dj29chicago

Has anyone had to replace their brakes on their C63 yet? I'm at 28,000 miles and my dealer told me I was in need of new pads & rotors - at a price of $4,000!?!? This seems ridiculously high - can the rotors be turned if they have enough thickness? Does this price seem out of line to anyone? Thanks!!

sales@eurocharged.com

Come by the shop and let us take a look at them. No charge of course!

www.eurocharged.com

chief63

SCAM. Get Brembo rotors and some good pads from a performance shop, it should not be more than a 1000$ for the 4 of the them.

c63beastdriver

My tires were getting balanced the other day and I looked inside the front fender at the break calipers. On the bottom of the caliper there is a small stamp that says BREMBO. Didn't know that we had Brembo's on the AMG....

Jae Duk

Yup!!! And I doubt our brakes from Brembo is 1K or less.

chief63

Never trust dealers they are crooks.

A shop here in montreal (also selling on ebay) sells OEM rotors and brake pads for 1200$US. They say OEM but its just OEM fit (excluding cars with the sport package) not Brembo.

I have a friend who is a distributor for Brembo I'll ask him in the future what prices he can get. Anybody knows the thickness fo the rear rotor?

From racing experience, I changed brake discs every summer (Brembo) and I would try to find a cheap alternative. Spending 4k on rotors and pads makes no sense at all.

The big issue now is that very few stores carry the part so prices are high. It should come down very soon and realistically around 2k for the same Brembo setup (not from the dealer).

cya

chief63

From another Ebay seller (top-rated seller):

New Front Brembo rotors (2 piece) for $800 US

15 inch rotors fits on CLS63, C63 and E63 according to seller.

If you really want to spend 4k on brakes, get this! http://www.gmpperformance.com/index....ail&PID=205689 Now that's a nice upgrade for the same price =)

Check it out dj29.

Z99

Yes, two piece MB OEM rotors are $1200 a piece. One piece for about $1000. Yes, they are Brembo. But, Brembo told me that they can not sell me the rotors. Had to get their entire Big Brake kit. Call Renntech. They can get the OEM rotors much cheaper. The one piece they quoted $650 a piece. I have numerous threads on this. The two piece rotors lasted one track event. The one piece lasted longer, 6 events. The two piece can not handle heat and abuse for long due to less steel mass. The more steel, the better they handle heat.

Yes, the OEM parts are a rip off. What has worked very well for me are the one piece (non PP) rotors with Renntech pads and steel lines. Love this car on the track. Very fast times. But, very high maintenance cost. It is a heavy car and MB prices are silly. Hopefully there will be more pad and front rotor options for us soon.

emericr

Ouch, that is insane prices... I was going to take the car on the track in January but if you are saying that it will destroy the rotors and I am in for a $4K bill for a few hours of fun, that is just not worth it...

Sincity

Ditto that!

chief63

That's some very useful info thanks! From my track experience (about 200 hours), solid metal rotors with no slotting or drilling will do a good 15-20 track sessions. This takes into account I'm in Canada so the weather is colder. I would still recommend you avoid tracking your car in intense heat. Bad for the engine and bad for the brakes.

I've also found slotting and drilling on Brembo discs reduce the life cycle of the disc and pads, and they also warp on a more frequent basis (especially on hot days). It's also essential to have a good cooling lap for the brakes! Anyways if you join a lapping club they'll give you the advice you need.

Always remember lapping will cost a lot of money in tires, brakes, suspension parts and gas but it's safer, will save you money on speed tickets and make you enjoy the car to the fullest, so the cost is worth it.

wadgras44

parts.com has the one-piece rotors for $630 - a mere 14x more than the c300/350 rotors.

emericr

Chief63: thanks for the info. That makes me feel better that one track event would not kill my rotors and it would be more like the 15 to 20 sessions. I have the PP package so the discs are slotted and drilled. Are you saying that once they are shot, I should not replace them with solid ones.
Am I correct by stating that you are trading better braking versus longevity by having the slotting and the drilling?

eagle_lex

i wonder with just street driving what type of milage you all are getting with the brakes. off topic but not really.

yooker

Other way around, you want to replace them with the solid ones to improve longevity because there is more steel mass vs the two piece rotors.

