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UPDATE. Swapped the rear rotors and pads over to brembo and powerstop as suggested in the chat and the noise is gone. Thank you to everyone who helped me, truly appreciate it.
Single use slider pin bolts (threadlocked) - $25 for 4 bolts
Single use caliper bolt to hub (threadlocked) - $38 for 4 bolts
Two brembo rotors - $160
Two powerstop pads - $56
Total ~ $280 vs $4,000 dealership estimate
Took 4.5h to complete
We outsmart the dealer again. Once you see how these wear vs the standard brake setup it's pretty much an infinite brakes glitch. I still have the machined surface finish on my brembos with those pads after ~30k miles. Tons of pad material left too. Yeah those floating rotors do nothing for me, conventional 1pc rotors made by Brembo are always the way to go. Super clean casting, superb metallurgy, the coating is polished and sharp looking. When its time to do the fronts, you can match.
We outsmart the dealer again. Once you see how these wear vs the standard brake setup it's pretty much an infinite brakes glitch. I still have the machined surface finish on my brembos with those pads after ~30k miles. Tons of pad material left too. Yeah those floating rotors do nothing for me, conventional 1pc rotors made by Brembo are always the way to go. Super clean casting, superb metallurgy, the coating is polished and sharp looking. When its time to do the fronts, you can match.
Yessir, makes a massive difference in price. Feels pretty smooth too. Already seeing brake pad crease on the rotors, no bedding required. Feel no noise, once i wash off the brake dust from my rears, im sure they'll stay clean from now on. Whats the best combo for the fronts? Im seeing VNE for $486 and brembo for $869. Powerstop front pads, Z231291,for $50.
UPDATE. Swapped the rear rotors and pads over to brembo and powerstop as suggested in the chat and the noise is gone. Thank you to everyone who helped me, truly appreciate it.
Glad you finally did this and glad the noise is gone. Once you see the difference in dust from front to rear I am guessing the fronts will get done soon. I used the Powerstop Z26 CC pads on my car and they work great. I am still on the factory rotors but I must say these powerstop pads must be dramatically harder than the factory pads as I have now put around 15K miles on them and they still have about 80% of the meat left on them.
Glad you finally did this and glad the noise is gone. Once you see the difference in dust from front to rear I am guessing the fronts will get done soon. I used the Powerstop Z26 CC pads on my car and they work great. I am still on the factory rotors but I must say these powerstop pads must be dramatically harder than the factory pads as I have now put around 15K miles on them and they still have about 80% of the meat left on them.
If you were to replace rotors on the fronts, what would u buy?
If FCP Euro is selling them then they are probably good as they have to warranty what they sell for life. I would buy them if I needed a set now. Here is another option.
Last edited by superpop; Aug 27, 2023 at 06:39 PM.
Reason: add pic
If FCP Euro is selling them then they are probably good as they have to warranty what they sell for life. I would buy them if I needed a set now. Here is another option.
they are selling oem ones for 750 a pop "clearance"
I would probably go with the Giro Disc units as you can buy replacement rotor rings. The lifetime warranty with FCP is pretty good though if you plan on keeping the car for a while.
Yessir, makes a massive difference in price. Feels pretty smooth too. Already seeing brake pad crease on the rotors, no bedding required. Feel no noise, once i wash off the brake dust from my rears, im sure they'll stay clean from now on. Whats the best combo for the fronts? Im seeing VNE for $486 and brembo for $869. Powerstop front pads, Z231291,for $50.
VNE is fantastic, don't hesitate on them, for that savings it's a no-brainer. FCP also replaces used rotors. I use VNE all the time.
For that style rotor I've used the VNE's on the older SL55's and CLK55's specifically. I've seen VNE rotors start to finish over 30k miles and they wore perfectly until the pad gave out. You're free to keep using Powerstop Z23 as long as you're happy with the compound. I slow from 120mph multiple times a week on them in a few Mercedes, no rotor warping, gouges, etc. They're tough, considering how heavy the cars are.
pads were changed 1k miles ago by dealer. didnt notice sand on rotors
Neither did we. The explanation was that the sand melted into either the pad and/or the rotor surface and couldn't be seen. Once all four corners were changed the sound went away. he did have the calipers "rebuilt" too, that's because Les Schwab's policy was to alway rebuil or change calipers when changing pads and rotors. Just my .02 cents.
Neither did we. The explanation was that the sand melted into either the pad and/or the rotor surface and couldn't be seen. Once all four corners were changed the sound went away. he did have the calipers "rebuilt" too, that's because Les Schwab's policy was to alway rebuil or change calipers when changing pads and rotors. Just my .02 cents.
My front rattles but no squeal like the rears. The rears were unbearable, once I swapped sound went away. My fronts rattle standing still when I turn wheels both ways all the way, a clicking noise.
My front rattles but no squeal like the rears. The rears were unbearable, once I swapped sound went away. My fronts rattle standing still when I turn wheels both ways all the way, a clicking noise.
the rattle is normal its the pads buckling against the spring clip, the backing plate of the pads typically have an adhesive layer to glue them piston cup to mitigate this but over time it starts to break up. Functionally as long as its working this is still working as intended. You can regrease this later in life
the rattle is normal its the pads buckling against the spring clip, the backing plate of the pads typically have an adhesive layer to glue them piston cup to mitigate this but over time it starts to break up. Functionally as long as its working this is still working as intended. You can regrease this later in life
Chris, zero noise on rears, my ears are still not used to the no-noise lololol. One thing is interesting is when the ceramic pads are hot and rubbed, they have a very unique odor.
Chris, zero noise on rears, my ears are still not used to the no-noise lololol. One thing is interesting is when the ceramic pads are hot and rubbed, they have a very unique odor.
