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390mm Brakes + Caliper Paint + full brake DIY and FINALLY NO DUST!
Seriously, I love these pads. The pedal feel is great, and there is like no dust!
Anyway, Might get flamed for the caliper color choice, but Im happy, so whatever.
Hope this helps you guys out
And please, do not buy anything from Variant wheels
In my search to replace the ***** wonka wobble variant wheels, I tried a few different setups..... in case you were wondering what PRE-Facelift wheels look like on a facelift car, they look great! This is the CLS63 offset with 295s in the rear.
And lastly, I finally was able to get those variant wheels off my car.
Picked up a set of signature forged wheels for my friend. I'm normally not a fan of black wheels, but I do like these, and they're about 8 lb lighter than stock each
The front rotors really fill out the wheels and they are the same price as stock rotors. I worry about the brake bias though as you just added more front bias. Maybe there is a way to code for that if these cars have electronic bias control, but if it's hydraulic then probably not. Changing the brake bias to front more probably means longer stopping distances in a full ABS situation. How much longer, I can't say. And it's possible that the system can adapt anyway and all this is moot.
I can't believe the CLS63 had them as an option all the way back to 07. I guess the E was just too cheap for MB to offer these. I assume that 2012 C63 is a Black Series. A special beast indeed.
The main question is, did they really use the same caliper? If not, then there is not going to be a factory part available to adapt our calipers. Or, the knuckle could be different. Someone should dig around in EPC and figure it out (maybe I will).
Lazy Rockauto research shows different caliper P/Ns for an 09 CLS63 with and without the 390mm front rotors. That's annoying. It suggests there is no factory spacer or bracket to adapt. They just cast it as part of the caliper.
Great work on your video!
I love the Pre Face Lift Wheels on the car! Looks so much beefier than the 20s.
I actually really dig the pre-facelift wheels as well. One huge perk as they are actually forged, so they're much stronger than the cast stock wheels
The main problem with them is they're quite an old design, so finding a set in good condition is difficult. I found those on eBay, the guy listed them as "new", and his description says they "were taken off the car when it was brand new and stored, they are in brand new shape"
I even asked him on eBay messages to clarify that they were new and not refurbished in any way and he assured me that they were brand new
So anyway, I did pay premium for this, and they show up and they are well used, scratched up. But even worse they all had very poorly repaired curb damage.
Either way, I had to send them back to get my money back. Haven't found a good set since
The 390mm rotors are $418.79/ea on Rockauto. It also tells me that they were used in the following applications:
I can't believe the CLS63 had them as an option all the way back to 07. I guess the E was just too cheap for MB to offer these. I assume that 2012 C63 is a Black Series. A special beast indeed.
The main question is, did they really use the same caliper? If not, then there is not going to be a factory part available to adapt our calipers. Or, the knuckle could be different. Someone should dig around in EPC and figure it out (maybe I will).
Lazy Rockauto research shows different caliper P/Ns for an 09 CLS63 with and without the 390mm front rotors. That's annoying. It suggests there is no factory spacer or bracket to adapt. They just cast it as part of the caliper.
I believe the caliper is the same. The difference in part numbers comes from the brackets used. Mercedes only sells the caliper with the bracket. You cannot buy the brackets anywhere except from junk yards or dismantlers. Mercedes considers the bracket as part of the caliper
So my friend has a w-213 e63, they come with factory 390 mm rotors on the front. We compared the calipers and the rotors and everything. I am positive the front calipers are exactly the same as the 212. They also use the same pad.
The rotors although one piece, are identical in their specs. So technically you could use the one piece rotors from a w213.
Now on the w213 the caliper bolts directly to the knuckle with no adapter.
The front rotors really fill out the wheels and they are the same price as stock rotors. I worry about the brake bias though as you just added more front bias. Maybe there is a way to code for that if these cars have electronic bias control, but if it's hydraulic then probably not. Changing the brake bias to front more probably means longer stopping distances in a full ABS situation. How much longer, I can't say. And it's possible that the system can adapt anyway and all this is moot.
I'm pretty sure the bias is mechanical on this. It simply is done by the master cylinder. The lines run through a ABS unit which obviously receive signals from the traction control. I don't think it messes with the bias,
I haven't looked specifically, but I have looked through a lot of options and I have not seen anything for brake size in the coding.
I suppose you could look at cars that had the performance brake package as an option. Like the cls63, did they have different part numbers for the master cylinder based on what brake package was on the car?
To my knowledge, even the e63s with the 402 mm ceramic brake option have the same master cylinder
So a 219 CLS63 with P30 has a right front caliper P/N A0034208083. I was trying to pull up an image of one and get the pseudo-P/N cast into the bracket and then try searching for one. No luck so far. The left is A0034207983.
