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Is it possible to replace the red brake caliper cover with one from a used caliper? One day when walking to my car, I noticed that the cover on the right rear caliper is missing. I do not recall hearing any odd noises while driving, I don't see any curb rash that would suggest that it would've fallen off while driving over or into a curb, and I do not see any marks in the brake dust on the wheel that would suggest that someone manually removed the cover. I took the SL in to the dealership for some oil and fluid changes (I know, I know... I do not do it myself because I got tired of being asked daily when was I going to take the old fluids to get recycled; but, I digress) -- the dealership wanted $1800 to replace the whole caliper.
Here's a photo of a caliper with the cover (notice there are no screws for mounting)
Here is a photo of what the brake caliper looks like now without the cover.
Do you know the part number for the red brake caliper if the cover can be replaced?
Is it possible to replace the red brake caliper cover with one from a used caliper? The dealership wanted $1800 to replace the whole caliper.
(notice there are no screws for mounting) Do you know the part number for the red brake caliper if the cover can be replaced?
That area tends to trap water and the aluminum “nubs” (circled in green 2nd pic) that are part of that name plate can corrode so they should be inspected regularly.
Also, apes 🦍 doing brake jobs sometimes push on them by accident attempting to retract the caliper pistons. Destroying the interference fit on the clips that hold the plate on. Next thing you know, a few months later, the caliper name plate falls off…
Unfortunately caliper “cover” name plate is not available seperately. 😕
They use a one time use, push in style clips. Even getting the clips is an issue now. They are/were never available from Mercedes!
Only source I had found for the clips was from Audi, which sells the cover & clips as a set separately, but it was close to $150.
I don’t think they are available anymore ☹️ See picture of that Audi rear caliper name plate & clips below. They(the clips circled in red) are the same as the ones used by Mercedes. Both calipers, Audi and Mercedes, are manufactured by TRW.
I recently had a friend with a loose cover plate on their AMG (TRW) rear caliper. I noticed it on inspection, one side had slightly lifted and was loose. But luckily the plate hadn’t fallen off and the clip was broken, probably on assembly from factory or someone pushing against the plate from a previous brake job.
I had to buy a used front caliper from a W204 (if I remember correctly, see last picture)) to scavenge the stainless clip, which involved carefully re-bending the used clips. Unfortunately, caliper name plate is a different shape from the r231 rear. ☹️
If the caliper on your car is in good shape, you may consider just taking the new cover off of the new caliper, and install it in your existing caliper. That way, you don’t have to replace the caliper and bleed the brake system.
But be warned, those clips can be a pain to remove and re-bending them takes a skillset more akin to a master horologist vs your typical “wrench”.
Good Luck!
Last edited by crconsulting; 11-16-2022 at 09:58 PM.
Many thanks crconsulting! This is the information that I was looking for and will now start paying closer attention to the this cover plate. I was planning to take the cover off of a new/used caliper instead of replacing the whole caliper since mine is in good shape. Do you still have the Audi part number for the repair kit? I think I may have found a plate repair kit that contains the clip at https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...it/8v0698221b/. Do you think the clips from this kit will work? If not, do you have any tips on the best way to re-bend the clips if I have to pull them off of a new/used caliper?
Last edited by althethird; 11-17-2022 at 11:38 AM.
Those are the ones 👍
That’s good to see and (hopefully) still available.
Originally Posted by althethird
do you have any tips on the best way to re-bend the clips if I have to pull them off of a new/used caliper?
Like I mentioned in the post above, I was able to re-bend the clip, but it’s definitely a pain. If someone needed clips because theirs are damaged, I would probably recommend buying the Audi plate/w new clips if available.
There’s many ways to skin the cat but,
My method involved holding the clip in a 5c collet block. Along with a small Hazet electronic screwdriver and small non-serrated needle nose pliers in order to bend the clip tangs back to the proper angle. I used a small/short piece of round stock to expand the diameter of the clip in order to keep it from collapsing while clamping it in the the collet/holder. The hard part is holding the clip, as the stainless can be hard to bend when it’s that small. You could probably hold it with small needle nose vice grips. You’d want to be careful not to over bend the tabs causing them to break off or collapse the outer diameter dimension of the clip, loosening it’s grip on either the plate, or the caliper body.
Good Luck.
Last edited by crconsulting; 11-17-2022 at 06:36 PM.
