Hi everyone,

Is it true that the the E420 and 320 have the same brakes? Meaning same calipers, rotors, and brake pads?

I recently began looking for a E420 and the one I test drove had really good brakes comapred to my E320.

The search hasn't been going well...only a few E420s are out there for sale so I was thinking of upgrading my E320 in the meantime.

I asked my indy shop to look into how much the brakes of the E420 would be to install in my E320. He looked it up the info and said the brakes were the same.

So can anyone else confirm this?

Does the E420 and the E320 have the same exact brakes?

-Ren

PS If they don't....does anyone have some part numbers?

Hi Ren:

My understanding is that the 400E/E420 w124 chassis had 4 piston calipers and larger rotors than the 300E/E320, which had single piston calipers. A number of threads in the archives discuss the differences, and the upgrade possibilities, including wheel sizes needed for clearance. A search for the key words '400E brake calipers' turns up about 2 pages of past threads, including the differences between 1992 400E brakes and 1994 400E brakes (rotor thickness, dimeter, and caliper construction).

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

My 1992 300ce has 4 piston front calipers.

Alon

__________________
'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

Alon:

The C124 (coupe) had the 4 piston calipers as well, I'm told. I'm not sure of the diameter of the rotors or other differences. I believe the S124 (T-wagon) had some brake differences from the w124 (sedan) as well.

W124 sedan 1984-1995
S124 T-model station wagon 1985-1996
C124 coupe 1987-1996
A124 cabriolet 1991-1997

I know the w124 (sedan) got heavier during its production lifetime, and I wouldn't be surprised to see changes in the brakes of the 1995s relative to the 1985 models of the 4 door. maybe Gillybenztech or one of the other Techs has more info on brake differences between models.

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

well i searched through the threads

i guess the pistons were 4 piston (as u guys stated)..not sure the exact rotor size or pad sizes

I know the E420 comes with the same tires/rims as the E320 so the wheel sizes and clearance should be a problem

where do think I might find the exact part numbers, sizes and stuff like that?

should i post on the "Tech help" forum

man Europe is lucky in that they had 7"x16" 8 hole wheels

-Ren

Well my mech poured through all the info he had and checked the brakes himself

it does have 4 pistons like the e420

once my car is fixed (had a pickup truck hit my driver side door) he will look into why it doesn't stop like the ee420 i test drove a while back

i figure it should stop even better since it has less weight

-Ren

...maybe time to freshen up the brake system with fresh fluid & flush and...a master cylinder, deglaze disks, pads, etc.

-fad

for sure...since its winter here in Rochester,NY....but still no sign of snow

-ren

Upon further review.....on one of the calipers two pistons were not moving @ all

going to replace the caliper and put in new pads

report on the progress once this is done.....i personally can't wait!!

-ren

okay

the front brakes are the same

but the rear ones are just slightly bigger on the e420...rotor, pads, and i think caliper

but since the e320 is much lighter and about 70% of the braking power in frm the front anyhow...it should brake about the same if not better

ren

Ren- while you're at it. Change the brake lines, ss lines preferred, but new OE are good to.

Also, I know the brake booster on the 500E is bigger than the E320, perhaps the E420 is the same with a bigger brake booster.

:-) neil

thanks to steve aka "el-priesidente"

the E420 braking system in the rear is same as E500

same rotor, pads, calipers

don't know about the brake booster though

-ren

PS since getting all the calipers in the front working and changing the pads...wow...what a difference! ;-)

Neil...if I can't find the E420 I want....sure will change the brake lines to either ss or OEM..great tip

Correct. The 124.036 and 124.034 shared rear rotors and pads (I didn't check calipers, but I take Reny's word for it), for the USA and Japan markets at least.

For the rear 500E brakes, all markets (other than USA and Japan) received different pads and larger rotors (22mm larger in diameter - 300mm vs. 278mm, but 2mm thinner - 22mm vs. 24mm) as of 03/1993.