early 500E upgrade Brake from 300 to 320mm

[je11]

Hello from Germany to all .036 drivers here ;-)

My early 500E (08/1991) have the 300mm Brake-Disks. Theyre nearly worn and now I want to upgrade the brake system to 320mm disks, like the later .036

I bought new calipers (001 420 00 83 and ... 01 83), new brake disks (320mm) and new brake pads (same partsnumber like for 300mm disks).

Next week the parts are coming and Ive planned to mount all next weekend, but now I remembered that there are the dust shields (metal) which have also other partsnumber.

I look at EPC and there are following problems: one side NLA and other side extremely expensive (+/- 400€). Used parts are also not available.

Now my question to you : Can I still use the old dust shields or will the calipers doesnt fit ? Or are there maybe other dust shields which could fits (W202 / W210 /...) ?!

Thank you very much !

EDIT: AND SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH

 

[lowman]

one thing is the dustshields..the other thing to consider is the clearance between the inside of the brakedisc towards the lower outer balljoint.
When fitting the late style bigger brakes..they can come in contact with the balljoint housing.
For this reason..the late style brakes "need" the late style Lower Control Arms..as a rule of thumb.
With that said..you can modify the early style lower control arms..by grinding off abit of the material on the outside of the housing for the balljoint.
This can be sufficient for enough clearance for the brakes.

 

[Duh_Vinci]

I had similar question while back, the link Dave (gsxr) has in this post is very helpful with visuals:

https://www.500eboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12409&p=160248&viewfull=1#post160248

...Be warned... the SL600 320mm front brake rotors sit ~6mm further inward, and require modifications to fit. Normally the proper fix is to install the late-style LCA's (used on all years of SL600) but those are NLA from MB as of last week, and aftermarket can't be trusted. If you can locate used ones with tight ball joints and intact balljoint boots, you can rebuild a set by installing new rubber bushings and a new BJ boot. Otherwise, you'll need to cut a hole in the dust shield and most likely need to grind the outer face of the existing LCA for clearance. Any less than ~2mm airgap will result in rubbing when turning. Click here for detailed photos...

Regards,
D

 

[je11]

Ah okay thank you very much.
I can get new Aftermarket LCA from TRW , should be better quality than Febi ;-)

So I dont need to think about the dust shields ?

 

[sheward]

Some of the owners here including myself have upgraded to 335 and 355mm rotors and simply cut a small hole in the shields in the area that lowman has noted. This should be all that is required in addition to the LCA balljoint issue. You MAY have to trim the shields in the area where the caliper is. I can't recall but others here will surely know. There is much information here on this and the quality of various currently available control arms if you search.

drew

 

[Duh_Vinci]

Some of the owners here including myself have upgraded to 335 and 355mm rotors and simply cut a small hole in the shields in the area that lowman has noted. This should be all that is required in addition to the LCA balljoint issue...

I think this is where gsxr has a picture on how it is addressed

http://www.w124performance.com/images/W124_brakes/LCA_early_vs_late/balljoint_clearance4.jpg

...You MAY have to trim the shields in the area where the caliper is. I can't recall but others here will surely know...

And this is also from his files

http://www.w124performance.com/images/W124_brakes/334mm_X_32mm/brake_dust_shield_400E.jpg

Regards,
D

 

[sheward]

Thanks. I failed to read your quoted post from Dave completely.

drew

 

[gsxr]

I can get new Aftermarket LCA from TRW , should be better quality than Febi ;-)

Late-style TRW LCA's appear to be repackaged Febi. Don't use them. More details on TRW / Febi are in this thread:

https://www.500eboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4858

Late-style OE LCA's came down in price drastically in USA within the past year, buy new OE if you want to upgrade, they are under $200 USD each from discount dealers. Unfortunately it appears European dealers did not see the same price reduction, still over €400 without VAT.

As mentioned above, you can grind your early LCA's for clearance, along with cutting a hole in the dust shield. And yes, you can use the existing FRONT dust shields. The rear dust shields need to be cut, or replaced, for 300mm rear rotors to clear the early 278mm dust shields.

 

[lowman]

The rear dust shields need to be cut, or replaced, for 300mm rear rotors to clear the early 278mm dust shields.

If getting the dustshields in the rear ,these days you will get the w210 partsnumber one..which is 300mm disc compatible

 

[atg]

I will buy the old 300mm front calipers from you if you do not want them ;-)