I usually buy parts for my older Mercs from Pelican Parts, but with my long-sought new-to-me CLK project car inbound at this time, and with its brakes evidently stuck fast from water damage, I did a little preliminary online window-shopping for brake calipers, only to find that Pelican doesn't stock them.
So I checked a couple of OEM Mercedes parts vendors to scope out prices, only to be blindsided with a serious case of sticker shock, on seeing the princely price tag of $444 for ONE SET of OEM Mercedes calipers for this car. At those sky-high prices, a set of calipers for each corner would cost as much as I paid for the entire vehicle, so I decided to consult the long-time CLK drivers in this forum, to find out if there are online vendors whose prices won't require me to take out a second mortgage to afford.
I did carry out a search of the forum archives, but didn't spot any references to a favorite parts vendor that carries the full range of parts for the CLK family. My car is a 2009 CLK550 that I rolled the dice on and acquired as-is and non-running, from an auction, and even before it actually arrives here, I sure would be grateful for any advice regarding a reasonably priced online source of the parts I will certainly need to breathe life into this vehicle.
Standing by for any names that y'all could recommend for CLK parts.
You could always try fleabay.com for used calipers. A blast from a shop airline can often free up siezed pistons but put some wood in the caliper so that one doesn't blow out all the way leaving the others stuck in place.
I dont expect, however, that caliper overhaul kits or replacement pistons are avaiable in the US. But you never know. A couple of decades ago Brembo stopped supplying them after some idiot serviced his own brakes, effed it up and crashed.
IwantedaJag, you is DA MAN, if you will excuse the colloquialism. I am very grateful for the directions of where to find CLK parts, and also for the cost cutting idea of freeing up the calipers with pressurized air. That I will certainly try, before embarking on a search for replacement calipers.
Buying a non-running car, sight unseen, is always a gamble, but I have yearned to own a 2009 CLK550 for so long that I did not hesitate to roll the dice, when this car appeared on the auction website. One thing though, is that I would never have even contemplated making this purchase were it not for the highly knowledgeable Merc owners such as yourself, and Rodney, an individual of awesome intellect and insight, who holds court here and in the other Merc website.
I will be back with updates, and questions, when the the time comes.
Much thanks, sir. I am looking up those two websites right now.
For some strange reason certain calipers are as rare as hens teeth. I had a Porsche Boxster S front caliper go bad and the only ones that could be found were original Porsche calipers, and Porsche only has 4 of them in the whole US of A. Replacing that caliper cost me a grand.
The same seems to be the case with CLK sports calipers.
The best advice I can give is to Google search them and be really careful that the ones you find really are the ones you need. Also, of you do eBay, do NOT trust eBay's vehicle fit tables. I got bitten when I through I had found the correct front caliper for the Boxster. It was only when I tried to insert the pads that it became obvious that they weren't the correct ones.
Much thanks for the caution about Ebay, Anker. I have always regarded Ebay and Amazon as shopping sites of final resort, to be patronized grudgingly, and only if my searches of all other sources proves futile.
My God, a grand for Porche Boxter calipers is out of this world. And there I was regarding $444 as an astronomical price tag for CLK calipers. I should count my lucky stars that I never got bitten by the Porche bug.
Again this timely advice offered is very much valued by this CLK novice, and just knowing that there is an online location where I can pose my future questions to experts, is very reassuring, as I await the arrival of this long-sought dream car that I hope to restore.
Hello 260E Cruiser, I have copied and pasted these links you kindly provided, and my confidence is back, for the parts procurement process I will soon be faced with.
Autohauz is the only supplier that I already knew about, from the list above. This information is going to save me time and money, without question. I am very grateful for your having taken a moment to set me along the right path, and for helping eliminate most of the time-consuming searches I would otherwise have needed to carry out.
Before this car arrives, I will as usual listen in here in this forum, and learning as much as I can to make the task ahead that much more straight forward.
I recently had a good experience with Advance Auto Parts in replacing my trunk lift struts - half the price of a dealer and made by same manufacturer (Stabilus) as the OEM parts, just didn't have the MB star on them. Just checked what they have re calipers for my 350 - found about 4 choices by different manufacturers from $120-$400 range.
Information shared by Rodney is always carefully recorded in my notes with gratitude. I went through each website looking at prices, and noted that the website format, and the pricing for brake calipers, is virtually identical across several of the vendors' websites, with the notable exception of Rock Auto, mentioned by 260E Cruiser.
Rock Auto turns out to be the only vendor that offers re-manufactured calipers for the 2009 CLK550, priced at a QUARTER of the amount quoted in most of the other websites I looked at. That massive price differential may only exist with respect to brake parts, so I have bookmarked all the sources listed by helpful Benzworld writers here, creating an index of alternative suppliers where I can track down those hard-to-find components as needed.
Certainly, with the wealth of resources listed above here, there need not be any further meandering google searches to locate parts for my future Mercedes repair needs, and for this I am indebted to all who responded to this discussion thread.
To any other penny-pinching Mercedes tinkerers like me who happen to look in on this topic, I would recommend that Rock Auto be placed at the top of your search list, and I pass this advice on, with a tip of the hat to a Benzworld writer who goes by the handle 260E Cruiser.