You can clearly see how the bracket is made for an additional 15mm radius/standoff. No good pics of the bracket though. Theoretically this is the bracket but even if I had the number I am sure finding one is nearly impossible without buying the entire caliper.
So a 219 CLS63 with P30 has a right front caliper P/N A0034208083. I was trying to pull up an image of one and get the pseudo-P/N cast into the bracket and then try searching for one. No luck so far. The left is A0034207983.
You can clearly see how the bracket is made for an additional 15mm radius/standoff. No good pics of the bracket though. Theoretically this is the bracket but even if I had the number I am sure finding one is nearly impossible without buying the entire caliper.
Those look more like the w217 calipers
Here is a 402mm adaptor for the 212/218 ceramic brakes.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a steel 402 mm rotor otherwise I would use these
I got the number straight from EPC. 219 CLS63 P30 application, which is one of the listed applications of the 390mm rotor. I guess your point is if the caliper looks different then maybe the bracket isn't even compatible. Dunno. It looks compatible I suppose.
In my search to replace the ***** wonka wobble variant wheels, I tried a few different setups..... in case you were wondering what PRE-Facelift wheels look like on a facelift car, they look great! This is the CLS63 offset with 295s in the rear.
According to the 2014 W212 brochure, those wheels were optional on the 2014. And yes they do say forged. I actually like the titanium as it distinguishes the S-model. And the optional twin 5 spoke wheels look a little too much like the optional AMG 18" on the E350 and E550. Forged would be cool though and twin 5-spokes are pretty timeless (as they were on my 04 E55). Are the forged ones less resistant to cracking and bending, in addition to being lighter?
Great video and photos. We discussed the 390 mm front rotor upgrade and brackets by Epytec a few years back. Could be useful. Purists will appreciate custom brackets, but 15 mm spacers will likely hold with quality bolts.
According to the 2014 W212 brochure, those wheels were optional on the 2014. And yes they do say forged. I actually like the titanium as it distinguishes the S-model. And the optional twin 5 spoke wheels look a little too much like the optional AMG 18" on the E350 and E550. Forged would be cool though and twin 5-spokes are pretty timeless (as they were on my 04 E55). Are the forged ones less resistant to cracking and bending, in addition to being lighter?
Those on the bottom right are actually different. The facelift twin five spoke has a softer more rounded appearance than the older split five spoke. They're both forged, they're both lighter, and I definitely think they are stronger.
There is one more forged option, the w218 cls63 facelift had an optional cross spoke that was forged. I've never actually seen one with it, but there are a few on eBay and some random Sellers and it's in the dealer ordering guide. They came in either black or silver. They look just like the w213 e63 Wheels
A quick question about the PowerStop brake pads. Your link goes to Z23 Evo, but they also offer Z26 Street for high-performance vehicles. Was there any consideration to one over the other?
A quick question about the PowerStop brake pads. Your link goes to Z23 Evo, but they also offer Z26 Street for high-performance vehicles. Was there any consideration to one over the other?
considered both, but I really couldn't find out the main difference between the z23 and z26. turns out were couldn't find any z26 pads for my friends w213 e63,so we ordered the z23 f/r. He tried them for a few weeks and had nothing be good things to say about them, so i ordered the z23 for my car.
I just found the answer at the PowerStop site; it's hard to believe the shim is enough to make another product: .
The Z23 pads are a Carbon-Fiber Ceramic formula that offer great dust-free braking performance. This kit is designed for increased braking power for a daily-driven car, truck, SUV or crossover.
The Z26, on the other hand is designed for extreme street braking performance on high performance vehicles. This kit includes premium stainless steel shims to provide better heat dissipation, as well as the Carbon Fiber Ceramic formula found on the Z23 brake pads.
Great video Kenny and upgrade.. I came across these rotors too, for $330 are they the same .. I have the 360x36mm and these are 390x36mm
You think your friend can make a bunch and we can get a group buy for them at a decent price. I know you mentioned on the video.
It’s all the the brackets which only come assembled when you order the calipers. The calipers are all the “same”. When I did 360mm to CCB swap I went down this same rabbit hole.
Another interesting thing I gathered was one is only supposed to use the replaceable one-time-use bracket to knuckle bolts to remove and replace and service calipers. The Allen head caliper to bracket bolts are treated as unserviceable and part of the caliper assembly, not to be touched. Hence the separate brackets are not order-able. When I googled the bracket stamped numbers the only thing that came up was used calipers or custom bracket kits.
04-07-2023, 04:53 PM
