WANTED 10-15mm hub centric wheel spacers

[Smoky400E]

Ideally a reasonably priced set of 4 with bolts but I’d be interested in other options too. Trying to fit some W220 larger brakes instead of rebuilding the very rough looking ones on the 400E. Thanks!

 

[gsxr]

10-15mm spacers are problematic up front, as you may need to remove the grease dust cap to allow them to fit.

Spacers are only needed to clear the brakes with certain wheels. What specific wheels are you using?

220 brakes will NOT bolt up without modifications... not recommended... look for the late R129 calipers (Brembo 334mm, aka "Silver Arrow") if you want bigger. Or get the 320mm brakes from the R129 SL600, these will fit under most 16" wheels.

 

[Smoky400E]

10-15mm spacers are problematic up front, as you may need to remove the grease dust cap to allow them to fit.

Spacers are only needed to clear the brakes with certain wheels. What specific wheels are you using?

220 brakes will NOT bolt up without modifications... not recommended... look for the late R129 calipers (Brembo 334mm, aka "Silver Arrow") if you want bigger. Or get the 320mm brakes from the R129 SL600, these will fit under most 16" wheels.

OK, thanks for the info. It looks like I could make some combination of W203 and/or W220 brakes work in the front, but the calipers just barely hit the inside of these 17" AMG-style (I believe they are decent aftermarket) wheels. I think they would actually work fine with like a 5mm spacer, but maybe I should abandon the whole idea...I don't want to go crazy with larger brakes or anything and I do want it to actually drive decent when I get to that point. I just couldn't seem to find a re-seal kit for the existing calipers that wasn't crazy expensive. This is a total budget restoration for now and I have the W203/220 parts so I figured I'd give it a try. But sometimes you just have to pay to play. I do see one set of R129 front Brembo calipers for like $345 + shipping on eBay but of course with decent rotors and pads it'd be pushing $600 for just the fronts, which seems silly on a $700 car that needs tons of other stuff.

Is rebuilding/cleaning/painting the old calipers a reasonable course? They are corroded on their exteriors, but don't currently seem to stick and do function at slow speeds at least.

 

[geraniumtr]

Smoky400E, About a year ago I rebuilt a used set of ATE iron front calipers for my E320. They were in a little better shape than the one in your picture. Very happy with the results. A new seal kit from MB ( ATE seals ) was under $50. Its a time consuming job mostly spent cleaning but not difficult.
Just one caution... if any of the pistons are scratched or pitted they cannot be made usable.


Regards,

Peter

 

[Smoky400E]

Smoky400E, About a year ago I rebuilt a used set of ATE iron front calipers for my E320. They were in a little better shape than the one in your picture. Very happy with the results. A new seal kit from MB ( ATE seals ) was under $50. Its a time consuming job mostly spent cleaning but not difficult.
Just one caution... if any of the pistons are scratched or pitted they cannot be made usable.


Regards,

Peter

Thank you for this info! I think that’s probably best way to go for the time being on this car. I’ll check the dealer for the seals as I haven’t found any that cheap, especially good quality ones.

 

[gsxr]

Calipers rarely need to be rebuilt unless the pistons are sticking. You can cycle the pistons in/out a few times and see how they move. Ignore the external condition, that does not tell you what the insides are like. As Peter said, you can buy the seal kits from the dealer (assuming they are not NLA) but it's a lot of work to disassemble / clean / reassemble. I've never had to tear calipers down and re-seal them.

And yes... on a budget build, forget the brake upgrade. Poor ROI.