Hi all

I'm looking at getting a purchasing a 2022 or 2023 AMG C63 S with a ceramic front braking system and wanted to find out:
- How long will they last?
- How much will it cost to replace them (AUD)?
- Are ceramic brakes easier to damage?
- Does it cost more to service them?

Trying to figure out whether I'm better off going for a C63 with steel brake system instead, if it's a lot more costly to go for one with ceramic brakes.....

Mixed info found online, with some online stores selling ceramic brake kits for as much as USD 20k!

Cheers

 

1. How long do they last? Its entirely up to how you use them. If you end up tracking the car a lot maybe 50k miles, again just an estimate. On the higher end it could be around 100k or maybe even more miles, if you drive your sports sedan like a saint.
2. How much will they cost to replace them? No idea, but if you heavily track your car you will get your money out of them. For a four corner steel brake replacement it set me back around ~$2000 USD.
3. Are ceramic brakes easier to damage? There was a post a while back with a chunk missing from one of the rotors, and it was apparently due to road debris.
4. Does it cost more to service them? Probably, again I do not have a CCB car, but common sense says it would. However, your probably not going to in for brake service as many times as a steel brake car.

 

1. Yeah, entirely depends on your driving. They can last as little as a track weekend to around 100k miles for just normal road driving. That's for the rotors. Pads you'll have to replace at some point.
2. I don't know about AUD, but a CCB brake job runs about $10k here in the USA, so yeah, they are very expensive if you need to replace them, and there aren't really aftermarket options to save some money. For comparison I get my brake parts from FCP Euro which has lifetime replacement guarantee, so a full brake job is just labor after the first one.
3. Yes, they are. They can get cracked from road debris, which goes back to point 1 and 2.
4. Yes, if you have to replace them, see point 2.

Quite honestly CCBs are not worth it. You'll find different opinions on them. Some people swear by them, because they don't produce visible brake dust, but then again, the rear brakes still do as they are still iron. They save some unsrpung weight, but then you might add back that weight depending on the wheels you have. I have the standard iron brakes which the super lightweight AMG 5 spoke wheels. They don't stop the car any better, unless you also opt for the Cup 2 tires, but then only in the dry. In cold temperatures they actually stop worse as they don't like the cold. They seem ideal if you track the car, because they deal with the heat better, but then it gets expensive as it's not unusual to still cook them after a few events. A lot of Porsche owners for example who track their cars a lot swap the CCBs for iron brakes, because it's just too expensive otherwise.

The standard C63S brakes are excellent. I've yet to fade them, but I don't really track my own car. When I attend AMG track events, they always have CCBs, but I don't have to maintain them. On the road and with my aggressive canyon driving, they hold up even on a very hot day. I swapped out my front rotors for the C63 Black Series full floating rotors, so now they are even better. FWIW, I just attended an AMG winter driving event and the C63S coupes we used had iron brakes. Remember what I said about cold temperatures and potentially throwing up some debris that cracks the rotors?


This is me drifting in the little snow there was.

 

Just get them and when it's time put normal rotors on.

 

Have them on my C63 S Final and am just about to swap the rears to the ceramics from the E63 which are a perfect fit.

I prefer the look, no brake dust and no rusting hub which really pissed me off on my last C63 with ceramics but steel rears.

Plus reduced unslung mass and will last the life of the car with road use, unless you're a track rat.

 

Well if you got the pockets to replace them when needed go for it otherwise stick to the steel ones or even go for the Brembo drilled for track days if that's what you'd like to do sometimes.

I had the steel rotors and replaced them with brembo since I track my c63s quite often. with FCP's warranty getting a whole new set cost me only $200. not bad for $2,200 brake setup (this was for front kit only btw). My rear is the same as front Brembo but yet to replace.