Yes, the whole car is a luxury. Personally, I'd never order another high-end car without ceramics. By luxury I mean not needed. I order them because I hate brake dust and ugly rusty rotors. Not because of any performance. Just wish they'd let me order them in black. I find colored brake calipers hideous.

 

There’s the different strokes thing again. I personally abhor black calipers (and the bronze color used by MB). When given a choice, my calipers are always red. I’ve had red seat belts, too, for that matter, in nearly every car and plane for the last 20+ years - except MB.

The bottom line is that there’s no point in questioning anybody’s choice of options, brakes or otherwise. It’s a highly personal choice and we’ve all gotten to the point in life where we can do as we wish without justifying ourselves to anybody. Best not to look more deeply into it than that.

 

Agreed. All subjective. No wrong answers. To OP, congrats on your beautiful new wagon.

 

i love my CCB, over 3 years and 4 sets later on my last amg. great resale, they look cool and it set's your wagon apart from others.

 

How did you go through 4 sets in 3 years!?

 

Funny - I hate red calipers. 🤗

 

Very pleased with the CCBs on my car. The lack of brake dust was an unexpected bonus. While I haven't tracked my car yet, I figured I likely would at some point. I do however drive some nearby mountain roads briskly. Not having driven a non-CCB equipped E63s on the same roads I can't say how they compare, but the CCBs are still doing great at the bottom of the mountain.

The CBBs also bite quite well when the car is cold, and they've been whisper quiet with no squeaks or squeals.

Some have opined that the CCBs need to be warmed up to stop as well as steel brakes, but I would really like to see a side by side cold brake comparison from 45 mi/h to 0 mi/h or 60 mi/h to 0 mi/h to back up that claim. Would also be interesting to see something like a back to back 60 mi/h to 0 mi/h test repeated 10 times to see how much the steel brakes fade compared to the steel brakes, if at all.

At my AMG Driving Academy day at Laguna Seca we used the CCB equipped E63s for the braking exercise. Pass after pass maximum braking from 45 mi/h then working up to full send race starts and braking at ~65 mi/h or whatever we could reach by the marker. Then swap drivers and repeat. I never noticed any fading. I asked one of the mechanics about the brakes and he said they're great and if they did the same exercise with steel brakes they'd be swapping them all the time.

 

By all means, everyone can do whatever they want with their money! I'm sure if MB offered $25k diamond encrusted brake rotors that spewed glitter into the air when you applied the brakes, there would be a number of takers! 😄 But objectively speaking (when you consider the math), that's a steep price to pay to eliminate brake dust. 🤷🏻‍♂️

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/03/24/...r-race-tracks/

https://thebrakereport.com/are-carbo...akes-worth-it/

 

 

i had the gle63's, heavy truck but i drove the jesus out of it!

 

Sounds to me like you are disappointed you don’t have them and are trying to convince yourself you made the right choice. Deep down you know you want them. When I pull up next to at a stoplight you’re jealous. 😈

 

Pretty close! But not quite. I don't have them on my 2020 wagon and I haven't selected them on my 2021 order (yet), even though I really want them because you know, they use them on Lewis's F1 car, look cool, and because carbon ceramic! Important things to a car nut like me. And what if I pull up next to SFT and feel insufficient down below? 😉 But then that annoying practical side kicks in. I know from previous experience that it isn't really worth it. It's a DEEP inner struggle, so you got me there. These are serious first-world problems, ya know?

 

Great answer, I am having the same issue but not with CCB's. I keep thinking of getting back into a Porsche TTS but cannot justify the cost. I drive to work and back. I prefer a sedan for comfort and utility over a sports car. But every time I read a review the TTS just gets better. So for me the CCB's are a treat to keep my head out of the higher priced sports car market. I figured I was paying about $300 a day to drive the TTS to work on a nice day. Usually about 10 days a month. Then I need a DD because I can't drive the TTS to job sites. If my neighbor had a TTS and said I could drive it to work for a day for $300 I would laugh in his face. The E63S has way more use to me and is a better choice at this time, so the CCB's stay and all the other non essential boxes I checked off. You should bite the bullet and treat yourself to some awesome brakes.

 

A good friend of mine is the same way! He can talk himself out of wanting anything he doesn't have LOL!!

 

Right, but every damn year the TT is always 'best 911 TT ever'. Not to mention it's a $250,000 car now, well, a nicely optioned one anyway.

