Verooom

I am planning to DIY replacing the pads and rotors for the CL55. Has anyone done this themselves? Also, are the CL55 equipped with the SBC?

grane

I would advise against it in the strongest terms.

Find a good indie who specializes in MB,not a we service all German/foreign makes place.

OEM parts in sealed OEM boxes at sick prices - www.mymercedesparts.com

Make sure you have the VIN number.

danlnyc

can I ask why? because I was planning on doing it myself as well.

novae500

Believe thecl55 brakes are the same/similar to the e55. There is a post that exotic metal 55 has on DIY brakes. But i did my rears 2 weekends ago. Took about 1 hr 1/2 to do them. Pretty easy to do. Disable the SBC, knock out the 2 pins that hold the pads and make enough room for the 2 new pads to sit. Also replaced the sensor as well. Got all the parts at parts.com which gets the parts from MB dealer so are OEM parts.

Post from another member
Front and Rear Brake Job done!!! Some helpful tips for next time...
I thought i'd post a few thoughts after doing the brake job. These aren't intended to be step by step instructions. Rather, if you know how to do a brake job, some tips specific to AMG brakes...

1. Disconnect the SBC before starting. There is a lever behind the passenger headlight. Pull it up all the way up to disconnect the SBC.
2. i took out the pads, put them on a clean piece of paper face down. Spread a thick layer of anti squeek on the rear of the pads and let it cure. Most people put the anti squeek on the pads, install the pads, and go for a drive. This has the pistons of the calipers cut through the uncured anti squeek and makes the anti squeek much less effective.
3. If you're having trouble pulling the wheels off, spray some liquid wrench (used alot in this project) between the disc and rim. Let it sit for a while and try again. If you're still having problems, lift the car, loosed the lug bolts (but don't take off) and lower the car. The weight of the car will break the wheel free.
4. To work on the FRONT brakes, turn the wheel to the opposite side of the caliper you're planning to work on so it's sticking out. Don't bother trying work on the front calipers while steering wheel is straight.
NOTE: If you're planning to work on the right side caliper first, turn the wheels to the left, then disconnect the SBC, then start work. Then to get the left side done, reconnect the SBC, turn the wheels to the right, disconnect the SBC again and start work. Don't bother trying to turn on the ignition to turn the wheels to the left or right with the SBC disconnected because you'll get a loud beeping sound and warnings which will not go away till you turn the car off and reconnect the SBC.
5. The pads are easy to take out from both FRONT and REAR calipers. Just stick a screwdriver between the pad and disc to push the pistons back.
6. There are two main bolts holding the FRONT caliper to the suspension, you'll have to take these off to get the discs off. Use a 13/16 socket (a perfect fit) with impact wrench/torque wrench/breaker car to get it off. Suggest using some liquid wrench first as they are torqued to 135 lbs. and are usually tightened shut. Same procedure for the REAR calipers except the use of E18 torx socket. The rear is a tighter fit so you'll have to use extensions to get them off. I used an impact wrench with a 1/2" extension to get the bottom bolts off and a snap on torque wrench to get the top bolts off.
NOTE: I tried the Snap On torque wrench set at 200lbs. in reverse to get these E18 bolts off. Initially the torque wrench clicked indicating the bolt was above 200lbs of torque!!! A little bit of liquid wrench and they came off with much less force.
7. If you are having trouble taking off the discs, spray liquid wrench at all contact points of the disc to hub. Hammer the disc face with a hammer (then hammer a few more times, then a few more...) and it should come loose. Keep plenty of brake cleaner handy and spray hub when you get the disc off and the caliper, before and after you get it off.
8. When reinstalling the FRONT and REAR calipers, use some blue lock tite on the 13/16 and E18 bolts and the disc retaining screw. You'll see the residue of the lock tite on the bolt from when it was applied last time.
9. After getting the calipers back on start installing the new pads. Use one of the old pads and wedge a screwdriver betweent the pad and disc to reset the pistons all the way. For the FRONT reset a pair of the pistons and install a new pad. Use this sequence for each of the four pads. Don't bother trying to reset all 8 pistons at once, in order to install all four pads at once, resetting one pair of pistons ejects another pair of pistons and you'll never get done. Same goes for the REAR calipers. Lastly, reinstall the pad retaining clips.
10. Reinstall the wheels and torque the lug bolts and you're good to go.

That's it, took me one day to do everything including a two trips to the hardward store...good luck!
__________________

CharlestonN

Replacing Pads N' Rotors was easier on my CL55 than it was on my old W24 E 320 coupe

I use PBR pads (less expensive, less break dust and seem to last just as long and work just as well as OEM)

I still use OEM Rotors

It took me about 45 mins to an hour per corner (this includes removing and remounting the wheels)

Sathinas

Might want to consider doing the bearings while you have the rotors off. Cheap insurance.

You will need a good dial indicator, MB hub bearing runout specs are very tight. I remember the specs on my MB were in the 10 thousands IIRC.