Does anyone know if the caliper plate from a sport package caliper (330mm rotors) will fit the AMG caliper (360 mm rotor). The shape looks the same. I haven't been able to fully measure.
I was not able to find a source that sells the caliper cover separately so I ended up purchasing a caliper from https://www.mbpartsource.com/oem-par...per-2314230481 and I purchased the caliper cover that Audi sells separately for their Brembo brakes ( https://audi.oempartsonline.com/oem-...lem-8v0698221b ) because it contains the metal retaining clips for the caliper cover that you’ll swap. Total cost was approx. $400 which was cheaper to me than having the dealer replace at $1800.
When you get to the point of replacing, you’ll want to be mindful that the old retaining clips may still be inside the caliper holes. I had a difficult time getting the covers to seat properly before I realized that the old clips were still inside the holes.
BTW, I found the LVDS Y-cable and am sending to you by FedEx for receipt tomorrow.
I was not able to find a source that sells the caliper cover separately so I ended up purchasing a caliper from https://www.mbpartsource.com/oem-par...per-2314230481 and I purchased the caliper cover that Audi sells separately for their Brembo brakes ( https://audi.oempartsonline.com/oem-...lem-8v0698221b ) because it contains the metal retaining clips for the caliper cover that you’ll swap. Total cost was approx. $400 which was cheaper to me than having the dealer replace at $1800.
When you get to the point of replacing, you’ll want to be mindful that the old retaining clips may still be inside the caliper holes. I had a difficult time getting the covers to seat properly before I realized that the old clips were still inside the holes.
BTW, I found the LVDS Y-cable and am sending to you by FedEx for receipt tomorrow.
I'm going to go out this evening to look at them to see if the clips are still there. I was really hoping I'd find them alongside this morning - I drove all the routes that I've taken with the SL, but unfortunately, not luck at finding them (I imagine someone gained some souvenirs out of the deal).
I "might" have found a source on eBay that has the covers - they're a TRW A002E407. I've been trying to look up brake pads and calipers such to see what fits what (these are listed for W213 X253 E63s and GLC63s), but I'm not familiar enough with Merc's part numbering nomenclature.
That eBay listing was a great find and appears to be the OEM caliper cover. I tried retracing my route when I noticed the caliper cover missing as well without any luck in finding them.
Briefly off topic… How was the drive and how would you compare it to the Hellcat?
Snap those up 👍 (especially if you have red calipers)
Those ARE NOT available separately! You’ll still need the clips in the Audi kit.
Had any brake work recently?
Usually happens when mechanics try to compress the rear pistons and mistakenly press against the cover instead of the caliper body. ☹️
Seen it happen to many different cars.
Briefly off topic… How was the drive and how would you compare it to the Hellcat?
They're different that’s for sure!
I actually drove the Hellcat this morning while looking for the covers.
The Hellcat is really big in comparison. And has a firm feel so long as you’re going in a straight line. The engine puts a lot of weight over the front wheels. The Hellcat is fun to drive, but in more of a hooligan kind of way. If you want show off, this is the car to do it in. Traction control is worthless and most get their ***** handed to them because they do not finesse them off the line. I’ve had the car on the drag strip a couple of times - in third gear it’s really hauling the mail. On the stock but aired-down Pirelli’s, I’ve been , traction limited, into the low/mid 11s but with a 128-129 mph trap. The car is not a Red Eye but is close in power. Good grocery-getter too.
The SL63 - this will be my forever car. I love that the car handles so well. And brakes so well. And feels well balanced. And its power delivery at cruise is like that of freight train! How they make this thing deliver peak tiorque throughout the rev range is something else. Getting on it, the car is a rocket-ship without all the “hey look at me” attention noise (it’s already getting that by being an AMG but …). It sounds great but is unassuming. It will let its presence be known without advertising it while trying to get there. It’ll blow by you at 100 mph and you won’t know what hit you!
Love the seats! Fit and finish is way above the Dodge’s (but mine was built on a good day so it’s definitely up there… someone cared about it). Driving with the vario roof down when it was 30 degrees the other night (with the air scarf going) was the best feeling ever (well, in a car anyway)!
Snap those up 👍 (especially if you have red calipers)
Those ARE NOT available separately! You’ll still need the clips in the Audi kit.
Had any brake work recently?