 

That's my point, to me it's just not worth that kind of money. If I had a ton of left over $ I would not hesitate. Since I turned 55 all has changed with my thinking. I guess a little closer to retirement and in the last 4 years my kids have been baby making machines. 5 grandchildren in 5 years. My wife has started funds for them and I suppose priorities change. Sorry to derail the thread.

 

i don't know about you guys but i can feel a huge difference when i have to get on the brakes with the CCB's, on a dime!

 

Oh no one is denying the fact that CCB's are very effective brakes and are almost immune to fade (not an issue on the street), but have you driven an E63 with steel brakes? They work really well too. You're not going to notice any difference on the street. I can't and I'm really sensitive to that kind of thing.

One option I've been tossing around is to order the CCB's to get the big sexy calipers and cross my fingers that whenever I need to replace the ceramic rotors, someone has steel rotor replacements that are compatible with the CCB's. All this stuff is made by Brembo, so I'm pretty sure it's out there, just a matter of compatibility with the hats on the E63 and piecing the right parts together. Maybe I'll contact Girodisc and see if they have anything brewing...they already have rotors for the W212 E63's after all and do a lot of steel replacements for Porsche CCB's.

https://www.girodisc.com/Rotors_c_1254.html

 

iv'e driven an e, gle and a c w/ CCB but not as hard as iv'e driven mine, my buddy was a service rep w/ mercedes for 15 years and porsche for 10 years, of those 25 years he changed CCB pads only once on a gt2 rs, car had 40k miles and 35k were all track. that was my deciding factor.

 

Your service rep buddy (at dealerships) never saw many ceramic brake replacements because when people find out how much replacements are they either sell the car or go to their independent mechanic for an alternative solution (only half joking). Yes ceramics can last quite a long time on the street with normal daily use, but I can guarantee you your buddy changed the pads AND rotors on that track car, big difference. Set of CCB pads is $2-3k and set of rotors is about $20k. And that's exactly why all the Porsche track guys put the ceramic rotors on the shelf immediately and replace with steel, then reinstall the ceramics when they sell the car. Ceramics wear better, but still wear out pretty quickly with track use, and you can replace steel rotors 10-15x for the same cost as one set of ceramics. I can get a set of steel pads/rotors for $1500-2000 for the E63 and replace them in my driveway in about 2hrs, it's really not that hard. Let's not pretend like there's some value to be had with ceramics, there isn't. But they're cool!

If you don't believe me, believe Porsche: https://www.autoblog.com/2019/03/24/...r-race-tracks/

 

Exactly right. There is zero value to CCBs on the street beyond brake dust avoidance and appearance, if you like them and care about that sort of thing. Even on the track (I’ve personally driven both steel and ceramic brake-equppied cars on the track - mostly small Formula race cars and various track-prepped Ferrari street cars), the only drivers who are likely to see real benefits from CCBs are apt to be sponsored to some degree and will have their regular brake replacements covered. Anybody who pays for their own brakes switches to steel.

 

When I was racing motorcycles I was sponsored by EBC and later Galfer. As a result I changed brakes much more frequently than I would have if were paying for them on my own.

I also used compounds that you wouldn't normally run on the street and which required some warm-up prior to first use in anger at turn 1.

Personally, I don't care whether anyone buys CCBs or not. I'm just advising my experience and rationale. As they say YMMV.

 

This thread has gone off the rails. 😂 BullMarket must have stock in a steel rotor manufacturer.

My 2016 M5 with 26k miles on it with CCBs says I have 88 - 90% of life left on the rotors. At this rate - the car will be 20 years old before I even have to think about it. Plus - I have no brake dust, stop on a dime and my calipers are gold and yours aren’t. 😆

 

I'm just trying to lay out the practical considerations I'm going through for anyone else who may be trying to make the same decision. There seems to be quite a bit of ignorance when it comes to the topic of this extremely expensive braking system, and your typical dealership isn't usually going to be much help here. "Oh yeah it's a pricey option so they must be better!"

Enjoy your confirmation bias, I mean CCB's.

 

I’m fairly certain everyone on this board understands the pluses/minuses of CCBs. I am also pretty sure no one this board is being sold a option they don’t want by a salesman.

Bottom line - I love the brakes and can afford them. I’d never go back to steel rotors.

You are free to option out your car as you see fit.