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I went with PowerStop Carbon Ceramic Pads, they are great. I use them on both my E63 and X5M.
Pros - Very little to no dust at all. Rotors last longer, because their not semi-metallic.
Con - They lack that initial bite of the OEM pads.
Completely satisfied, and I drive pretty hard every now and then. I do recommend adhering to the "break in" method after installing. I'm not sure if this has been mentioned here, but FCP Euro does have a lifetime replacement policy.
Last edited by benzokirk; Apr 7, 2021 at 12:40 AM.
Hello all,
I was looking for some uprated brake rotors/discs for my 2004 E55 Brabus K8. I want brake discs that do not get rusted easily, and possibly something lighter, but still bolt on with original calipers. I used google and searched here, but didnt find anything.
Finally went ahead and ordered from MTEC in Ireland, spoke with them on the phone and they gave good service. Price was good too.
Hello all,
I was looking for some uprated brake rotors/discs for my 2004 E55 Brabus K8. I want brake discs that do not get rusted easily, and possibly something lighter, but still bolt on with original calipers. I used google and searched here, but didnt find anything.
Finally went ahead and ordered from MTEC in Ireland, spoke with them on the phone and they gave good service. Price was good too.
I haven't tried them, but they look decent to me, for a one-piece rotor. I'm not sure about E55's but are your current rotors 2-piece? Possibly not, on an '04 E55, just wondering.
Rotors don't typically rust unless you haven't driven the vehicle in a while, and it's sitting in a climate that's conducive to producing rust after a few days. That happens to me sometimes when it's parked for several days after a rainy day, and it's humid. I can imagine that'll happen to any rotors, depending on the climate, but nothing to worry about.
I once owned an '89 Mooney airplane, which of course had floating disc rotors, that worked great---except they would rust with my biweekly use. I finally got some CHROME PLATED friction service, curing forever the rusting issue. They were PMA approved by the FAA so friction characteristics were equivalent.
Thanks for this link. Are the weight savings with the front two-piece Brembos significant? I was looking for something like this to save weight, but obviously didnt search enough. These are direct stock replacements, correct? And they are 304 USD/piece, not for the pair? Which means 600USD for the front setup.
I haven't tried them, but they look decent to me, for a one-piece rotor. I'm not sure about E55's but are your current rotors 2-piece? Possibly not, on an '04 E55, just wondering.
Rotors don't typically rust unless you haven't driven the vehicle in a while, and it's sitting in a climate that's conducive to producing rust after a few days. That happens to me sometimes when it's parked for several days after a rainy day, and it's humid. I can imagine that'll happen to any rotors, depending on the climate, but nothing to worry about.
Stock/current rotors on my E55 are one-piece yes. As for rust, I am not talking abouyt the contact surface with the pads, here you can quickly get surface rust yes. I am talking about the rest of the rotor. For "cosmetics", I am not interested in a rotor that looks rusty 3 months after installation. I did order those Mtec rotors with some surface treatment, that was an additional option. Hopefulle this will work and keep the rotors looking new for a long time.
Thanks for this link. Are the weight savings with the front two-piece Brembos significant? I was looking for something like this to save weight, but obviously didnt search enough. These are direct stock replacements, correct? And they are 304 USD/piece, not for the pair? Which means 600USD for the front setup.
The price is per rotor for all the posts I browsed and for all the sites I looked at. I got them because they're the direct OEM replacement, even went on Brembo to spec them before finding another post mentioning Rock Auto. Honestly wasn't considering weight, just wanted the stopping power I was used to already, which should be even better now as the previous owner neglected the pads and rotors for too long.
Thought about going with some EBC pads but didn't really want to do all the bedding in they required. I'll update with the pads I got once I see how the dust is.
If your rotors are not treated, with an anti corrosive coating like Pagid Rotors are, then you can always spray paint them before installation. I’m just talking about the hub and not the entire rotor.
I have the Brembo two-piece on my E63, and use the Pagid rear rotors. Rust corrosion isn’t an issue even after the car has sat for a week.
I would be interested in any back to back comparisons with the two piece, since it is a theoretical upgrade for an E55 as well. On paper I would think it breaks down like this:
- Less unsprung mass. Always good for handling and ride.
- Less rotational inertia. Good for acceleration and braking.
- The two piece design is supposed to be better from a heat dissipation standpoint or....they are more warp resistant under heavy sustained use.
- Uh, they look cool?
- Maybe the disc is supposed to be separately replaceable from the hub to save on consumables for racing but I don't see any piece parts, only the whole rotor
But the question is do any of these theoretical benefits really show up in any non-track situations? As far as outright braking capability or initial bite, I wouldn't expect to notice much of a difference.
