Davery

It looks like it is time to replace the pads and rotors on my 2012 cabriolet. My front rotors appear to be warped, which I have heard is common. Besides OEM, what are the suggestions for replacements?

bmwpowere36m3

Go to FCPEuro and buy a set with lifetime warranty…

Davery

The Zimmermann's are OEM Mercedes OEM, correct?

kajtek1

Rotors are usually lifetime item, so why do you need them replaced and at what mileage?
For pads - Akebono are highly recommended.
Not only low dust with good braking power, but I had them for 180,000 miles and wear about 40%, so they would make 400,000 miles pads for me.
That's enough life.

Davery

My rotors seem to be warped.

KEY08

Then replace the rotors also, which is considerably more involved than a pad swap. Zimmerman are stock, yes.

ChrisHimself

I would just make sure its a semi-metallic pad for that hard initial bite, and high carbon discs so you can build up a ton of heat and not worry about them warping. I use the Powerstop Eurostop kit which they claim have an OEM pad manufacturer and the GEOMET coated hi carbon discs and the discs look and feel identical. The fluid is DOT 4 and I use the ATE SL6.

I would recommend
Brembo/ATE/Jurid/Textar/Pagid for the pad

DFC/Powerstop/Pagid/Zimmerman/Brembo for the disc.

I just pulled Zimmermans off and they wore beautifully throughout their life down to the minimum. I didn't see any old grease so they were mounted directly and they still pulled off by hand. My pads were Textar from the factory. I read a lot about early W212's having terrible disc wear issues that were warrantied, but I'm not sure who actually made the discs for MB at the time so I'm inclined to defend Zimmerman's reputation from my experience with them on BMW and Porsche. Zimmerman is an OEM for manufacturers, but sometimes they're aftermarket for the application and I'm new to Mercedes.

Akebono EURO pads are great if you want longer brake life, but I've never liked the initial bite of a ceramic pad, and I'm really into the feedback and pedal modulation of Mercedes/Porsche/Audi with the metal stuff.

nc211

After two sets of MB’s on the front of my car (2014 sport), both warped inside of 12k miles each, I ditched MB parts for this and went fcpeuro like these guys recommend. I also ditched the drilled and went with solids, and ceramic pads. Zimmerman solid on rotors, Akebono ceramic for pads. Did this about 5k miles ago (car has 58k total). Been smooth sailing and totally silent ever since, with hardly any brake dust if any at all. The rears are still MB’s, and those rear wheels are now the ones that get dirty from brake dust, while the fronts stay clean. I’ll switch those out too one day for the same setup as the front now. Car stops just fine in all situations. I notice no real difference.

Gazwould

Brembo rotors with Ferodo Eco Friction containing ceramic .

Fliplegend

+ 1 on Zimmermans. The OEM MB rotors were warped by 25K on my 16' E350. Replaced with Zimmermans and no issues with over 10K miles on them.

DubVBenz

Akebono are what I use on all my cars after I wear down the originals. Still waiting to wear down mine on the 15 E400, currently at 47K. I wonder how much longer I have?

kajtek1

All depends on your driving style.
I routinely was making over 100k miles on soft pads in sedans, or 60k on ML class.
As I said before, Akebono make are about 400,000 miles pads for me.
My step mom needs new pads every 20k in her Toyota.

Davery

Where did you but the Ferodo Eco Friction pads from. I can't seem to find them for my car.

ygmn

brake pads are like candy bars... too many flavors out there to have just one favorite...

and they all have pros and cons and different prices...

but the FCPEURO lifetime warranty is a great thing as the pads/rotor you buy from them is pretty much the last one you pay for your car ever.
Which I think is a good deal.

S. Madman

Zimmermans are OEM rotors on the E550, switch to Brembo if available for the coupe cabriolet.

kajtek1

FCPEURO is running Ponzi scheme, so that might be short-lived.
I bought aux battery from them as it was only $4 more expensive than from other sources. That was 2 years ago, when those batteries last about 3.
I hope they will last another year.

Fliplegend

A ponzi scheme would mean someone isn't getting their money back. I haven't had an issue getting my money back, albeit in a store credit.

kajtek1

A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that pays existing investors with funds collected from new investors.

Fliplegend

They must be playing the long con since it's been going on for years.

bmwpowere36m3

+1

The reality is, in my opinion, most DO NOT use the warranty... and generally parts cost more from FCP than competitors. Second, most don't keep cars long enough to warranty many parts. Maybe they'll end the program at some point.

kajtek1

they also make using the warranty harder.
You have to buy new item from them, then ship the old item back and apply for refund.
Did you ever try to ship 9 liters of used oil?
Try to wonder why they don't sell tires and toilet paper?

cvx5832

Another vote for the Zimmerman/Akebono combo. I have them on 3 of 4 cars, low dust, bites just fine and lasts forever. I'd have them on the 4th car but Akebono doesn't make them for the E63. I have Hawk ceramics on that and while they're smooth, they took the edge off TOO much.

bmwpowere36m3

The oil is stupid... I wouldn't bother. I can get M1 from Walmart with the yearly rebate for <$25 + $5 filter from FCP or whomever. The warranty is really good for me, since I can drive over 20 minutes and drop off the parts (no shipping).

drdantheman1

Recently had my indy install new brake pads/rotors all around using the FCP euro semi-metallic kit. Everything fit right up however a new rattle developed from the front drivers corner afterward. Already had front suspension and sway bar links changed recently (car has 90k miles), so the indy thinks it must be the pads rattling in the caliper. The sound does indeed go away when brakes are applied. Any ever had this happen with brake pads before?

cetialpha5

I think they basically figured out what the average return rate is and then up the price a bit to compensate for the small percentage of returns. I've actually been using them for years but I haven't had to do a warranty return yet. Maybe that's what they're counting on. Plus people might not keep their cars long enough to use the warranty. About the only thing I foresee using in the future is the warranty on their pads and rotors. While you can get lifetime pads, pretty much no one really does lifetime rotors. Might be a few more years before I need new rotors/pads though. Some other things like springs and shocks might last me 5-8 years or more so it might be a while. The other thing is that they're only two days away from me for shipping so I'd rather get it from them than ordering someplace else that might take a week or more. Like work on the car on the weekend, then order some parts on Monday and then have them by Thursday or Friday and do some more work the next weekend.