Hey Everyone,

I received my 2020 GLE350 4matic that I ordered back in September. I went with the AMG Night package which upgrades the rotors, and I would assume possibly the pads as well. Due to the excessive amount of brake dust that euro manufacturer brake pads are known to make, I've been looking to swap the OEM brake pads for a set of Akebono Ultra Ceramic brake pads. I'm having trouble find parts for the car, as I am assuming it is still too new for most aftermarket parts. Has anyone had any luck finding a quality Ceramic brake pad upgrade??

I am having the exact same issue with exact same vehicle. Have you had any luck finding ceramic pads? I even had my rims ceramic coated, but the amount of brake dust is out of control!

How does getting the night package upgrade the rotors?

I am not sure if the rotors are different although mine sure look bigger, I was referring to the brake dust (brake pad) issue. The amount of brake dust they produce is something I have never seen on any other vehicle and I have owned quite a few.

The larger front brakes are part of the AMG Exterior Package.

It’s pretty much standard on German cars with Performance braking. To get increased stopping power you sacrifice pad and rotor wear that results in brake dust. Not all Ceramic brakes are created equal. Some good ones cost thousands more on a Porsche.
You might check Tire Rack, they seem to be knowledgeable and early to adopt new brakes. I have checked on our Audi SQ5 for the same reason you are looking. Replacement brakes with less dust sacrifice stopping power....even Akebono Ceramic. None offered by TR had low dust. Another thing to check might be the Rotor because they are designed to wear so might not be ideal with a different pad.

Appreciate the info. I have tried a few sites to include tire rack and Akebono site directly. They don't seem to have anything for the 2020 model as of yet. I may just have to wipe my rims down every couple of days and live with it for a while.

It is proven that the majority of brake dust is iron from the rotor, with semi-metallic pads contributing about 30%. All my Mercedes and my BMW Ms have had this issue, though this vehicle might be marginally worse. Pad options that contribute less dust are likely to not perform as well or be noisy. That is why German manufacturers use what they do.

The Porsche Surface Coated Brake calipers seem like an ideal solution, though I think I read in at least one test they can be a little "grabby." These are a ~$3,500 option on the Cayenne, versus ~$9,000 for ceramic composite.

https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/chri...ach-14589.html
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a1...coated-brakes/

Will look into the Porsche option. Thanks for the info. I have a friend with a 2020 Cayenne, I will ask him about it as well.

When I switched from OEM pads to Akebono Euro Ceramic pads on my M3, the brake dust was a night and day difference.

I have heard a lot of good things about Akebono brakes. Thanks for the info!

i still have not been able to find anything on ceramic brake pads for the New GLE. Keeping fingers crossed this happens soon

Bump

Well, in the mean time - use a little effort - and use a "decent" $20 wheel wax or $20 wheel sealant which will seriously cut "brake dust" bu 50% or more..

Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus once a month also helps wash the stuff off

I coated the wheels with Crystal Serum Light and Exo the first weekend I had the car. The wheels clean up with ease, but after 1-2 days of driving the wheels are caked with brake dust. I cannot understand why no ceramic pads are available for this car yet.

do you anything to recommend? i haven't been putting wheel wax or sealant on mine and have been using Meguiar's Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner and they have been helping significantly during my washes.
wasn't sure whether the wax or sealant may do any different after a couple days of driving.

I spoke with the Development Manager at Akebono, looks like they won’t start production in ceramic pads for the 2020 and up GLE until next year.

I imagine they don’t feel there is much of a market until enough vehicles reach a mileage where they have worn out the OEMs.

Here's more on the Porsche tungsten carbide coated brake rotors (wish MB had this tech): https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...tors-explained

The technology is great....the price isn’t, IMO! We need it mass produced at a reasonable price.

Yeah, of course Porsche's $3,490 price is, well, Porsche pricing. If M-B offered it I'd expect more like $2,000, which I would have gladly paid.

Sorry Greg, I thought it was 50% of the $10-15,000 I’ve seen before for Ceramic brakes. Actually that price isn’t all that bad considering it’s a low volume item and there was some R&D involved.

Carbon ceramics on the Cayenne are $9,080. N/A on the GLE.

At the end of the video the guy shows how much it costs to replace the rotors and the pads and additional accessories: 2000 and something for iron rotors, 11000 for carbide tungsten rotors, 32000 for ceramic rotors. 11000 compared to 2000 is still a lot considering the carbide tungsten rotors have only 30% additional lifetime compared to iron rotors.