PerformanceCLK

After having purchased a complete Brabus body kit for my clk at Christmas time, i opened up the boxes to find that they had sent me two front spoiler lips and one pair of side skirts. BTW, i didn't want two front spoiler lips, i wanted a front and a rear. So, on the phone with Brabus, and they are refusing to acknowledge their mistake until i speak with a Sales Manager of some sort. His only solution is to order a piece from Germany, which would take "several weeks", so i mention that their are other places in SoCal who seemed to be more able to acquire Brabus parts (e.g. West Coast Motorsports, Evosport, EuroRev, etc.). He then reluctantly agrees to telephone some of these places. And finally, i inquire about a rear emblem (gunmetal black, thanks for the input :-) ) , and he tells me that a body kit alone is not enough for him to sell me a Brabus emblem, and that i at least needed some Brabus rims. I told him that i'll keep my Lorinser LM 5's, cause i wont stoop down to the level of Brabus Mono's.

ViKTORiOUS

Brabus are a bunch of crooks, a guy on the E-Class forum has a gorgeous 2003 E-Class, with replica Brabus wheels, and he was looking to buy a body kit from Brabus, and they refused to sell him a body kit because he had replica Brabus wheels, yet his car looking amazing on them. Brabus is a joke, they basically scare all their customers away, bad way to do business, so if I were you, I wouldnt deal with Brabus directly because 1. they are shady and 2. they rape you with ridiculous pricing. I hope all goes well and keep us posted!

LowRydeR

Brabus quoted me $7,000 for 19" Monoblock V multipiece w/ Pzero tires before, what a rip off. Never go directly through Brabus!

-Bruce

vraa

Brabus is trash, they look ugly, all they had was name and it's going down the drain quickly.

Brabus emblem, heck I think I could just make my own...

hinhin7

How would Brabus know that the guy had the Brabus replica wheels? Plus, its none of their business if the guy wants to buy authentic brabus bodykit while his other stuffs are replicas.


Solihin

KL316

ur the 1st person ive heard that said that...

sorry to disagree wit u, but i think brabus bumpers look incredible on the SLK and SL, and the monoblock VI?? they're, imo, the most beautiful wheels ever! the design is brilliant! 6 straight double spokes! they look great, even as single piece

ranks up there wit the BBS LM's and HRE 841R and Hamman PG3

ViKTORiOUS

You can tell by how the wheel looks that its replica, but he saleman asked the guy if in deed they were replica, and the guy said yeah they are, so he refused to sell him a bodykit because he was rockin replica shoes... its ridiculous... hes willing to dish out well over 3k on a bodykit, and he wont sell it to him, wow shows how dumb Brabus is about sales, someone needs to teach them how to do business.

hinhin7

The guy actually brought the car to Brabus? Are we talking about Brabus america or just one of Brabus dealer? Ask the guys to get the Brabus bodykit from any modification store, they would be able to get them.

Well, IMO, Brabus wheels are nice, especially the Mono V. I have them in my garage. I really love them, but hey, that doesn;t mean the people in Brabus are nice.


Solihin

ViKTORiOUS

Brabus North America -- we're talking about the guy with the E-Class

MBZ4LIFE

There are some guys at the Brabus center in Newport Beach who are very stuck up. They act like those retail guys on Rodeo drive.

I've been fortunate to have met a rather down to earth salesman from Brabus. This guy understands that I'm not carrying thousands of dollars in my back pocket and is willing to give me special discounts when they have more supply than demand in their inventory. I just need to be patient.

Last week he said he would install the B11 performance kit for me for a very good price. I thought it was pretty reasonable so I may do it in the new year.

I've also had problems with getting the Brabus emblems on my '03 CLK500. I've got the Brabus exhaust and suspension kit and I still don't qualify for the emblems. I've been told that even with the B11 performance kit, I still won't qualify. Apparently, it's a corporate policy that they can't put emblems on cars which do not have the Brabus wheels. The emblems represent the Brabus look which means the most important item are the wheels. I've been avoiding my purchase of wheels because I can't decide on the mono VI's or the HRE's (841R, 543R, or 843R).

You could always buy the emblems on ebay for $30, but what's the fun in that.

hinhin7

I called Brabus North America once inquiring about the Brabus emblems, they told me that they dont sell small items such as the emblems. I think the guy was nice to me, he had F1 motorsport to call me on my cell as they are willing to sell me the emblems.

