E63 Front Rotor Replacement DIY - RacingBrake
 

With 87,000 miles on the rotors including 2 track days, they were shot. I have had the RacingBrake front rotors for a few months waiting for an opportunity to put them on. This was supposed to be a day for both front and rears, but I could not find the E18 Torx socket for the rear. I will post that later.

I will tell you that the most difficult thing about the install was finding any reliable information on the torque requirements of the front caliper bolts. I had read stories about 200ftlbs to remove them and 135ftlb torque spec. However, all of these were from E55 guys. So I am ready to have to find a 3ft breaker bar as I remove the calipers and I am able to easily break them free by hand using a 18inch bar. This did not add up. Including the fact that the caliper is aluminum. So, in the end, I only torqued them to 85ftlbs based on some information on Brembo installs. If someone shows me definitively they should be 135ftlbs because they show me in a manual, I will re-install them. The bolts are Grade 10.9 and capable of >200ftlbs.

So here I am with parts ready to go, new brake lines and titanium shims from from evosport, OEM brake pads and sensors, and the new rotors.
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/B1.jpg

I was working at a friends garage and he had a parts cleaner facility that made it easy to clean the pins, clips, and bolts.
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/B2.jpg

Here I am ready to remove the caliper. I used a hanger in order to hold up the caliper once the bolts were remove. We decided to see how late it was before deciding to do the brake lines. Turned out to be a smart move, we did not install the lines that day.
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/B3.jpg

Here are the 21mm (socket size) mounting bolts and caliper keeper bolt. I cleaned them off and re-applied medium strength Loctite when replacing.
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/B4.jpg

Here is the left side with everything removed. I wire brushed the hub surface and applied a think layer of synthetic axel grease as a rust inhibitor. Note the wire to the right of the top caliper mounting hole; the fat part of the wire fits into a clip behind the hub assembly. I needed to remove that to ensure I had clear access to the upper mounting bolt. Do not forget to put it back. The right side has two wires since that is where the wear sensor is located.
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/B5.jpg

Here is the rotor I removed. Note that the slots are nearly gone. This is easily below minimum thickness. I do not want to get my hands dirty tonight, but I will follow up with measurements and pictures of the lip on these things. Not pretty. Also note the brake pad shots. Nearly to the point the wear indicator would have turned on. Also, the cracking indicates just how hot these things got. Not sure if this would have happened when I installed them during my Thunderhill outing or if it was at Laguna. Laguna certainly turned the calipers bronze.
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/B6.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/BA.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/BB.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/BC.jpg

Here the new rotor is on and the bolts are only hand tight. I was not ready to torque them down until I had fitment on the pads. I did not need to remove the rotor again, but the fit with the new pads left no room for the Titanium shims. I do not use the word "tight fit" because without the shims it was fine. I am sure the shims will fit before my next track session. Titanium shims act as an insulator between the hot pads and the pistons. As a result, less heat goes to the brake fluid.
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/B7.jpg

So here is left and right all done and torqued to 85ftlbs as mentioned in my opening discussion. Wires are all back in their retaining clips.
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/B8.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/B9.jpg

Although I did not perform a runout test on these, there is no indication anything is off. They have been working well. Hard to judge friction level given the machined surface has not been worn away yet. I followed the road car brake in recommendation from RacingBrake.

Some other notes. Use rubber gloves. I went through a bunch. Can of break cleaner to spray things off, in some cases to clean it up just for inspection to see if any of the piston rubber boots look aged or cracked. Also a pan to catch the brake cleaner. Remember which way the brake pad springs installed. I did the left side first and had it upside down. When I did the right, the little clip for the wear sensor wire was in the wrong spot and I realized my mistake.

Next time, I will post the rear install.

Great write up! Look forward to you impressions as you put more miles on them! :y

That was really awesome. That's for all the effort to post pics and descriptions.

^ More solid technical information we’ve come to know you for, Jon. Thanks.

No lie, had a flashback the other day thinking about your NASA-spec airbox wrap upgrade thread. :y

This brought back memories, when I installed my new pads a few weeks ago.

I am truly surprised that you got 87,000 miles out of your front rotors :y How many pad changes have you gone thru?

Nice write up Jon....

I just got my front RB rotors in also. Waiting for the rest of my parts to do my brake change.

Mine is a 2007 e63.... do we have SBC? I didn't think so, but my SA keeps telling me I do...

2 sets. 60k on the first set with no track days and 27k on the second set with 2track days.

