Brake options for 2011 W204 C350 CDI

[C350Carl]

Evening all.

Having recently come over to Mercedes I am new to upgrades etc for my car so looking for some advice. I always tune my cars and as I'll be remapping it soon I'd like to upgrade the brakes.

Having come from a car with a 345mm front/310mm rear set up the C350 brakes feel "progressive" compared to my previous car. Granted the Mercedes is also about 400kg heavier.

I'm not for one minute suggesting the brakes are bad. Far from it. But they could be better. I'm a firm believer in its better to have more brakes than you need than need more brakes than you have.

So what are my options to get better braking?

I don't want anything EBC as to put it bluntly I'd rather slap my bell end repeatedly against a cactus than use them again.

I know AMG upgrades are ££££'s so I'd probably be looking at disc and pad upgrades unless there as any decent Brembo, Alcon etc offerings.

Also what sizes are the front and rear discs?

Thanks in advance

Carl

 

[L John]

On my C350 the spec sheet says S09 Special 17" braking system.

Not sure what that means exactly as I don't know what size others are but the brake pedal needs a gentle touch for steady driving and they bite hard with a moderate press on the pedal. Never had to push it firmly even when driving quick.
It is progressive but a bit eager for my liking, could be what you are looking for?

 

[L John]

Can't edit my previous post...
Just had a thought, my wheels are 17 inch so it could be relating to that but I can't see why a different braking system would have been fitted for 17 inch alloys.

Either way, I wouldn't want them to be any stronger.

 

[C350Carl]

Thanks L John.

It's probably that I'm just not used to the feel but as I'm in the "last of the late brakers" club I like my brakes to have a bit more bite.

My previous brakes were as you described gentle touch for normal driving and moderate touch for spirited driving. If you did an emergency stop they pulled your eyes out the sockets.

My car has 18" wheels so not sure if any different brakes were fitted. Can't see why they would though.

 

[Scoob]

Must admit, I've been VERY impressed with the brakes on my 2011 C350 CDI Estate Sport. A light touch on the brake pedal gives good feel, slows you up nicely and is generally all you need in day-to-day driving. If having fun applying a little more pressure REALLY shows how good the brakes are. there's an immense amount of stopping power there.

My other car is a light, compared to the Merc, Impreza (about 1250kg) with a rather good Brembo six-pot setup installed, and I'd say the Merc standard brakes are comparable, though I've not really tested them for fade. The Impreza's brakes are less assisted though, which adds to the feel.

It was recommend to me to replace my brake pads with a Ceramic version - this offers the same braking experience, but no dust. I'll be getting a set of these when the current ones need to be changed.

My car runs 18's as well, and the discs and calipers really fill out the wheel nicely. I expect you could go slightly larger, but not by much.

Scoob.