Do the Akobono ceramic low dust pad kit on FCP Euro.
$450 for rotors, pads & all accessories needed for a front brake job.
then you have their lifetime replacement guarantee so your next brake pads & rotors are free and the ones after that and the ones after that.
Well I can not imagine that you will get new rotors or pads unless they break. For normal wear and tear, FCP Euro wont just give you new parts I assume?
I picked up my Mtec brake rotor and pads kit from the post. They arrived in two packages, where there was front/rear in each package. Each single package was a complete back breaker TBH. Around 30kgs = 66lbs
So I weighed them, front is 15,65kg/34,5lbs, rear is 10,1kg/22,3lbs. This is same as stock weight, and its the heaviest rotors I have ever handled.
I had them painted from Mtec with their black protective coating.
I wish I knew before about the Brembo 2-piece option mentined above. I would assome some steering feedback benefits of a slightly lighter front rotor?
I looked a bit more and also found this link here to 2-piece rotors from Girodisc:
I found this link for 2 piece Brembos, and it states the weight to be 13,96 = 14 kgs/30,8lbs, so not much weight savings there, Girodiscs would be better.
2003 E55, 2003 SL55, 2014 CLS63, 2018 q50 Redsport, 1968 Camaro SS, 1999 Trans am Firehawk
Originally Posted by boerge
Well I can not imagine that you will get new rotors or pads unless they break. For normal wear and tear, FCP Euro wont just give you new parts I assume?
you assume incorrectly. Lifetime warranty on everything including oil & filter. You just rebuy whatever the item is, ship old back, then they refund. Doesn’t matter if it’s wear and tear or defect. The only downside is some items they might stop carrying in the future then you’re kinda screwed bc if they don’t have the item you can’t get a new one to replace it with.
I checked online with them, and you seem right. Thats insane, but maybe they can do it if not many people bother this for normal wear and tear items, or sells their cars before needed to change parts.But oil and filter?? You send back old oil and filter and they send you new? That sounds too good to be true.
2003 E55, 2003 SL55, 2014 CLS63, 2018 q50 Redsport, 1968 Camaro SS, 1999 Trans am Firehawk
Originally Posted by boerge
I checked online with them, and you seem right. Thats insane, but maybe they can do it if not many people bother this for normal wear and tear items, or sells their cars before needed to change parts.But oil and filter?? You send back old oil and filter and they send you new? That sounds too good to be true.
it is true. They charge a higher price & know a lot of people aren’t going to pay what it costs to ship oil or other parts back. For normal maint items like filters oil/air/cabin filters, wiper blades, etc I use them. For stuff I’m likely only ever going to replace once I use others
It's been a long time since I've bothered with the lifetime warranty on brake pads (not purchased from FCP Euro) so I'm sure I wouldn't do it even if I bought brake pads from them. I'm also not shipping used fluids. For other consumables (belts, filters, etc.) I find it a little difficult to remember that it was an FCP Euro item vs Rockauto or something. So I am sure their take rate on the warranty is pretty low for consumables. I'm sure they are happy to fulfill the warranty on those few people that use it because it sells more parts in general. And how many people keep their same European car for forever? As far as I know the warranty is not transferrable so you'd have to think how many times the same person would even be able to use the warranty based on how long they keep the car (and how far they drive it). Even for long term owners, the majority of them seem to have put on relatively few miles. All part of the math.
The only thing so far, is that Mtec brakes are similar for left/right, just as the stock OEM rotors. That means the ventilation pattern and drilled hole pattern is correct for one side, but not for the other side. But workshop said stock rotors also was like this.
And they are correct, OEM rotors are unidirectional, meaning that can applied to either the left or the right side. This saved the Mercedes money by not having to manufacture directional rotors. The drawback is that you can’t take advantage of the cooling vanes compared to purposely built directional rotors.
Just updating: don't recall who manufactures the stock pads--only that everyone notes how dusty they are--so I got an Akebono/TRW mix as I was absentminded and only order 1 set of pads originally instead of 2. Those with the Brembo fronts/Zimmerman rears stop with no issue at all, no squeals, and almost no dust. Would recommend to anyone who ends up needing to replace the stockers.
Many of us E63 owners wished that Akebono made pads for the 6 piston calipers. But unfortunately they never did, so we have resorted to either EBC, PowerStop, or Brembo Ceramics.
I've always been happy with akebono pads on every car and it's the first thing I change when I buy a car. Brembo rotors holding up nicely and Pagid rotors. Just did this swap a few weeks ago to my W221, stripped the red and painted the calipers yellow.
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