w123 rear calipers

[stuarth]

I need new rear calipers on my 1981 240td. The original parts are Mercedes but for new ones, I have a choice of Bendix, ATE, Girling etc and no-one can tell me which are the right ones to order. The piston diameter is 38mm. Can I fit any calipers with this piston diameter? My chassis number is WDB12318312013266 if this helps.

thanks for any pointers

 

[kth286]

So, what has the dealer offered ?

 

[stuarth]

I didn't ask yet - I just hoped to be able to find them from an aftermarket supplier

 

[SilverSaloon]

Based on your chassis number, the original part number for the rear calipers is:

A1234201183 (CALIPER, LEFT, TEVES, LESS LINING)
A1234201283 (CALIPER, RIGHT, TEVES, LESS LINING)

and/or A0005861543 (repair kit Caliper Teves)

Hope it helps. The dealer will be able to order from your chassis numbers and should come up with the same as above, or you can use the above for an aftermarket cross/ref

cheers

Derek

 

[johnsco]

I've found Euro Car Parts quite good for calipers for older MBs
But ... Do get a main dealer price.
You may be pleasantly surprised.
Equally ... You may not.

 

[Howard]

With 10% discount , £241 each....

CALIPER - E Class 1985 - 1994 E250D - Mercedes-Benz Parts, Inchcape

CALIPER - E Class 1985 - 1994 E250D - Mercedes-Benz Parts, Inchcape

 

[johnsco]

Howard - You just beat me to it.
Inchcape offer £241.14 for each of the calipers and £33.52 for the repair kit.
Try ECP ... They will probably be less than that.
BUT
Who knows ?

 

[kth286]

Howard - You just beat me to it.
Inchcape offer £241.14 for each of the calipers and £33.52 for the repair kit.
Try ECP ... They will probably be less than that.
BUT
Who knows ?

If that is correct, then WOW !

For my new rear calipers from the dealer for the E320 124 coupe I paid
£116 inc VAT. early 2007. It included a discount of 15%.

The dealer discount is off base price before adding VAT. This also has the effect of a reduced VAT also.

SO, a double discount if you like.

The problem with Inchcape is that their prices include VAT and you just get 10% off the VAT price, which is less than 10% off product base price.

 

[SAFC]

Try this fella (see link below) - he's supplied good second hand parts for me in the past.
The only reason I can think of for needing new calipers is if the nipples are rusted in and have been busted when removing, changing fluid etc - unless you can tell me differently.
Get yourself a pair of second hand ones, clean them up (take the pistons out etc) and if you're still not happy send them back - he'll refund you less postage.
(PS I'm not connected with this website in any way).
MercLand

 

[SAFC]

SAFC: PS: I have used second hand brake calipers from this supplier before MercLand

Didn't have any trouble ...

 

[stuarth]

Thanks. I can't actually find any aftermarket suppliers with these numbers - some of them are close (1083 instead of 1183 for example). Are there any variants? I haven't asked the dealer yet but I kind of doubt they will give me the reference if I don't buy from them.

 

[johnsco]

Try Euro Car Parts.
They are usually pretty good sorting brake components.

 

[stuarth]

Excellent. Eurocarparts has them for 59 pounds and they have one which fits all models for a year range - how come Mercedes don't?

 

[kth286]

Excellent. Eurocarparts has them for 59 pounds and they have one which fits all models for a year range - how come Mercedes don't?

because it is not a good thing.

brakes are tailored to the car whole brake system.

the system takes into account weight of car, and power of engine, overall car performance capability.

are you saying that the same calipers should be fitted on cars of different weight and power.

if so, there would be instances where the brakes would not be up to the performance of the car.

that is the BIG problem with suppliers of copy parts; the parts are not VIN specific, therefore all originalilty and performance levels of the car have gone out the window.

 

[jaymanek]

Euro will supply the correct part for the car.. it will be a refurbished unit but should be the same as the one you remove....

Im pretty sure all W123's had the same rear calipers and so thats proably why they dont list a choice... only the front calipers varied for engine size.
Infact W123 calipers were standard across many models such as the R107, W201 etc etc...

 

[spanner]

IIRC the calipers are different for saloon or estate...

 

[johnsco]

When I had our old W126, I obtained both front and rear calipers from E.C.P. at prices around £60.
They were a like-for-like replacement.
For the fronts, there were two options which they correctly-identified and asked me to specify which were fitted to my car.
I think mine were Bendix.
They were clearly the correct components for the car.

 

[kth286]

IIRC the calipers are different for saloon or estate...

That is the case for the estate equivalent of my car (E320 coupe 124).

mine has solid discs whereas the estate has vented discs which are much thicker so needs different calipers.

 

[stuarth]

So, in spite of all the equivalence numbers, if they say they are for a w123, they will actually physically fit? Clearly, each car could have a different caliper depending on the performance but I would expect there is a pretty wide tolerance for the low performance cars?

 

[stuarth]

So if I understand correctly there are only two parameters which determine the right caliper - the diameter of the pistons (which then relates to the size of the pads and therefore the discs) and the distance between them (which relates to the thickness of the discs themselves). This assumes a two piston caliper btw. Correct are there other things I miss?