RWD. Unless the Comand system came with a suspension there are no other stock options 😋. The only notable non-stock upgrade is I took the front rims up to 17x8.5 to match the backs allowing rotation to keep tire cost down.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
Did you buy the car new?
Run your VIN through www.lastvin.com to see all the options added. If your wheels were different sizes, then you got some sort of sport wheel package and maybe bigger brakes. Though at 17", probably not.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
Originally Posted by Tibbits
Oops. Thanks for reminding me. 2011 C300 Luxury RWD. Unless the Comand system came with a suspension there are no other stock options 😋. The only notable non-stock upgrade is I took the front rims up to 17x8.5 to match the backs allowing rotation to keep tire cost down.
COMAND is not an option; it is standard equipment.
COMAND is not an option; it is standard equipment.
Dang. I figured that was part of the upgraded option. I have the original window sticker in my files at home, it showed a $2900 upgrade I believe for the Bang and Olufsen sound system.
Run your VIN through www.lastvin.com to see all the options added. If your wheels were different sizes, then you got some sort of sport wheel package and maybe bigger brakes. Though at 17", probably not.
I always have trouble reading these Vin decoder sites. It seems like they show every available option instead of the ones installed on the car.
Maybe some of me can help me understand the items I highlighted then. My shift knob is aluminum. My suspension isn't adjustable, although it handles almost as good as my previous car did lowered on coilovers. Limousine? Parking package? I don't have sensors or a rearview camera. And I don't feel like I have any of the AMG styling, correct me if I'm wrong. Otherwise everything is accounted for.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
The AMG Styling is just the front spoiler and side skirts (visible in the picture of your car). Limousine is just synonymous with Sedan. All the other stuff you'll have to trust is there. There is nothing indicating that you have an adjustable suspension.
The AMG Styling is just the front spoiler and side skirts (visible in the picture of your car). Limousine is just synonymous with Sedan. All the other stuff you'll have to trust is there. There is nothing indicating that you have an adjustable suspension.
I appreciate the info man. I bought the car with just under 40k, so it is still new to me. I'm hoping I have the 330mm rotors but I haven't had a chance to measure. Need to put my black keyed lug bolts in now that I finally found a pair that will fit in my tiny wheel pockets. So I will try to measure this weekend. From what I've read, the 330mm was still available with stock 17's.
If not, I was also reading a euro thread where multiple people were talking about retrofitting c350 calipers and rotors without any modification needed, successfully under 17's, and even a mishmash of older model rotors and brembo calipers. But my options are definitely limited by the 17s.
This is kind of where I got to the idea of just buying lightweight rotors and give it a shot. If they warp I guess I'll reconsider the next set and if they dont then sweet... But I was hoping others would have input on what they've tried before I spend the money.
356mm , in my old S14 days some did run K Sport 356mm big brake kits under 17" , it was close...
They found only certain wheels had the inner rim room .
I will be taking my wheels off this weekend to replace my lugs. I will let you know if they'd fit. It's possible they will be designed with bigger breaks brakes (lol) in mind given they are meant to be track wheels, but I'm not anticipating it.
Are you certain you have warped your rotors? Have you checked them with a runout gauge? And if you don't have a gauge, it can be as simple as using Vice-grips to attach a screwdriver to a jack stand - put the tip of of the screwdriver just at/off the rotor - turn the rotor and see if your gap changes.
If it doesn't, what you are feeling is pad material on the rotors. 3M makes an excellent brake surface cleaner kit with 3" resurfacing disks.
If it does, Tire Rack has had some pretty clearance prices on C-class brake rotors and such.
Are you certain you have warped your rotors? Have you checked them with a runout gauge? And if you don't have a gauge, it can be as simple as using Vice-grips to attach a screwdriver to a jack stand - put the tip of of the screwdriver just at/off the rotor - turn the rotor and see if your gap changes.
If it doesn't, what you are feeling is pad material on the rotors. 3M makes an excellent brake surface cleaner kit with 3" resurfacing disks.
If it does, Tire Rack has had some pretty clearance prices on C-class brake rotors and such.
I had the master mechanic who worked on my previous heavily modded car take it for a test drive. When he came back he said "your front rotors are warped", which was my suspicion before taking it in. I will check more thoroughly when I have the wheels off Saturday. I would hope there is no buildup on the rotors since I haven't seen a spec of brake dust on anything since I got the car, nor have I had any issues with brake fade---though there have been a couple times when I could've glazed them. Primarily right after I got the car and had to slide onto the shoulder when I came over a hill to a gridlocked highway at 90mph.
Thank you for the idea though. I wasn't really planning on doing a more thorough check, but I have been hosed by enough mechanics to justify it.
The problem with saying 'warped rotors!' on most modern cars is the calipers are floating. IF the rotor were warped, the caliper simply moves slightly back and forth as the wavy surfaces passes through. There is nothing that would transmit through to the driver unless they are warped enough that the steering wheel f vibrates under hard braking It takes a whole lot of heat or a horribly-produced rotor to actually warp a rotor.
But pad material in the surface of the rotors can and will cause a pulsing as the pads grip worse then better.
I spoke with a rotating equipment specialist from Detroit who deals with this issue for the auto manufacturers and other industries.
Vibration on braking can be caused by uneven deposits of pad material, thickness variations, surface texture variations, or severe warping. Some are more likely to occur in certain environments than others and there are a few different causes.
But the auto repair industry usually refers to any of them as warping. And it doesn’t matter much because the remedy is the same for all: resurfacing of the existing rotor or replacement.
I highly recommend Zimmerman rotors and OEM pads and buy them from fcp euro. High quality rotors and after first replacement the cost to do them again is like $40 for me. Heck you could replace them every year if you wanted. I drive pretty hard and they hold up great. Make sure the hub surface is spotless before putting on the rotors. If they are not that can eventually cause them to warp again. The command system is an option for our car, the base system is called the beta 20 or something like that and doesn’t have reverse camera and other things. Command comes with one of the 2 convenience package options.
Since everyone is recommending the Zimmerman rotors, can someone let me know if the Zimmerman rotors are drilled or not? My C300 came stock with drilled front rotors, but every picture I can find of the 295mm zimmerman rotors either just shows a box or shows plain rotors. At least on google/parts sites, I haven't scoured the forums for possible pictures. Just seems silly to aesthetically and possibly mechanically downgrade the stock part.
Zero reason to stick with Zimmerman/stock. Why not upgrade? I installed StopTech cryo-SportStop drilled rotors. Tire Rack had them on special for a great price. Still did last time I checked about 3 weeks ago
I actually ordered the Front+Rear drilled StopTech kit for $466 a month ago, but the company never even emailed me, let alone charged me or shipped it. I wasn't sure of the company since it was mostly known for local car work, not parts.
Found another company today for $411 shipped and decided to give it a shot. They seem to have occasional negative reviews for never shipping products and not replying to emails, but mostly good ratings. I paid through Amazon pay JIC so I have a good form of recourse if they don't ship the parts.
For reference, the 936.35024 kit is $800-$1200 on most sites. So $411 seems pretty stellar. Lets just hope this company actually ships the product.
I wanted the cryo treated set, but they are out of stock on a lot of sites and the sites that have them are charging far more than I want to spend. For reference, a little over a year ago I was still driving my 99 maxima. Rotors were $15 a piece in back and $30 a piece in front lol.
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