Got all the rotors and calipers from my local junkyard to swap into my 98 E300 for about $160. This mod is necessary if you are making more than 250hp IMO as the OEM brakes aren’t enough for a car this heavy. My rear calipers were not functional and were causing the fronts to lock up under hard braking and the car would slide, which is obviously very dangerous. I did some research and found that the front brakes from a W209 CLK500 (the one I stripped was an ‘04) would fit, but wasn’t able to find anything about the rears, so I bought all 4 sets and tried it on my car. The fronts fit perfect (but hit my wheel, I needed a spacer, big brakes will not fit stock 16’s, I have W208 CLK55 rims) and the rears also fit perfect except you need to have the longer bolts from the CLK500. The brake lines all bolted in properly and are all the same, but buy the calipers with the lines just in case. The rear CLK rotors lined up perfectly with the holes in the hub and the set screw worked. The set screw did not fit in the front rotors which is a bit annoying but livable with. Front pad sensors will not work but you can swap the rear sensors into the CLK brakes.

You can also use the front brakes from a CLK550 or a C32, but not sure about the rears. The pads are not cross compatible so take the pads from the junkyard also, or buy new ones.

Parts needed:
2x front and 2x rear W209 CLK500 calipers + pads
2x front and 2x rear W209 CLK500 rotors
4x rear caliper bolts CLK500

Tools needed:
Misc. sockets (10,16,17,18,19, and others just in case)
T30 torx for set screw
11mm wrench (flare recommended, will probably strip the brake lines without one)
Impact gun or breaker bar (caliper bolts will be tight)
Penetrating fluid
Deadblow hammer (rear rotors were stuck on the junkyard CLK500 and my E300, I used a 4lb deadblow from hazard fraud and some liquid wrench which got them off easily )
Flathead screwdriver
You will need those and various other tools also, just bring your tool bag.

When installing your new brakes first drain the brake fluid reservoir. You will be introducing lots of air into the system so you will need to bleed the brakes properly with a motive pressure bleeder later. Do not bleed the brakes until you’ve replaced all 4 corners. First you need to remove the caliper bracket bolts holding on the caliper. If you have a sensor you should also unbolt that. The sensors will only work on the rear brakes, the front CLK500 brakes are different. Then compress the pads with a screwdriver so you can remove the caliper from the rotor. Then you remove the 11mm nut where the rubber brake line attaches to the solid brake line. I stripped 2 of mine on my W210 so I had to remove the caliper and spin the caliper itself to remove the brake line attached to the caliper which was very annoying. Then remove the t30 set screw in the rotor and take the rotor off. Hit it with your purse if the rotor won’t come off. Quickly replace the rotor and caliper and screw in the brake line so you don’t spill too much fluid. Remember brake fluid will damage your paint so be careful. Check your dust shields for clearance, mine all fit but you may have to bend yours a bit. Bolt the caliper back in, replace the set screw in the rotor, and replace the sensor (rear only). Next, with all 4 corners installed, you must bleed all the brakes. Start at the rear passenger then work your way right to left, going from furthest from the brake reservoir to closest. It’s just a normal bleed at this point, I bled at 20PSI and got lots of bubbles and bad fluid out, replaced with some pentosin dot4. Finish bleeding then start the car and press the brakes to make sure they bled properly and build pressure, then check the pads to make sure they all are touching the rotor. Drive the car around slowly then drive it around normally and do some emergency brakes to make sure all brakes and ABS are functional. Check for leaks and that the fluid level hasn’t dropped as well.

Very easy job, only took me about 2 hours to replace the rotors and about an hour to remove them from the junkyard car. This is a good time to replace brake lines and any other suspension components while you have the rotor off as well. Good luck and enjoy the brakes.

 

any pictures of the new brake setup?

 

Yeah sorry I had some posted but forgot to link them. https://imgur.com/a/pqjfe2R