So, I'll be needing front brakes soon...

[Koru_Kinshi]

Any suggestions on where to find parts for a good price? I was told that I 'need' to replace brake pads and rotors when I do said maintenance parts on an AMG. I'm not inclined to believe him, needless to say, but I do want the board's opinion. Should I just go OEM, or go EBC Green Stuff? And do I really need to replace the rotors, or you think he's trying to pad the bill? Fronts are at 5%, backs are at 20%

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[320 dreamer]

i use akebono pads with excellent results. great price and no dust! no squealing either
for pads i chose to turn the oem rotors as they had a lot of life left. cost was 8$ per rotor at oreilly's auto parts. this can be done by you for less than 350$ inc. a complete brakes flush and stainless steel lines. the pads were 149$ shipped 32$ for the rotors to be turned 40$ for the fluid and 80$ for the lines. i also went ahead and painted the calipers while i had everything apart. g2 caliper paint 37$ shipped

[JonMBZ]

IIRC Green stuff were environmentally friendly pads I think the red ones are better. Also check to make sure your green filters are not falling apart

[02C32guy]

I read somewhere on here that people have had problems with the green stuff pads on our cars. Apparently, they made a second version of the green stuff and that too had problems. Everyone that i have talked to has loved their Red stuff pads though.

[C32AMGSC]

I also have the Akebono brake pads, I bought them from Tirerack.com. They are awesome! Like 320 mentioned no dust, no squealing and good stopping power.

[e1000]

No you don't necessarily have to replace the rotors. Measure for minimum thickness.

EBC green and red are garbage. I wouldn't put those on a lawnmower.

Stock, made by Jurid will give you excellent street performance but they dust quite a bit.

Akebono Ceramics perform well as a street pad (slightly less bite than stock) and is nearly a no-dust pad.

[bnewport]

Agreed on EBC. I had EBC Red Ceramic on my Porsche 911 and they had no cold pad bite at all. On the track with some heat in them they were fine but for a street pad, they were dangerous.

I used Hawk HP+ and they worked well on both track and street. None of the issues with the EBC.

[MRAMG1]

Originally Posted by e1000

No you don't necessarily have to replace the rotors. Measure for minimum thickness.

EBC green and red are garbage. I wouldn't put those on a lawnmower.

Stock, made by Jurid will give you excellent street performance but they dust quite a bit.

Akebono Ceramics perform well as a street pad (slightly less bite than stock) and is nearly a no-dust pad.

You sir are so off base I will not respond to your ignorance.

Being a SCCA road racer for over two decades, I can say without ANY question EBC red stuff are a GREAT pad. They NEVER faded on the track on my C32, after the stockers quit SEVERAL times. No noise, no dust, what more could you want.

E1000 after MANY meetings, I have to ask just what is your background? You have ALWAYS voiced MANY heavy opinions that I have NEVER seen you back up

PS: Even tire rack does NOT recomend Akebono Ceramics for heavy use, just FYI

[MRAMG1]

Originally Posted by bnewport

Agreed on EBC. I had EBC Red Ceramic on my Porsche 911 and they had no cold pad bite at all. On the track with some heat in them they were fine but for a street pad, they were dangerous.

I used Hawk HP+ and they worked well on both track and street. None of the issues with the EBC.

Are you sure you are NOT confused with yellows

I have NEVER heard or seen ANYONE question Reds on the street before. Just curious as the yellows are a track pad, which could give a novice driver a bad impression. AKA as poor cold pad bite

[Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by 320 dreamer

i chose to turn the oem rotors as they had a lot of life left. cost was 8$ per rotor at oreilly's auto parts. 32$ for the rotors to be turned

Good luck finding someplace to turn a cross drilled rotor.

[bnewport]

I think it was the red stuff ceramics on my 996

[Quicktwinturbo]

Currently using EBC Yellow. At first, **** load of dust and made painful sound at low speed braking..

However, it feels a lot responsive than stock (when its fully warmed up).. even at high speed.. It produces less dust / sound after break in period.


Cheaper than others as well...

[mkonei]

Originally Posted by Zeppelin

Good luck finding someplace to turn a cross drilled rotor.

dont do it. buy them if they are reading thin, but do not cut them to remove ridges.

[91RS]

I thought you cannot turn rotors on a Mercedes, only replace.

[e1000]

Originally Posted by MRAMG1

You sir are so off base I will not respond to your ignorance.

Being a SCCA road racer for over two decades, I can say without ANY question EBC red stuff are a GREAT pad. They NEVER faded on the track on my C32, after the stockers quit SEVERAL times. No noise, no dust, what more could you want.

