Hello all,

new to MBworld as a poster - just had my 2018 E63S for B service. Advisor told me rear brakes are 3 mm and due for replacement soon. I’m a Renntech nut (HHT, EVM) but they don’t have any suitable systems for the rear.

any good recommendations for which companies have brake rotor/caliper/pads?

much appreciated!

 

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mer...mbo-0044208420

Here you go good sir. FCPEURO is the best choice.

 

I have CCBs so can't advise on replacements, but did note that you didn't mention the front brake wear, but guessing it was within spec or otherwise unremarkable.

Assuming the front brakes were ok and the rear is worn, it's likely due to the traction control coming on to limit wheel spin by adding some rear brake action.

For this reason I switch to Race mode whenever I'm expecting to see some wheel spin, such as in a couple of my favorite corners on the way to work. In Race mode the threshold for TC kicking in is a lot higher. Of course the car can step out a fair bit more before the stability control tries to bring it back in. If for some reason I'm seeing the yellow TC icon light up in one of the lower drive modes I ease off the throttle to spare the brakes.

I don't fully disengage TC on the street, but have done so under some controlled conditions - pretty fun. Things can get pretty sideways pretty fast, so be prepared.

 

why are you replacing calipers?

 

Brembo for rotors, FCPEuro for these
Powerstop Carbon Z26 for pads, gets rid of dusting, noise, and your brakes overall last 2-3x as long, I run them on an AMG GTS which shares parts and despite how cost effective they are I don't miss the OE pads one bit.

Otherwise MB Genuine for pads. The OE rotors are brutally expensive, $1400.

 

I'm not the OP, but out of curiosity myself having 3U0 (red) brakes, I've put in 2023, 2021, 2020 E63s and Powerstop.com keeps telling me Z26 won't fit, only Z23, which jokingly slightly offends me, because as far as I'm aware Z26 are more targeted toward high-performance lol. Is it wrong? Should Z26 fit?

 

Z26 is the exact same compound. It just trades the rubberized steel shim on the Z23 (same type as MB uses) for a solid steel shim making the brake pedal more firm. Going ceramic it'll be plenty firm as-is.

 

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions! My fronts are 7 mm which makes sense given what one poster wrote regarding traction control. I can try and use race mode more often but my drive to work is very much all highway/straight line.

I do not need to replace calipers per de, but wonder if I am replacing rotors/pads, would it make more sense to replace calipers as well to maximize performance/brake life. I suspect you think it probably does not make a difference to replace the caliper. I would appreciate your thoughts on that.

MB quoted $3400 for rear rotors and pads, which seems pretty high especially if they wear so quickly!

Thank you all, once again!

 

Aftermarket unless you have warranty still and think MB might deny fixing an unrelated drivetrain vibration or wheel bearing issue because “look that’s spinny and could be vibrating but it’s not ours”…

 

PS you typically will never need new calipers

 

So like LMinn said, it says the Z26 doesn’t fit and only the Z23 and lower versions do. Is this inaccurate?

 

Just change the model year to 2020, the brakes are the same.

For the front, both Z23 and Z26 fit, it's just a difference in the shim, rubber coated vs not. There's no rear Z26 pads though, so I just put Z23 on both front and rear.

 

only replace caliper if it failed
Example is stuck piston...

otherwise you waste money.

 

brakes are THE #1 money maker in our business because it takes 30 seconds to diagnose using a wear indicator or eyeballing brake discs (not to mention you can just lie at the dealer), you can sell lots of parts, DOT4, and for the AMG cars you get to dig all those dusty part #'s that have been sitting in inventory waiting for the specific AMG car they go to coming back for them. It's easy work, there are plenty of bad mechanics to make sure you are rewarded for doing the job correctly , and on AMG/Porsche/Audi/BMW, if you stick to stock compounds you will be back every 2 years, times each car in the fleet, and some of my customers have 3-4 cars distributed amongst their family so its gravy train. I have a customer that probably spent $5000 on brakes alone between the various Mercedes platforms. I also service a Sprinter fleet for an Amazon operator but that's it's own conversation.

Brembo and Z23 brakes from RockAuto. The Brembos look cooler, Brembo makes the original equipment for many of the AMG fleet, and they've been an OE partner for plenty of supercars, superbikes, to honestly trust my life with them. As for Powerstop, beside the AMG experience me and like probably 5 other dudes have on the AMG GTS platform, plenty of other cars which are very hard on brakes, the muscle car/track crowd love these things. You won't notice a diference in friction coefficent, they just last longer, are 1/3 as hard on rotors, don't dust, and don't make noise on low effort/cold braking the way metallic pads do. You will get the same benefits with similar ceramic pads on the market. The price made me VERY leary so I made sure to use these things for years before I ever recommended them. I go through brakes about every 20k on stock compounds, the G550 did 30k miles and the discs have the factory crosshatching still on them. I would usually go through 1.5 complete sets of brakes and rotors in that time. My S550 is hard on brakes too due to the huge mass, I didn't even bother waiting til worn brake components and just swapped the pads the week I brought it home.

Do not replace calipers unless they have been damaged, they will always outlast your interest in the car, and multiple owners down the line. They get stuck or the seals go bad for misuse or poor maintenance. For example I have a G550 which went for a dip in the ocean for pics and he did not spray down the system so his rear calipers got stuck.

I recommend replacing the sensors, and the spring clips on any car that sees a brake job. The clips prevent any rattle due to weak tension after 10+ years of heat cycles which can result in a brake shim getting shot out of the caliper. I also have a thing for shiny new stuff.

 

I am looking for brakes and rotors for my e63 (preventive maintenance)
I am located in Canada
What is the best option for Canadians ?? Fcpeuro ?
Also my brake calipers are red , is that supposed to be different type of brakes or same ?

 

All OEM parts quoted from Cdn MB dealer …. If you want everything in OEM

i went with these but bought from local OEM parts dealer with 20% discount.