Solihin

vraa

Actually my thoughts are coming also from the reflection of their salesmen to some board members here. The way a company treats potential (or even browsers) customers shows greatly on their product. That's why Lexus is doing so well.

byip25

i also have to admit im partial to brabus styling too. having talked to different people there (andreas and stephen) the hood emblems are only sold to cars that have a brabus modified engine and the rear badges are sold to customers that have also purchased brabus wheels. hope that helps.... i also agree that their prices are ridiculous..

Ted Baldwin

...........I am probably missing the punch-line here. Why would anyone call Brabus to buy Brabus Logos? They are everywhere and cheap too. Are you looking for "authentic" logos? Its like calling AMG to get AMG gas and brake pedals. As a company it doesn't even make sense for them to sell them, they are sold so inexpensively everywhere else, the company will loose money selling those trinklets. Behind every coporate decision is a financial calculation. Its simply not worth it for them to be bothered with it. They probably simply give them away to people who buy Brabus engines etc.


Ted

Josh K

Completely agree with you, Ted, but no, people probaby still get charged for the emblems no matter how much money they spend - I'm sure it's even included in the price of one of their turnkey cars. This is Brabus we're talking about. lol

MBZ4LIFE

I hear you. Although it would be nice to have the emblems on my car, paying $95 per logo and $125 for the logo type is crazy. I'm going to ask for a free logo when I install the B11 camshaft kit. If it's not free, I doubt I will pay for the emblems.

I like Brabus performance because they are closest to OEM and are well respected at dealerships (at least Fletcher Jones Motor Cars in Newport Beach CA). I called the service manager at Fletcher Jones and asked what the warranty implications are if I installed the Brabus camshafts. He said the chances of anything happening from Brabus equipment upgrades are slim and that they would still honor the warranty on my engine. However, if I had any problems directly related to the camshaft, it would be Brabus' problem. He also mention that Brabus is pretty good about taking care of problems resulting from their upgrades.

It helps to see lots of Brabus vehicles in the showroom at Fletcher Jones. I'm sure Kleemann and Carlsson have great performance packages, but dealers love to use this as an excuse for them to completely void the warranty on your vehicle. I think they call it a "code 8".

If you're a do-it-yourself-er that has a lot of mechanical knowledge, or know someone that's pretty good at fixing engines, then maybe Kleemann would be the way to go ($11,000 for a s/c is a great price compared to the outrageous $29,000 s/c that Brabus is offering).

Anyone know of a good honest MB mechanic in the Southern California (Orange County) area?

Paul Le Corre

Don't worry with the B11 kit, I have never heard about a failure with this kit. You can buy it safely.

MBZ4LIFE

Thanks Paul.

thuged_out

what does the B11 kit consist of? how much power gain and how much $$?? thanx

Paul Le Corre

Camshafts, valve springs, ECU and sparks if I remember well. It adds 30 HP. I don't know the US price for this kit.

MBZ4LIFE

Brabus quoted me 25hp.

The list price for the B11 kit is $5,495US. It comes with two camshafts, valve springs, and a sport exhaust (no chip). The part number is 000-699-00.

Brabus said the chips were too unreliable and not up to OEM specs...don't kill the messenger...that's what I've been told.

The resonator (from the cat to the muffler) is still in R&D and may be released as early as late January 2004.

Andreas (at Brabus) said it adds a little to the top end but the most significant improvement is in the torque. In the CLK500, the car starts to pull at 3,000 rpm. With the B11 performance kit, you get improved torque at all rpms (so I'm told). Realistically, I'm hoping that torque starts at 2,000 rpm.

Paul Le Corre

Perhaps that the kit HP is different for the US spec. In europe, the CLK 500 is 306 HP stock and 336 HP with the kit.

MBZ4LIFE

In the US, the stock hp is 302.

The Brabus US brochure states that the B 11 kit gives a "power increase of 20 hp to 322hp". To be honest, I'm pretty sure I can't tell the difference between 20, 25, or 30hp. I'm just hoping that the powerband kicks in a lot earlier.

thuged_out

thanx, thats $5,495US plus installation??

MBZ4LIFE

Yes. It includes installation.