I'm so happy that not only I ended up right which is the greatest feeling on any board, but that we saved you so much money and we all proved the foreman, tech, advisor, and probably the service manager behind the scenes wrong. I love the S63, but its another Mercedes at the end of the day. Stuff is more expensive, but the rules are always the same.
As for the smell on some ceramic pads theres a sacrificial layer of break-in material which normalizes (aligns perfectly flat) with the rotor over time. Give it 300 miles for the smell to go away, it's like a wet asphalt smell so I know what youre talking about. Theres also an interesting blue coating that comes from the ceramic layer. Ceramic is interesting in that it's not the pad eating the rotor, the pad is actually riding on itself, via the particles on the rotor. Another fun thing is to document how long the factory machined finish stays the same, you'll be amazed when it's still there in a year!
Now go do some long drives and stop hard! You've really earned it after all this headache and the cars are good, the people who are responsible for working with them aren't. The engineers are the ones actually looking out for you and the customer service is in the product first and foremost.
I'm so happy that not only I ended up right which is the greatest feeling on any board, but that we saved you so much money and we all proved the foreman, tech, advisor, and probably the service manager behind the scenes wrong. I love the S63, but its another Mercedes at the end of the day. Stuff is more expensive, but the rules are always the same.
As for the smell on some ceramic pads theres a sacrificial layer of break-in material which normalizes (aligns perfectly flat) with the rotor over time. Give it 300 miles for the smell to go away, it's like a wet asphalt smell so I know what youre talking about. Theres also an interesting blue coating that comes from the ceramic layer. Ceramic is interesting in that it's not the pad eating the rotor, the pad is actually riding on itself, via the particles on the rotor. Another fun thing is to document how long the factory machined finish stays the same, you'll be amazed when it's still there in a year!
Now go do some long drives and stop hard! You've really earned it after all this headache and the cars are good, the people who are responsible for working with them aren't. The engineers are the ones actually looking out for you and the customer service is in the product first and foremost.
gave my car a wash. Took it past week on freeway a good 300 miles. The backs are zero to very miniscule brake dust, front is already covered in brake dust. Night n day difference. I also dnt see difference in stopping power from oem and powerstop. It's like the same quality as oem except no noise, no dust, and prolly performs 99% oem. Now these were only done on rear. Waiting for black Friday to get some good deals on front rotors and will re-asses later.
gave my car a wash. Took it past week on freeway a good 300 miles. The backs are zero to very miniscule brake dust, front is already covered in brake dust. Night n day difference. I also dnt see difference in stopping power from oem and powerstop. It's like the same quality as oem except no noise, no dust, and prolly performs 99% oem. Now these were only done on rear. Waiting for black Friday to get some good deals on front rotors and will re-asses later.
Yeah I mean you could possibly try just slapping the ceramic pads on the front now to see if you can preserve whats left of the fronts. I know money isn't an issue but it would keep them going a lot longer before you have to do the whole job. You can replace pads while caliper is still on the car.
In my experience torque isn't higher or lower usually for street pads, braking is braking, the only difference is temp range, longevity, dust, noise, cold torque, compressability (modularity), As a pad heats up it feels more greasy and thats where those claims of 25% more stopping power would apply, at the limit of an OE organic/kevlar pad. Mercedes uses really decent metallic so there aren't really any real limitations besides the first cold stop of the day if youre going fast.
gave my car a wash. Took it past week on freeway a good 300 miles. The backs are zero to very miniscule brake dust, front is already covered in brake dust. Night n day difference. I also dnt see difference in stopping power from oem and powerstop. It's like the same quality as oem except no noise, no dust, and prolly performs 99% oem. Now these were only done on rear. Waiting for black Friday to get some good deals on front rotors and will re-asses later.
Yeah I mean you could possibly try just slapping the ceramic pads on the front now to see if you can preserve whats left of the fronts. I know money isn't an issue but it would keep them going a lot longer before you have to do the whole job. You can replace pads while caliper is still on the car.
In my experience torque isn't higher or lower usually for street pads, braking is braking, the only difference is temp range, longevity, dust, noise, cold torque, compressability (modularity), As a pad heats up it feels more greasy and thats where those claims of 25% more stopping power would apply, at the limit of an OE organic/kevlar pad. Mercedes uses really decent metallic so there aren't really any real limitations besides the first cold stop of the day if youre going fast.
Originally Posted by ChrisHimself
I'm so happy that not only I ended up right which is the greatest feeling on any board, but that we saved you so much money and we all proved the foreman, tech, advisor, and probably the service manager behind the scenes wrong. I love the S63, but its another Mercedes at the end of the day. Stuff is more expensive, but the rules are always the same.
As for the smell on some ceramic pads theres a sacrificial layer of break-in material which normalizes (aligns perfectly flat) with the rotor over time. Give it 300 miles for the smell to go away, it's like a wet asphalt smell so I know what youre talking about. Theres also an interesting blue coating that comes from the ceramic layer. Ceramic is interesting in that it's not the pad eating the rotor, the pad is actually riding on itself, via the particles on the rotor. Another fun thing is to document how long the factory machined finish stays the same, you'll be amazed when it's still there in a year!
Now go do some long drives and stop hard! You've really earned it after all this headache and the cars are good, the people who are responsible for working with them aren't. The engineers are the ones actually looking out for you and the customer service is in the product first and foremost.
Thanks for helping us fellow forum members. Your knowledge is appreciated!
Hello, im the OP. Can you perhaps email me this document for the front rotor / brakes please?
It’s not the document. It’s the application I installed on my computer. Don’t think I can generate the pdf from it. I just took a screen print and posted here.
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