nd-photo.nl

Last week I performed a brake upgrade on my CLS55. A rather straightforward upgrade, from the 360mm 1piece to the 390mm 2 piece discs. Below is a short write up. The full story with a lot more pictures is in my build thread here: https://mbworld.org/forums/c219/8443...ml#post8984253

What do you need?
1. Epytec 1140 brackets > https://epytec.de/uk/bremssatteladap...en-bremssattel
2. 390x36mm brake discs from the Mercedes GLS 63 AMG (X166). Partnr A2304211212 / Brembo Nr: 09.9313.33

Optional:
1. 390x36mm from Mercedes AMG C63 S (S205), Partnr: A2314211812
2. New brake pads.

I went with the GLS63 Brembo brake discs. They are 2kg lighter compared to the 1piece 360mm, so 4kg unsprung weight advantage is a great thing. Because I hate cleaning wheels, I also bought EBC Redstuff Ceramic pads (Akobono not available here).







Main Steps:
-Disable SBC
-Remove brake pads
-Remove 8pot brake caliper
-Remove brake discs (1x t30)
-Remove brackets (2x 21mm)
-Install new brackets
-Install new brake disc
-Install caliper
-Install brake pads
-Enable SBC

Starting with this:



Important: DISABLE THE SBC! DISABLE THE SBC! DISABLE THE SBC!

Disable SBC
I just removed the power connector to the SBC unit, thats the easiest way. Pull it out completely and double check before you start working on your brakes.

Remove brake pads
Brake pad removal is easy, just remove the 2 pins. Remove the retaining brackets, remove the brake pad wear sensor and pull out the pads.

Remove 8pot brake caliper
Use a 10mm hex tool to remove the 2 bolts. They are torqued to 120Nm, so they should be a little hard to remove.

I encounted a lot of copper grease on the bolts, wtf...I was expecting thread locker, but not copper grease...



I used tywraps to hang the caliper from the upper arm



Remove brake discs (1x T30)
The discs are held by a single T30 torx screw. Luckily these were removed easily



Remove brackets (2x 21mm bolt)
The bracket is held with 2x 21mm bolt and they are torqued to 180Nm. Protip: If you turn the wheel, you can get an impact with a shallow impact socket behind there.

Difference in the brackets



The OE brackets had 2 different partnrs, but they look identical.





Install new brackets
Shiny bracket in place. Torque the bolts to 180Nm and use some thread locker.



Install new brake disc & install caliper
As the 2 piece discs are 2kg lighter, they are easier to install The caliper slides over easily and is fastened with the 2 10mm hex bolts. The bolts need to be torqued to 120Nm. It already looks so good!



Install brake pads
Everything went ok so far. But during the installation of the brake pads, I ran into 2 issues.

Install brake pads: Problem 1: Lower pads stuck
When I removed the lower pads, they were quite stuck. I couldn't make out directly why and searched online. I found 1 thread over here, which showed a similar issue. It seems corrosion in the bottom part of the caliper, pushed the steel guide plate up, essentially trapping the brake pads. Relevant thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...corrosion.html

I gently removed the corrosion and hammered the plate back into its original form. This resolved the issue.





Install brake pads: Problem 2: Pads higher than brake disc?
The second problem I encountered, was that the brake pads were not fully covering the brake disc. It was a couple of mm's above the brake disc?





The OE pads (Jurid) fitted better, so the issue was with the EBC Redstuff pads. I grinded down the part of the brake pad which sit on the pins in the caliper. This resolved the issue.





Problem solved!





Fit the retainer brackets, the pins and install the brake pad wear sensor.

Enable SBC
Double check everything is sitting correctly, and only then put the big connector back on the SBC unit.

End result
Bed in the brakes and enjoy your hard work!









It also fits a 19" wheel

Yuille36

Great write up!

nd-photo.nl

Thank you @Yuille36

Yuille36

I see that you purchased the Ceramic Pads from EBC, I've been using Power Stop Carbon Ceramics for years, and I can say that brake dust is essentially all but eliminated.
I now use ceramic pads on all my vehicles, initially I was hesitant because of the initial bite, but after that brake were bedded in, that all changed.

nd-photo.nl

I haven't driven it much, so not much to report about the brake dust situation from my side

SICAMG

I would love to have those brakes!!!
Very jealous for sure !!

nd-photo.nl

@SICAMG Haha thanks a lot my man!

I love this setup, it brakes nicely, but I especially like the looks now. I cant help but take a extra glance once I step out of the car. They are just so massive

SICAMG

Those brakes would help me at the track for sure. After my pass I need to scrub off some speed from 160 to 100 at the end to enter a banked turn after the pass. My rotors turn purple thanks to 4,200 lb's of curb weight !!!

PieRat

Had a lot of trouble with the brakes on my cls at the local track here. First I boiled the fluid at the end of the straight and ended up in the gravel trap thankfully with the car largely unscathed. I was running stock fluid (no idea how old) and akebonos that seemed to hold up well enough, but they definitely were getting heavy wear from the trackday! Upgraded to the Castrol racing fluid, EBC yellowstuff pads and tried again. Seemed to be working all good, but when I was cooling down the brakes between runs one of my yellowstuff brake pads delaminated off its backing plate and disappeared somewhere...Never went with EBC product again but perhaps I was too hard on them. The silver brake calipers are now sorta bronze from the heat after all hehe... Considered running some duct to the brake disk to cool it down, probably would be the most effective and cheapest option. Imagine these bigger discs would get rid of a fair bit of heat too! Especially since they're oversized in regard to the debris shielding at the back of the disk! Definitely will do this if I ever have to replace the discs again on mine.

machild

Andy has done a good job of upgrading his front brakes and detailing for us the steps he took.

For those interested, there are further changes that will improve overall braking of our heavy M113K cars. In addition to using the larger front 390mm rotors, using a larger rear rotor (360mm) will also give more material to absorb heat and increase the braking leverage due to the larger diameter. Next, using front 6-piston calipers from the 211/219 E63/CLS63 provides more overall piston sizing which increases the clamping force of the pads to the rotors. Upgrading the rear calipers from the 212/218 E63/CLS63 models will also give an overall increase in rear clamping force. With the ovarall increase in front and rear braking due to larger rotors and the suggested upgraded calipers, the overall braking bias shifts a bit more to the rear axle which also shifts some of the braking load off the front axle.

Some inexpensive accommodations are needed to use both the mentioned front and rear calipers. I can provide details if anyone is interested.

nd-photo.nl

@UncleBenz55 did a better job into choosing the newer 6 piston calipers, which have a better brake pad design than the 8 pot calipers. He also did the 360mm brake conversion if I remember correctly. I believe he had the same issue as @PieRat with the brake material separating on his E55. These are heavy cars and they put a lot of strain on the brakes.

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...erent-e55.html

I did this modification more for looks than performance, and I wont be tracking the car. Even though it will give me a little bit more headroom with regards to heat management.

machild

Yes, I know you did. Your posts draw a lot of viewers so I thought I would suggest there are several options if one is going this route. And you are also correct that the 6-piston caliprs were an overall improvement over the 8-piston calipers. When considering going with the 6-piston route, there is a difference in the piston sizes depending on the year/model the caliper came on. Except for possible limited situations such as Black Series models, the early 211/219 6-piston calipers have larger pistons than the next generation of 212/218 models. Lager pistons provide greater clamping force. All of the 6-pisotn calipers use the same pad desisgn so there are many pad options available on the market.