I recently had my car at the dealership for some warranty work and while they had it I had them install the Power Stop front and rear ceramic pads…….and holy sh*t what a difference in brake dust. I’m borderline obsessed with with my 2018 S63, so it gets wiped down ALL the time. I’m overly familiar with the brake dust the stock pads put out and have spent countless hours cleaning my rims/calipers.

I’ve driven my car with the new pads to a point where they’d typically be completely coated in brake dust with the old pads - I went to clean them tonight and there’s no dust……..well, not quite “none” but it’s so light I struggled to see it on a microfiber towel. It’s damn close.

I cannot believe the difference, If you’ve ever considered buying these to eliminate brake dust, don’t hesitate I’m kicking myself in the nuts for not buying these YEARS ago. They would have saved me HOURS of time!!!

For easy reference below are the exact pads and I purchased them on Amazon. Additionally, I’ve known my AMG tech for 15yrs and he’s the ONLY one who touches my car - he reported no issues with the install when we chatted when I picked the car up. We discuss every repair/problem everytime he sees the car, so he definitely would have told me.


Fronts- Power Stop Z23-1291 Front Z23 Evolution Sport Carbon Fiber Infused Ceramic Brake Pads with Hardware https://a.co/d/hyuoIb5

Rears- Power Stop Z23-1669 Rear Z23 Evolution Sport Carbon Fiber Infused Ceramic Brake Pads with Hardware For Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG, Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG, Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG [Model Specific] https://a.co/d/bvQ8qPq

That’s awesome to hear and thanks for sharing as we all struggle with the break dust. Do you run oem rotors or something else? Do you mind sharing which set up you have or recommend any alternatives than the oem rotors? Mine were changed just before I purchased my S63 last year but just curious as you know these cars eat through breaks. Appreciate any insight you have! Thanks!

I am not sure these cars "eat" brakes. I have 49K miles on my 2019 S63 that I purchased in 2021 when it had 9K miles on it. At around 15K miles I went to the Powestop CC pads Z26 in front and Z23 in the rear simply to get rid of the brake dust. The OEM pads still looked new and there was no ridge on the rotors. So the Powerstop pads have lasted for 34K miles on them with probably another 20K of pad life left on them. I do have a small lip forming on the rotors so I will swap both at my next brake swap if I still have the car that is.

Any chance you can connect me with your mechanic? I also have a 18 S63 Sedan. I just tried to install the 1669 pads on the rear and they wouldn't fit. The pad channel clips were too tall and the backing plate disks were too tall. I'd love to know what your mechanic did to make them work.

I’m going to replace pads soon, and wondering how do the Z23 stop compared to OEM?

Also why @Superpop did you use Z26 front and Z23 rear?

I would’ve done the Z 26 pads in the rear, but they don’t make them for the rear only for the front. The Z 26 is just a little more aggressive pad. They’re both great though. The fronts are the most important though.

Amazed... anyone know if these pads will fit on a 2025 S63? The wheels I have are so much harder to clean than my 2018 S63 and it's tough to keep them clean. It has 6500 miles on it now, would it be prudent to wait till the car has like 15000 miles so I at least get a lot of life out of the existing pads albeit, they are hard to clean? See below, very tight spokes, close together, tough to clean the red brake calipers that well since I clean them with a yellow microfiber towel and my hands. (below pic is delivery day with 4000 miles)

Thanks Superpop that explains it. I also read an instance of someone on the hellcat forum using the Z23/26 combo because the Z26 on the back squeaked a lot. Also read on HC forum that Z23 and Z26 actually use the same compound, but 26 has a steel shim backing and 23 has a rubber backing.

How do the powerstop pads treat the rotors? Do they wear down the rotors like stock pads and cause the lip to form around the edge?

I am not sure if they are any more abrasive than the stock pads on the rotors. I do have a lip on mine now but I am at 50K miles with the factory rotors. Will swap rotors at my next brake job which I am guessing will be around 70K miles. I live in Seattle with tons of hills so I use the brakes a lot and they seem to last forever.

50k miles on original rotors is remarkable. I’ve looked at S63 cars with low mileage in the teens and the rotors had a huge lip and needed replacement, so I’d say the power stops extended your rotor life significantly in addition to eliminating dust. Win win, so long as they stop good.

Powerstop website shows the rear pads are 1681, at least for a 2019 S63

I bought the 1681's last year and I can assure you they didn;t work correctly. However, it might have just been the brake pad clips that were the problem. Having said that, the pad clips in the 1669s were definitely incorrect-so tall that the pads wouldn;t even fit into the channels. That's why I wanted to find out what the OP's tech did on his car. The 1681's were originally listed as the pads for 2018-2020 S63's a couple years ago. Then they changed to the 1669s as the proper pads sometime in 2025. As I've thought more about it, I'm thinking that if I had switched the pads around so that the one with the sensor was the inboard pad they might have worked. But I thought I tried that and it didn't work. After more than 2 hours of trying to make them I work I got frustrated. Their tech department was nice, but not helpful. I'm glad I bought them on Amazon so returning them was no hassle.

Wow 3 different part numbers for the rears with varying results

Superpop do you remember which Powerstop part number you used?

They don't have Powerstop pads available for your car yet, at least none on their website. They don't have them available for any 2025 MB or any of the E-Performance offerings from AMG as of now.

I installed Z26 front and Z23 rear on my hellcat the other day and am really impressed. Dust level before was same or worse than S63. Now stops the same as the stock Brembos, but no dust and no squeak. Amazing.

Putting a set on my truck tomorrow, and have a set on order for the S63. I see the light!

Powerstops installed on the S63 today. Cleaned inside the wheels/calipers while it was apart and will be bedding later tonight when traffic dies down. No more dusty wheels!

What year is your S63 and which part numbers did you order?

2019 model year

Z26 1291 fronts
Z23 1681 rears

Thanks!

I looked at the amazon link for the pads and the price is ubelievibly low at $62 and is shipped and sold by amazon too...this seems too good to be real, brake pads like these usually goes for 200+. What is the catch here?

@Busa196 Just curious. How do you kick yourself in the nuts? You must be very flexible.

I just finished installing the front brake pads on my 2021 GLC63 (red calipers) and they fit perfectly, the included hardware and grease is of high quality so far no squeels. I've only done bedding it in so can't really say about the dust levels but if it's anything less than stock amount of dust then I am happy.
Still can't believe the price is only $62 but good on amazon.

I re-installed the Z23 pads to my rear this weekend, a fresh shet from Amazon. Again, I wonder what your mechanic actually did. The bad clips that come with the Powerstop Z23 kit are too tall. They do not work. I cleaned and reused my old clips when installing the new pads. I confirmed that the pads slide smoothly in the channel. I want to be sure to add this datapoint for anyone considering upgrading to the Z23 pads for the rear. The fronts fit perfectly and have been great for almost 2 years with minimal brake dust.