OK, so the stealership tells me I need new front rotors and pads in the not too distant future. I tell them I'm going to look at aftermarket options before pulling the trigger. I've done some digging here on the website and found this thread to be pretty useful...

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...questions.html

So I think I'm going to go with the Porterfield R4S brake pads. It was unclear to me whether you actually need to buy the sensors, but I think not. So besides getting some anti-squeal paste, I'm down to rotors.

What are y'all's opinions on rotors? I see we can get OEM rotors for around $100 a piece. The Evosport rotors are around $1900, and Brembo has a kit (that includes calipers) for around $2800. I don't track my car and realistically, the pads are probably the only "enhancement" I should make in the brake department. I understand the weight difference, but are the aftermarket rotors that much better from a braking standpoint? And, are calipers a consideration for improvement as well?

Thanks for the feedback!

I changed out all four of my rotors and pads (ceramic pads -Akebo....) These brake pads are virtually dust free. Just make sure to apply a good amount of brake pad paste on the rear of the pads and the pistons. I don't track my car so I decided to go with the OEM parts. You can get front rotors for $88 apiece and $77 apiece for the rear rotors from parts.com The rear rotors that they sent me were bigger than the OEM (1/4" bigger in diameter). By the way, it is good to replaced your brake sensors too. It is not that expensive. It costs around $6. A friend of mine changed out his front rotors and pads but he used his old sensor...And the result was "brake indicator - warning light" appeared. Once he changed out his sensors, the warning light went away.
Hope this helped.
Search for brake job....I posted a brake job question awhile back. There are a lot of good info provided by our forum members.

Soup, unless you track your car, I would stick with the stock rotors ... or a reasonable facsimile thereof. The cost trade off is absolutely not worth it.
If you track it, try Girodisc, I've heard some great things about them from the Porsche guys and I'm trying to source them for my CLK Black.

As to pads, I'm with 0817, the Akebono's are dust free. I loved them, good bite and no dust. It takes a month to get the same amount of dust that stock pads will produce in 3 days.
More importantly, you don't lose performance.

Quck sidebar with respect to the Akebono...
What's the difference between the "Euro" and the "Euro Ultra-Premium"? Price difference is one thing, is there anything else? I've got to assume you get what you pay for, right?

Carl,

the EVOsports are great rotors however they do come at a price. We have yet to replace any of the friction rings on the EVOsport rotors while we have customers who have had them on the vehicle for 3-4 years now.

I would recommend either the EBC red, akebono euro, or the porterfields. the EBC's being the best bang for the dollar.

I will actually be up in PHX visiting some old college friends and Ken, let me know if you need any help with your brakes. We have the rotors and EBC's in stock.

James

I prefer the EBCs over the Porterfields due to lower dust. Just my $.02. I have the EBCs on the front and the Porterfields on the rear of my Jag. EBC perform great as well.

Thanks James. I won't be going with aftermarket rotors (thanks for the comments folks!) so I'll be ordering OEM rotors. As far as the EBC's, how much are they? I assume I would need to get the sensors separately, correct?

After digging through multiple threads and y'all's suggestings, I went ahead and did the following;

From parts.com (thanks CWW);

OEM front rotors at $88.55 each.
OEM front sensors at $5.46 each.
Total for parts = $188.02
Shipping to AZ ($28.20) and a $2 handling fee put the total at $218.20.

From rockauto.com;

Akebono EUR983 front brake pads at $150.79.
Shipping to AZ is $7.67.
Discount code (thanks E55-0817) applied (http://www.retailmenot.com/view/rockauto.com) is 5% off and was $7.54.
Total shipped $150.92.

A suggested place for anti-squeal paste was Autohaus Arizona (http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...ber=0019899451), however, with four packets of paste costing $7.96 and shipping being $7.54 (I mean really?...they are located in Phoenix, you know, where I live?!!!), I'll just stop by the dealer.

Anyway, between the EBC's, Akebonos, and the Porterfields, I originally wanted to go with the Porterfields. But then looking at the pricing, the EBC's and Akebonos became more attractive to me, and then finally, it just seemed like there was more positive feedback on the Akebonos (and about $10 cheaper online).

Will E55 rotors work on an E63 ??

The front EBC Red's actually come with the front sensor and are priced at $150 shipped.

I have searched- maybe using the wrong keywords. Can someone please provide a link to the DIY for brake installation on an e55?

thanks
meek

http://www.amazon.com/OES-Genuine-Br.../dp/B001G7NFGC

is this the right anti-squeal paste? And one packet per pad or what?

Very useful thread! My E55 has 34K miles on it so I'll be looking to replace the pads soon.

Thanks very much for the info.

I have the akebono brake pads all around as well. Dust free and brakes well for sure.

What's the stock rotor thickness below which the rotors (F/R) needs to be changed ?
Thanks

Front:
36mm new. Wear limit is 34mm. Service at 34.6mm.

Rear:
26mm new. Wear limit is 24mm. Service at 24.6mm.

Great thread! My vehicle is still good in the brake department, haven't gotten the warning yet though I was thinking about researching so I can be prepared when the time comes... Seems like I'll go with the OEM rotors and aftermarket pads when the time is right...

Thanks!

I'm not a fan of these low dust pads ... Just means they are super hard and chew up your discs ... Yes the brake dust sux but in long term think the hard pads are no good.

I got 14k on my car and my discs look terrible. Pads however hardly look worn. Both oem tho....

So after market pads chew up the discs but then again your OEM pads are eating up your OEM discs any way, so can we say it could be your driving style
Yes this is a great thread regarding E55 brakes and that's why i brought it back to life

i was under the impression that ceramic pads are easy on the rotors.

^^ I think it depends on what pads eg I would assume that EBC Reds are more aggressive than the Akebono's I have now. I must chip[ in that i never noticed how gorgeous and glossy my wheels are. Then again as stated above the effect on rotors might be due to driving/braking conditions ( I usually let off the pedal early before a traffic light so I always use minimal brake pressure( i guess driving a manual for a while affected my driving.) Also imo. you have to change rotors every brake job or at the very best every other one and I know with my driving the Akebono's don't cut hard enough to be bad thing

had akebono and they were great for everyday driving and spirited driving. Never had a problem with the rotors at all.

ebc on the other were really hard on the rotors and a lot of other ppl had problems with them on the vw board.

Akebonos FTW. It's nice to be able to clean wheels with just a water spray bottle and a single sheet of paper towel lol.

I say stick with oem brakes pads and rotors,our cars have no problems slowing down and were so lucky we dont have floating rotors that would cost 1k each to replace.

We did mine last summer with oem and the only thing I dont like is the dust,is there a pad that is like oem feel with a little less dust?

I did like 160 the other night and hit the brakes and it was smooth and slowed down with no issues at all,just massive brake dust.

+1 Akebono -1 OEM