E1000 after MANY meetings, I have to ask just what is your background? You have ALWAYS voiced MANY heavy opinions that I have NEVER seen you back up

PS: Even tire rack does NOT recomend Akebono Ceramics for heavy use, just FYI

I've had EBC Redstuff pads on my car, which has the same brakes as that of a C32 and C55. They were very hard on my rotors, performed poorly when cold and didn't have the bite that the stock Jurid pads have.

Is anything that I said in my previous post not true? Even others on this forum agree with me that certain aspects of EBC pads don't live up to thier marketing claims. As you can see, my original post is unedited, and I never suggested that the stock Jurid pads should be used on a track. I specifically stated that as a street pad, the Jurids perform better. I also said that Akebono's were a good street pad as well, never mentioned anything about track use.

How about a little bit of history. EBC has actually completely re-forumlated the Redstuff pads once. I believe they used to be kevlar. Back then they made the same claims they do now. Great initial bite, semi-track formula, blah blah. The dirty little secret was that they were very hard on rotors and left all kinds of pad material on the rotor as well. EBC didn't fess up to this until they decided to re-formulate the pad as a ceramic pad. I've tried them and personally, I think they are STILL hard on rotors, not nearly as bad as before though. Again, this is all considering that we are talking about a street application. I will admit I've never tried them on a track.

As far as my background, I'm a guy that drives a car who tried Redstuff pads and didn't like them. That's all you need to know.

[e1000]

Originally Posted by MRAMG1

E1000 after MANY meetings, I have to ask just what is your background? You have ALWAYS voiced MANY heavy opinions that I have NEVER seen you back up

Ok so I have to admit this is bothering me a bit. Please give me some examples and I'd be more than happy to back up my claims. Better yet, give me ONE example where I've given a "heavy opinion", was questioned on it, and was later proven to be wrong.

[gt4awd]

EBC green and red are garbage. I wouldn't put those on a lawnmower.

I put EBC Red front, and rear on my old 02' Sportcoupe along with EBC dimpled/slotted rotors F&R. To make a long story short I had to end up getting ALL rotors turned, and all pads replaced due to a brake vibration that slowly got worse over time. The pads, and rotors were professionally installed. I don't think stopping power was as good as stock either. Upon removing the pads, and rotors it was found that both had very small cracks developing. Of course EBC took no responsibility for this... I would recommend avoiding EBC all together!

[Phil C55]

You can get German made Zimmermann drilled rotors for $100 each. That's what I plan on when mine need replacement. EBC wouldn't be my choice for pads or rotors.

[gt4awd]

By the way, I went with Duralast Gold for the front pad change on my C32. They produce a lot less dust, and seem to be very high quality so far. Not to mention the local purchase at Autozone made things a little easier. Previously I had used the Duralast C Max Gold on my 2004 350z, and they too have been working great. I would have to say equal if not slightly better stopping power than OE. I do get a a loud brake noise at around 5% pressure, but other than that no problems. That's with the regular gold on the C32. The ceramic Max on the 350z have never made any sound.

[SUPR C]

I used Porterfield RS4s and they were absolutely great. However unfortunately I just received the EBC redstuff that I ordered a week ago. Just wanted to try something different. I guess I should have done more research on them. I guess I will try them and see. I also received Zimmerman front rotors. I got them from www.autopartswarehouse.com, they seem to have pretty good prices and free shipping, which was very fast.

[Jons95c36amg]

You can't go wrong with Hawks! I love my Hawk Perf Ceramics! Much less dust then OEM and cheaper too.

[TemjinX2]

i have akebono ceramics on my car and i love them. As for rotors, others have told me the same thing, not to turn mercedes rotors and just replace them. I decided to error on the side of caution and not turn them.

[gt4awd]

Some shops will not be able to turn slotted or cross drilled rotors, because this type of rotor causes vibration during the grinding process. However, it is possible to turn the rotors...

[C_DirtyTwo]

I just put the akebono ceramics on my car from tire rack about a month ago. Like everyone said they're great for no dust and no squeaking, and also stop just as good as OEM. Although, I did encounter a little Brake fade when things got hot and you hammer on them a few times from a little bit higher speeds. Not to say this wouldnt happen with OEM or any other pads as well, but I expected a little better.

[02C32guy]

Originally Posted by Jons95c36amg

You can't go wrong with Hawks! I love my Hawk Perf Ceramics! Much less dust then OEM and cheaper too.

I've heard a lot of really good things about Hawk pads. Unfortunately they don't make a front pad for the C32.