If / when I get my AMG CLK63 out of legal limbo (long story) I will be sure to check them out for the needed new rotors on all 4 corners. List price for front rotors is nearly $1300 each!
I have heard some horror stories about parts for all AMG series Mercs, but $1,300 for rotors alone, WITHOUT the added cost of calipers if required, is cause for sober reflection about the meaning of life.
For a financially challenged mortal like me, fear of that AMG badge would be the beginning of wisdom, for sure.
Whenever I need parts that will cost me hundreds of dollars or more, I actually make a spreadsheet and to record and compare prices (incl. shipping) and brands (OE vs. OEM vs. aftermarket) from all the "usual suspects" of parts sellers. It is amazing of the price differences I find. No single one will always be the best price on every part. And I often end up splitting my orders among different sellers when I can save more than $20 or so.
As for sticker shock on the AMG brake parts, it's partly because they do use "high test" materials, but also because the parts are unique to that car, and there's just so few of them on the road, manufacturers make smaller batches, costing more. I know one solution to expensive AMG rotors is to buy modular parts where the hub and rotor surface ring can be detached. You buy the hub adapters specific to your car, then just bolt on a new ring when needed. Since the rings fit many different cars, so you get some economies of scale on pricing once you've made the investment in the hub adapters.
The rotor are supposed to be modular, but I have yet to find a vendor selling just the outer, friction wearing disc, without a hub. Grrr....
Actually you can get the rotors on line for under $700 each (woo-hoo) and AFAIK the calipers don't seize unless the car's been parked up with the parking brake left on. We shall see if / when I ever get mine back....
Someone here (or on mbworld) found the modular rotors source. IIRC, the rotor part i was not sold as compatible with MBZ but for some other car - he bought it based on size.
The parking brake being left on would have nothing to do with the calipers freezing. The parking brake uses a separate mechanical drum system located inside the rear rotors.
^ I was taught by my maternal grandfather, who started working at age 14 as an apprentice car mechanic in 1930, never to leave the parking brake on if the car was to be parked up for any appreciable length of time. The pads or shoes can (and do) stick to the rotors or drums as applicable.
Maybe the OP should check out whether the parking brake has seized on and/or if the shoes have stuck to the rotors before he buys really expensive new calipers. Many modern calipers use ceramic or ceramic coated pistons that shouldn't ever seize.
I tried to buy OEM parts www.ecstuning.com (number 1 choice) and www.parts.com (last resort). If you have the part numbers so easy to shop for parts. The only aftermarket parts I'm running is the brake pads those are Akebono on upgraded OEM CLK55 front rotors and a front CF front lip.
Another place I have bought from is partsgeek. When I was doing front end suspension work on the CLK, they had the best prices for the control arms (OEM Lemfoerder).
I just got a set of cryogenic (pre-frozen, supposed to really increase reliability) rotors (no calipers listed) for my CLK500, from Tire Rack. They don't have a lot of general parts for W209's, but occasional sweet deals on the parts they carry, and I've had good experiences with them. I'm thinking to time trial the CLK, and had to get the super sticky pads somewhere else.
I just got a set of cryogenic (pre-frozen, supposed to really increase reliability) rotors (no calipers listed) for my CLK500, from Tire Rack. They don't have a lot of general parts for W209's, but occasional sweet deals on the parts they carry, and I've had good experiences with them. I'm thinking to time trial the CLK, and had to get the super sticky pads somewhere else.
I only buy Akebono brake pads and tires from Tirerack.
You know OEM CLK55 rotors bolt up to the CLK500 with no modification using the stock CLK500 calipers with stock CLK500 brake pads and sensor. I have done it for years for the front only. The CLK55 rotors last much longer then our blank face clk500 rotors.
Most if not all of the Benz catalog should be listed on Genuinenewparts.com.
We have good deals at partbull.com, as well, but we didn't have the OE caliper numbers on any listings, so GNP might be able to pick up some slack where we let down. It is, however, all genuine, so bear that in mind going in. Sometimes that Benz logo can get a little expensive :wink
Do not not count your chickens before they hatch! You do know that the brakes are a sealed system. Thus there is a possibility that no water has entered the system. If it were me I would wait until you have it in your shop before ordering parts.
Brakes are NOT sealed systems. Water can get in through the filler cap and a whole number of other places.
In days gone by, before DOT4 (and 5) brake fluid it was recommended to change the brake fluid completely every couple of years PRECISELY BECAUSE OF water getting into the brake fluid over time. The water could and would boil when the brakes got hot, leading to the brake pedal hitting the bulkhead as the water vapor (steam) compressed.
The reason brake caliper overhaul kits aren't sold any more is because some idiot tried to fix his own brakes, effed it up and piled himself into a wall or a lamppost or something. The resulting lawsuit nearly bankrupted Brembo.
The reasons why MB calipers are expensive are numerous: parts prices for prestige cars sold in small numbers, planned obsolescence, the higher quality materials used in manufacture, less interchangeability with other models and marques (e.g. the dozen other GM stable cars using the same calipers), and finally, just because they can.
But above all I would never take chances with brakes and tires.
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