Usually happens when mechanics try to compress the rear pistons and mistakenly press against the cover instead of the caliper body. ☹️
Seen it happen to many different cars.
Brake work… more of a question for Al. I saw some brake work done in the CarFax but no specifics.
Glad you’re enjoying the SL and it’s such a gorgeous car. We discussed all work that I’ve had performed on the SL offline. But, according to my Carfax app, it looks like Maverick may have done some work on 11/7.
Well... those didn't work. They're close - the width and height are good, but the pins are off about 8mm width-wise. I guess I'll see if I can find a set of calipers for a good price.
The no bueno part here is that it looks like someone actually took them off the car vs them flying off. I found hand and fingerprints around both rear wheel openings along with some brake-dust smudges on the front calipers where it looked like someone might have tried to get all four - thankful that they figured out the fronts were not covers but the actual calipers. All from one night sitting outside.
Glad you’re enjoying the SL and it’s such a gorgeous car. We discussed all work that I’ve had performed on the SL offline. But, according to my Carfax app, it looks like Maverick may have done some work on 11/7.
They did tires and an oil change.
We really enjoyed her his weekend... with the really warm afternoon and evening we had Saturday, we couldn't "not" be out cruising with the top down! I got the RoadTop installed, too.
Well... those didn't work. They're close - the width and height are good, but the pins are off about 8mm width-wise. I guess I'll see if I can find a set of calipers for a good price..
You shouldn’t have any issues re-selling those to an MBWORLD member who has lost their AMG cover(s) if the seller doesn’t take them back. Unfortunately, It’s only a matter of time…. That part number is not a Mercedes part number but rather an internal TRW part number.
Originally Posted by TomZVB
The no bueno part here is that it looks like someone actually took them off the car vs them flying off. I found had and fingerprints around the both rear wheel openings along with some brake-dust smudges on the front calipers where it looked like someone might have tried to get all four - thankful that they figured out the fronts were not covers but the actual calipers. All from one night sitting outside.
Thats pretty crazy. They must have needed some for their (or a friends) car. That’s not something someone steals to put on a wall. The emblems usually go first. 😕
Last edited by crconsulting; 12-11-2023 at 05:01 PM.
I couldn’t get over the fact that I thought someone had come up on the property and actually took parts off the car so I started really digging. Could it have been that the parts were missing all along? Yes, there were hand prints and such on the car (even after washing from the trip); could they have been from the shipper?
I dug out all the pictures that I had of the car from the dealer’s for sale ad, and zooming in real close, the mystery revealed itself: they were already gone. The way the pictures were taken, it was easy to miss.
Oh well.
At least I feel better about the fact that no one took anything off of it here.
So the cover isn't available separately without buying the whole rear caliper from Mercedes?
My GLE63 right rear red dust cover fell off somewhere. Before it fell off I did notice a slight rattle. I replaced the pads - the W166 GLE rear covers do not have any "clips" as shown above. The cover is just pried off and pressed back on.
So the cover isn't available separately without buying the whole rear caliper from Mercedes?
My GLE63 right rear red dust cover fell off somewhere. Before it fell off I did notice a slight rattle. I replaced the pads - the W166 GLE rear covers do not have any "clips" as shown above. The cover is just pried off and pressed back on.
If the cover has those two dowels like the picture above. The clips are probably in the bore. Take a flashlight and look inside those holes. you may need to clean that area.
Unfortunately, once you take the covers off. The “bite” on those clips weakens and the cover can become somewhat looser making it more susceptible to falling off when everything starts to expand as the caliper gets hot.. If they are rattling, chances are they are too loose. They should be tight with no movement.
If the cover has those two dowels like the picture above. The clips are probably in the bore. Take a flashlight and look inside those holes. you may need to clean that area.
Unfortunately, once you take the covers off. The “bite” on those clips weakens and the cover can become somewhat looser making it more susceptible to falling off when everything starts to expand as the caliper gets hot.. If they are rattling, chances are they are too loose. They should be tight with no movement.
Good Luck.
Thanks. I'm changing the rear pads meself in the next week and I'll take a peak in the holes. The rear pads have only been changed once before by me..
If the cover has those two dowels like the picture above. The clips are probably in the bore.
Good Luck.
Changed my GLE63s rear pads yesterday. Found the clips. The dust cover I already lost had 1 clip in the hole. Since I already lost the right dust cover I removed the left one.
11-15-2022, 11:28 PM