MikeS54

Noob question here

i thought the pad and rotors are covered under warranty .....

emericr

Uooker: that is what I meant, sorry for not being clear.
If you want better braking: have 2 piece, slotted and drilled rotors
if you want longetivity: buy solid rotors

chief63

That's right.

The big difference will be changing to better pads and good brake fluid (both a must), this should be your focus. Better pads usually means more brake dust but P21s wheel cleaner will be your best friend (and save your mags finish too in the long run since its not corrosive).

Happy driving!

yooker

Have you tried the p21s red? Apparently some people have managed to get some into Canada and that stuff totally puts the regular p21s gel to shame while still being pH neutral.

I got a 16oz bottle of the Chemical Guys Diablo gel coming, i'll see how well that goes.

Z99

Chief63 is right on. The best set up for track use is one piece rotors with good fluid and good pads. They will last longer and work very well. Hartmut at Renntech told me that he switches to one piece rotors when he tracks car as well. How long they last will depend on temps (as Chief63 stated), the track, and your horsepower. The more speed you are able to get on a straight the harder on the brakes you will be if you have to slow down for a slow turn.I usually track at Beaver Run. With K2, the car hits 130 on the straight and then you have to slow down for a 45 mph turn 1. If you are going for times, this will do a number on the brakes. The 2 piece rotors just can not take the heat. Even my oem pads cracked. Learned the expensive way. Tracking is expensive, but well worth it to me as this car is a joy at the track.

Z99

Forgot to mention. You may want to check with Renntech. They were working on a piece to help cooling. If I remember correctly, it goes on the caliper to direct air. It was about ready a few months back. $1000 is what they told me. I was also wondering if we could run cooling ducts in place of the fog lights. Anybody pull one of those lights out to see if it can be done?

chief63

Nope the latest I tried whas the regular p21s gel I'll check it out!

c63canada

Big brembo brakes equals big cash when they need to be changed.

Just wondered if the 4000$ includes 4 rotors and the brake pads (8) and the labor.

I'm not looking forward to changing them but those brake callipers and cross drilled rotors look so damn good.


When I'm at a stoplight, like most of you probably, the guy next to you usually checks out the car, moves his head slowly and then he sees the insane crossed drilled rotors and 6 pot monobloc calipers that barely clear the wheels. And they they start starring at those brakes. For long.

My wife always comments "the guy in the car next to us is again staring at the brakes."

Heck I stare at them once In a while even tough I've seen them a thousand times.

FYI the front brake pads for a WRX STI is a 500$ job at dealer. So 4000$ if it is for the 4 rotors, 8 pads and labor is high for sure but like I said brembo = big cash!

BTW I don't know if it's the same in the USA as in canada but here we have a 2 year warranty on the brake pads and rotors. So if you think you are close to having them changed make sure you go get them checked out before the 2 year is over. If there is a little left in them you might wanna go on a track day and wear them out before the 2 year period is over that way you can get some new ones at no cost.

just my 2 cents

chief63

Thanks for the info! I'm in Canada too but I suppose the warranty will probably be voided if you change your brake pads and even possibly brake fluid, which is an absolute must if you want to track the car on a regular basis.

All warranties usually also have a clause excluding "extreme" usage and wear, for example racing with the car, which is not normal usage. I guess there is probably some way around this if you put back everything to stock when visiting the dealership each time which is a bit of a hasstle.

I might be wrong but I think I know the dealership's way of thinking good enough =)

HIRO63

What kind of brake pads is everyone using? Im looking for a racing brake pads that I can use on stock brake system. Is Pagid good or better one out there?