blackdiamond brake discs for sl60amg

[biturbo]

i am looking at upgrading the brake discs, from what i read the blackdiamonds are nice, oem quality brakes but have black coating so it rusts less which is good as the sl60 will only do max 2k a year.

anyone used blackdiamonds before. Im going for grooved and drilled.

looked at tarox but they were 200 quid for the set more and couldnt see the diffence in spec.
anyone bought these for a mercedes or a sl

 

[d w124]

I have them on my saloon and they`re great.I went for grooved only though as I thought drilled might look a bit to modern for my car

 

[biturbo]

is the black coating good for rust on the lips. doesnt matter about looks with my amg alloys you cant really see anything anyways.
i drive the sl60 amg as its meant to on the northwales b roads and it didnt take long for brake fade, which is reason for upgrade.

only the brakes and the handling is what i would say needs looking at, ive driven sl55 amg and ive got a s600 biturbo and those are the onl 2 areas i feel where the sl60amg shows its age, power wise i feels even more brutal than the sl55amg and the power is instand, no supercharger.
once i get the engine upgrades sorted ill dyno the car before and after. prob looking at around 420 bhp once all work is done.

 

[bolide]

i drive the sl60 amg as its meant to on the northwales b roads and it didnt take long for brake fade, which is reason for upgrade

If the new discs are the same size as the old ones it won't be an upgrade. If the brakes really are fading you need to dissipate heat faster - and a same-size disc won't do that

Nick Froome
the independent Mercedes Estate specialists

 

[biturbo]

the discs are flat and vented currently, they are not drilled or grooved. Ive read that as the heat goes on the disc then there is a layer of gas its this layer of gas that gets the feeling of brake fade as essentially there is a layer between the brake pads and discs, the grooves are designed for somewhere for the gases to escape the drilled are for extra cooling. also im going or yellow stuff, it has redstuff on it at the moment.

 

[biturbo]

i wanted a r129 as from my childhood it was the convertible of dreams and my fav program at the time reminds me of that era.
MIAMI VICE Daytona Phil Collins In the air tonight - YouTube
cant afford a daytona, this is the next best era thing for me.

 

[Doodle]

Whilst gas buildup between disc and pad can happen, it is more likely at this stage that the pads are getting cooked, and dissipating the heat back into the fluid. I know this well, the last set of pads Olly removed were totally wrecked - cracked and falling off the backing plates.

First stop should be proper brake pads (so not EBC...something like DS2500/DS3000 or Pagid RS4-2/RS14), braided hoses and good quality DOT5.1 fluid. Only then should you be worrying about going to drilled/grooved discs - and as Nick pointed out, ideally bigger ones.

 

[biturbo]

there is a set of brand new discs pagid and brand new pads on it. Done about 800 miles from the bill i have on the front. Whats wrong with EBC i thought they were good.

 

[biturbo]

just looked on web, you can get drilled pagid sl55 amg brake discs front for £120 for the pair, thats 365mm diameter, the blackdiamond ones were 345mm and cheapest could find was £260. Why such as big difference then if its inferior product and smaller disk size, the 365mm black diamonds are £400 plus.

 

[Doodle]

There's far better out there for "spirited" usage. Yellowstuff isn't bad, but IME the rest of the range is just marketing hype.

Remember you're trying to stop 2 tons of car moving very quickly, this needs a serious pad, something that probably *isn't* R90 certified.

The SL55 discs will be OEM replacements - you have to add in the Black Diamond inflation figure because it's a "performance product" - lower demand etc etc.

If you really want some serious stopping, look at getting a set of 2-piece discs made.

 

[biturbo]

just looked on ebc and yellow stuff is the highest friction rating you can use Rated at 0.6 friction level.
The pagids best the the black is 0.5 the others are 0.45 orange and blue.
Ive never driven a r129 and because its old i dont know how much of the brake feel is normal and howmuch is because the car needs a refresh.

 

[Doodle]

Probably a bit of both, I'm guessing you are used to the SBC from your S-class which can mask a lot of what is going on. However, I can be pretty sure that you're suffering fade when giving the current brakes a workout, mine certainly do.

Which Pagid models are you looking at? Orange sounds like 4-4 which is good, Blue 4-2 is good. Black could be either 4-2-1 (ignore) or RS14, which is very good. Pagid pads are expensive though.

I'll probably be putting DS2500's in mine.

 

[biturbo]

The car is booked for 2 weeks time. When its in, its having alot done to it.
The only thing im unsure of is the brakes upgrade wise. I was toying with the idea of buying better calipers etc, but i thought that might be overkill. I just want it to brake proberly after ive pressed hard on the brakes 4 or 5 times.

New poly bushes, all the axles /suspension removed shot blasted and powder coated back.
Got the braided brake lines so they need to go on.
Underneath rust proofed. The new cabrio mod.
eisenmann exhaust.
If i won the lottery the r129 sl was always first on my list as it was my favourite car growing up.
Then im going to use it and test it abit. Then going for some shocks and springs if its needed. Its a nicer feeling spending money on a car when you know your prob going to keep it for aslong as you breath.

Looking forward to seeing your car dolphin once the spoiler and respray is done.

 

[Doodle]

I'd start with some new pads, the hoses and 5.1 fluid, then go from there.

As am I, but house redecoration, trip to Lowestoft this weekend and the NEC bike show next Saturday mean I may not have much chance to see the progress.

 

[Borys]

i am looking at upgrading the brake discs, from what i read the blackdiamonds are nice, oem quality brakes but have black coating so it rusts less which is good as the sl60 will only do max 2k a year.

anyone used blackdiamonds before. Im going for grooved and drilled.

looked at tarox but they were 200 quid for the set more and couldnt see the diffence in spec.
anyone bought these for a mercedes or a sl

I do have them on my S500 drilled and grooved - very happy with the purchase.They are much better then Brembo (had them once fitted new,one trip in rain to Germany they bended)

 

[bolide]

I'd start with some new pads, the hoses and 5.1 fluid, then go from there

I'd go along with that

It'd be instructive to get some temperature indicating stickers for the pads to see what kind of temps they are getting up to. That way you might get a handle on exactly what is causing the "fade". It could be the pads overheating, fluid boiling or both

The feel of the pads will change as they heat up. Harder pads will help here but I wouldn't be too swayed by the friction coefficient. The pads with higher friction coefficient may be "better", in the sense that they generate more friction, but is that what you need? I would think a more linear response with rising temperature is what you need, coupled with pads & fluid that can withstand higher temperatures

If you just put hard pads in you may end up with awful brakes when they're cold, grabby brakes when they're hot - and they'll still fade when you overheat them!

Nick Froome
the independent Mercedes Estate specialists

 

[BlackC55]

I have never been a great fan of the EBC stuff due to having fitment issues. I have redstuff on my 43 and they are ****e under heavy braking. I have new pads going in soon.

I prefer the OEM look for brakes especialy on an AMG. Sometimes the cross drilled/groved discs look a pit chavvy/nova/corsa style. I know some of the standard MB discs are cross drilled. Mainly for weight saving.

 

[Doodle]

As Nick says, friction co-efficient isn't everything. My mate has Yellows on his Subaru P1 and they're pretty grumpy and snatchy until they get heat in them (matches well with the paddle clutch then!)

I'm fairly sure the main heat problem at the moment is the pads, I destroyed the last set I ran - they literally fell to pieces when Olly removed them. However, I have a feeling that once the pads are sorted, it'll start putting more heat into the rest of the system, hence the braided hoses and high-temp fluid.