The bearings themselves are very competitively priced from a dealer. The green MB spec'd grease is about 7 bucks a tube, and you will have more than enough to pack 4 bearings (one axle).

Speedtrapped

SBC....I assume the system exists on my 05' cl65? So if I pull the lever up, but resetting consists of pushing lever back down?

Speedtrapped

I just checked my engine bay, and by passinger side headlight no SBC unit, so I assume no SBC on a CL65 amg?

grane

If you know how to do a brake job, as the post below yours states, one might attempt it but personally I would not want to assume the risk given such a high performance car. That is my personal view; yours may differ.

I enjoy hanging around the craftsmen and technicians who work on fine instruments and cars. Since my profession keeps me somewhat cloistered consulting tomes of obscure lore, observing these skilled people work on my rides is a diversion for me. Like Chauncey Gardner, I like to watch.

I am glad that there are people more knowledgable than myself on the Forums documenting what needs be done so I can participate in the maintenance if need be. I am glad to realize that such jobs are not for my limited practical skills. As the Clint Eastwood character says, "a man has to know his limitations."

topofminehill

Thought changing rotors and pads was going to be a nightmare on my 2006 CL55 AMG with all the talk about the SBC and all. First off, the SBC is activated by the brake pedal, and is charged-just unlock the car and never activate the brake pedal. You can turn on the motor to turn the front wheels for positioning. I just did my rotors and pads. With all the talk about how expensive the parts are I started looking - check out this parts supplier WWW.Autopartsway.com OEM german Balo and Zimmerman rotors (all drilled) and I use the Wagner semi metalic ultra quiet. There are others to your preference. Took longer to clean the calipers than change the pads and install the new rotors. Just a note- Order 4 new torx screws, old ones may strip when taking out. Order two new pad sensors, clean the small post and lightly scrape them to clean the connections-they must touch the pad to make contact or you will get the brake wear message. Brake job was as easy as any other normal car. Do it, you won't regret it.

Quadcammer

guys, the 215 CL does not have SBC brakes.

layzie12g

What does SBC stand for?

BlownV8

Sensotronic Brake Control.

alx

Have done a few cl55 cars. Never bothered with sbc turning it off and never had problems. What I had problems with was hammering out the pins. On some cars those just don't move to the point where they will bent, but not come out. If that happens soak in wd40 (be careful to not get it on the rotors if you will be reusing them) and wait overnight. Seriously- over night. Otherwise you will be drilling through the broken half of the pin (usually the inside end of the pin).

Doing bearings on anything with less than 100-120k miles is not common. Grab the wheel at 12 and 6 o'clock and try to detect free play. Repeat with hands at 3 and 9 o' clock. No play should be detected at all. I have seen only one cl55 car with bad front bearings and it had 170k miles on the odo (an 03).

topofminehill

That is the one thing I did do was soak the pins and spray wd-40 or equiv. all over the calipers and let sit for a while. I used brake clean solvent to clean off everything before and after assembly. And yes th CL Class does have the SBC system-That box behind the drivers headlight with all the tubes coming out of the top.

OCKlasse

The CL does not have SBC.

OCKlasse

That would be the ABC reservoir and the power steering reservoir.

BlownV8

Cars with SBC
Mercedes SL roadster (R230)
Mercedes E-Class sedan (W211) and Estate (S211) until mid 2006
Mercedes E-Class 4matic sedan (W211) and 4matic Estate (S211) until mid 2006
Mercedes SLR (C199)
Maybach 57 and 62 (W240)
Mercedes CLS coupe (C219) until mid 2006

awiner

I actually think he is refeering to the aluminum ABS/ESP block with the indivudual ABS hydrolic lines comming off it.



If so, this IS the ABS unit and not SBC. The W215 CL never had SBC (thank god).

OCKlasse

Ahh, yes. You are correct, as always

topofminehill

WOW! then I really did'nt have to worry about that dreaded SBC. Now I have to worry about the ABS and all the associated parts. Thanks for the info on the SBC, I hope it helps other misinformed people such as myself. So the big question is if we can get all the brake and rotor parts between $500 and $600, what the heck is everyone paying so much money for to these stealers.

Guilty

Where?

Quadcammer

Rotors for the cl55 are $300 each, oem front pads are $217 (oediscountparts.com) so its a bit more than that.

Euroteck MS

Just to give you guys another option:
http://euroteckmotorsports.com/index...d=65&id=203233


Will be ready to ship in 2-3 weeks!

alx

the stopping and fade resisting power of the stock cl55 brake setup is excellent for but the most demanding track day (and if you are in a cl ... you are doing something wrong

so... once your set is purchased, what would be the incremental cost of the "ring" pieces (i assume that is where the price advantage would come from) ?

btw, .... the unsprung weight advantage of 10 pounds per corner you are quoting would be very hard to detect on a cl/s class amg.