The first set was totally trashed, went throught the wear indicator
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Thunderhill/T1.jpg

What are you guys using to compress the pistons in the calipers? Most I've had to deal with was 2 on the same side of the caliper. Not sure how to deal with 6 or even the 8 I have. Block of wood and one side at a time with a C clamp? Getting in there with a pry bar to push the caliper to the side and force the pistons back? Magic spells?

Making sure I had room in the master cylinder reserviour, I simply pushed them back slowly with my fingers. First the outboard side, insert the pad, then the inboard pistons. Did make sure the inboard pistons did not push out too much while pushing in the outboard pistons.

I have honestly had a harder time with a single large piston on a Volvo, than with these. Also remember, time makes a difference and this car is <5yrs old. I guess the Volvo also did not have the fluid replaced every 2 yrs.

We DO NOT have SBC. There is no computer related stuff to mess with, except...

When the pads are removeded, if for some reason you decide to turn on the engine, say to get the power steering to give more angle for better access, DON'T. when you hit the brake pedal to start the engine you can eject the pistons from the caliper and feel like an idiot. Then you have a real mess.

Your SA is and idiot, if he doesn't know that the E63 do not have SBC, those were on the E55 not E63. I used a big flat screwdriver to wedge between the pads and the rotor, to compress the piston. You need to be careful not to gouge up your rotors.

We are shipping our XT series track compounds, in addition to the street compound (ET series), not only it can provide you with more brake torque than stock pads, but also extend the pad durability for track activities.

To make it easier in compressing the pistons back is to open up the bleeder valves.

What is the difference between ET300,ET500, and ET800?

Here is how one of our Acura customers classified the ET compounds:
Note ET series is for street driving only and not recommend for motorsports or high speed track application.

For motorsport applications, we offer two compounds on XT series:
ET pads are one of the most popular compounds at EVO, Acura, Subie and other communities.
XT pads were extensively track tested on EVO 8/9 and 10 MR, with a very satisfactory result in performance and durability.

Doing some math: $1200/pair of rotors to save 5 pounds per side, is that correct?

Nope. $1200 vs OEM at $1575 per pair (at a discount online store). These are simply cheaper. Lower weight and harder grey iron are just the side benefits.

sorry, forgot e63 has BLING 2 piece rotors.

OEM replacement iron e55 rotors (Zimmermann) is about $120/pc. Something like that. *whew*.

Rotor update
 

So I said I would update with the old rotor pictures.

Technical: Min thickness 1.299 inches
Measured wear total on inside edge, 0.140 inch average
Measured wear total on outside edge 0.095 inch average

Approximate initial thickness, 1.40 inch
Measured thichness about 25% in was 1.31 inch (1.4-0.095=1.305 thus confirmed by two methods.
Of course that means the inside was about 1.260, which is below minimums. No surprise because the slots are gone.
Enjoy the pictures below. Hey, I never notice the stress cracks around the cross drill holes. I have looked in the past but I guess the light was just right. This is one of the key reasons I went with the Racing Brake slot design.
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/BB1.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/BB2.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/djcronk/Pictures/BB4.jpg

Wow. No comments? Where are those forum members I have come to know who would at least give me a hard time over the condition of those rotors. You guys wigged out big time over the demise of my first set or rears!!!

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...ut-oneside.jpg

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...t-flipside.jpg

Jon your posts are awesome! I am no where close to that wear on my e63 yet but very conscious about driving style and costs for when i do replace teh brakes on my own like you have. Was cost really the driver? Is racing brake truly better than the OEM?

I have been very happy with these disks now that I have some miles on them. The big question will be how they wear at the track. Given stock pads, I have no concerns about that.

Since cost is an issue, I am not ready to pull out the stock pads and try one of the RB compounds mentioned above

If you read the information on the the RB site, it is very complete and discusses the technology in depth.

As for the rears, that is a project I should get to next week. There RB didnot have rears yet and evosport did. And, in this case the 2piece rotors lighten things up a lot over the one piece stock. But the stock rotors have dropped in price and since they are abused much less than the fronts so once the evosport ones are used up some day I will go back to stock.

Thanks Jon! Going to bookmark this page, hopefully you don't take the pictures down like a lot of other useful threads. lol.

I'm probably going to need rotors within the next few months. Pads are definitely starting to wear now.

@Jon - How hard was it for you to take the rotors off? Mine are stuck... I soaked a ton of rust release crap back there, hit it with a hammer, kicked it a few times and yelled at it and nothing........and yes I did remove the retaining screw.........

You need a bigger hammer.........15 lb. sledge worked for me. Scary how hard you have to hit them.