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I have a 2018 E400 with only 50,000 km and despite regular cleaning the calipers are getting dingier by the year. I hate to paint them because of both the hassle of full removal, time out of service and it will remove the Mercedes-Benz logo. I've tried cleaning them with a variety of cleaners up to and including brake cleaner. All to no avail... Has anyone had success in bring these back without painting?
Don’t use brake cleaner, it will damage the paint.
You’ll need to polish, buff and seal them just like you would do to car paint. There is most likely a clear coat over the Mercedes logo. Hopefully you havent damaged the clear coat with the brake cleaner. Start off the process with the least aggressive polishing compound you can find. If that doesn’t work, go a little more aggressive.
When you’ve reached the level of shine that you want, put a coat of ceramic or wax over them.
Those silver calipers tend to show brake dust buildup and road grime more noticeably over time, even with regular washes. One approach is to use a dedicated iron remover, which pulls out embedded brake dust that the brake cleaner alone won’t touch. Follow that up with a clay bar and a non-abrasive polish for a soft metal finish. If the silver is still intact beneath the grime, this can make a huge difference without damaging the original finish or the logo. Maintenance becomes easier too once the buildup is broken down.
Those silver calipers tend to show brake dust buildup and road grime more noticeably over time, even with regular washes. One approach is to use a dedicated iron remover, which pulls out embedded brake dust that the brake cleaner alone won’t touch. Follow that up with a clay bar and a non-abrasive polish for a soft metal finish. If the silver is still intact beneath the grime, this can make a huge difference without damaging the original finish or the logo. Maintenance becomes easier too once the buildup is broken down.
No way I could do that with these wheels unless I take them off the car and I'm not going to do that. Car is just finishing the process of a full PPF, window tinting, and ceramic coating the wheels and calipers.
Last edited by dudley07726; Jun 29, 2025 at 09:12 AM.
I have a 2018 E400 with only 50,000 km and despite regular cleaning the calipers are getting dingier by the year. I hate to paint them because of both the hassle of full removal, time out of service and it will remove the Mercedes-Benz logo. I've tried cleaning them with a variety of cleaners up to and including brake cleaner. All to no avail... Has anyone had success in bring these back without painting?
I've tried some of the cleaning techniques mentioned here but none where that effective. Since the caliper bodies are uncoated cast aluminum, I simply used a brass wire brush on a drill to polish them up. It works well and I do it twice a year when doing the seasonal tire change. The calipers always look pretty good now. The Mercedes Benz logo plate that fastens to the caliper body is another story. Since the logo is embossed, I cannot be too aggressive, I just use a medium machinists compound/wax.
C230 Sport Coup + 2006 W164 ML350 + 99 Ford Escort RIP
That looks very nice! I've been wondering the same thing. I pulled my
4 pot AMG brakes off of one car, with the intention of putting them on another. Eventually.
They are very dirty and hte dirt isn't comng off easy. Great idea using the drill.
I'm sure there are a variety of attachments, wire and otherwise to assist in process.
You can buy logos on Ebay but not sure how well they hold up.
Now if I could find someone to rebuild them. Not leaking but have over 200k miles of use on them.
What vehicle are those rims on and what sze?
Originally Posted by OTEKAJ
I've tried some of the cleaning techniques mentioned here but none where that effective. Since the caliper bodies are uncoated cast aluminum, I simply used a brass wire brush on a drill to polish them up. It works well and I do it twice a year when doing the seasonal tire change. The calipers always look pretty good now. The Mercedes Benz logo plate that fastens to the caliper body is another story. Since the logo is embossed, I cannot be too aggressive, I just use a medium machinists compound/wax.
Last edited by C230 Sport Coup; Dec 6, 2025 at 05:55 AM.
I don’t believe the calipers are bare aluminum. They would oxidize and look terrible within a few weeks, especially with the heat cycles they will see while driving and braking.
They must have a clear anodize coating on them. Anodize is pretty tough but won’t hold up to a wire wheel for very long. Just a heads up, proceed with caution.
2019 AMG S 65 and too many other vehicles to list here in this small box
Originally Posted by OTEKAJ
Since the caliper bodies are uncoated cast aluminum, I simply used a brass wire brush on a drill to polish them up.
Sorry but that's not true. The cast aluminum calipers are coated with a anodized coating to provide corrosion protection. Taking a wire brush to them will remove the anodized coating and then the oxidation begins and you can't stop it once it starts.
You should never use any type wire brush on aluminum unless you are going to apply some type of anti-oxidation coating or compound to prevent corrosion.
A similar example of this chemical reaction is evident in the electrical construction business where we use aluminum conductors for large cable assemblies. Any good electrician knows that he needs to get the Noalox compound on the exposed aluminum as soon as possible to prevent the cables from corroding and turning to white powder over time. As soon as the newly cut aluminum is exposed to the air, corrosion begins to create a coating of oxidation on the outer surface of the conductor. This is so well known that it is actually became a code requirement to apply this compound to terminations utilizing aluminum conductors.
I'm not saying your brakes are going to fail but every spot you removed or damaged the anodized coating is going to corrode and only get worse over time. The fact that you do this every year is the only thing keeping them from looking bad but eventually it will catch up to you and it will become noticeable.
I just didn't want people to see this and go get out the drill and wire wheel and start to scour away at their calipers and cause another problem.
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