Home » Yes, A Brake Job On This Mercedes Really Does Cost $120,000
It’s no secret that supercars come with super bills. From Audi R8 dampers with four-figure price tags to mid-five-figure front drive unit replacement on a Ferrari FF, the upper echelon of performance cars comes with maintenance costs that could make you wince. However, as wild as those examples may be, nothing will prepare you for just how much a set of discs and pads for a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren costs.
In case the SLR McLaren slipped your mind, this was Mercedes’ 2000s moonshot, a supercharged, carbon fiber-intensive rocketship that McLaren had the unenviable task of making actually work. The end result? A whopping 617 horsepower, zero-to-60 mph in 3.4 seconds, and a top speed of 207 mph. Back in 2005, mid-way through the production run, this thing carried an MSRP of $455,000, and if you want to replace the discs and pads on one of these things today, expect to pay a pretty penny.
Just take a look at this quote at list price. I can’t tell what’s more astonishing, the list price of $112,320 before tax for all the parts, or that the cost of each individual brake disc is so great that it actually clips through the column.
I gotta sell this shit this not finna work pic.twitter.com/vDDZR8Ke0p
— Kancho (@HumpedMyJeweler) May 3, 2024
This parts quote is going viral on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, but I was able to track down the original post to the Facebook group called “Parts Departments. Where the Magic Happens.” If you’re employed in auto parts, check this group out, it’s brilliant. The original poster was one Daniel Braddy, who explained the parts quote in the comments.
I just was showing a newer employee the high price to get a laugh and decided to post it. I sold a set a long time ago under warranty. And they were stupid expensive 17 years ago so I knew they would be even more expensive now. They are collector cars. Even most of the used ones only have less than 10,000 miles. So most of them have not needed brakes yet.
Keep in mind, this quote’s for discs and pads alone, meaning no labor and none of the fiddly one-time-use stuff like pad wear sensors and clips. So why on earth do these discs and pads cost so much? Well, it turns out that if you build a special set of carbon ceramic brakes for a high-end car way back when that tech was in its infancy, the parts themselves are just excruciatingly expensive. We’re also talking about 14.6-inch front brake discs and 14.2-inch rear brake discs, so not tiny units either. Still, that sort of money buys a whole lot of other things.
You know that funny-looking EQS flagship electric sedan Mercedes offers? Yeah, that thing starts at $105,550 including freight, which works out cheaper than a full set of discs and pads for an SLR McLaren. In this case, I think I’d have to go with the SLR McLaren brake pads over the EQS, although just think of the litany of cars you could buy for $112,320. You could buy a brand new Porsche 718 Cayman GTS 4.0, a C8 Corvette, or two Toyota GR Supras for that sort of coin. Ouch.
On the flip side, these brakes might give some Mercedes-Benz owners a feeling of shared lineage, making the SLR more relatable. Given that a standard Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is worth between $350,000 and $400,000, it has something in common with a 25-year-old fully-depreciated LeMons-spec C-Class — a brake job is worth about a quarter of the car.
(Photo credits: Mercedes-Benz, Facebook/Daniel Braddy)
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Thomas Hundal
Thomas is a Nu Rave-blaring, heel-toe downshifting, maple syrup-swilling, chassis-geeking, junkyard parts-hauling, floppy-haired Toronto-based scenester who’s been writing about cars since college. His current fleet includes a 2006 BMW 325i with the six-speed manual gearbox and a 1999 Porsche Boxster with the five-speed manual. thomas@theautopian.com Instagram: @thomas.hundal Twitter: @thomashundal
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Angrycat Meowmeow
4 hours ago
So the reason they’re so expensive is “it just be like that”.
Cheats McCheats
5 hours ago
The hill I will stand atop in a flamesuit and proudly die on. This is one of, it not most beautiful Mercedes ever made. I would love to be able to afford one.
Adrian Clarke
5 hours ago
Reply to Cheats McCheats
The dying hill is over there, several other of your colleagues have already perished on it. This is car is a badly proportioned, vainglorious, tawdry object exercise in two very different design and engineering philosophies pulling in two complete different directions.
i wonder if we’ll ever know the whole story.
Last edited 5 hours ago by Adrian Clarke
Lizardman in a human suit
1 hour ago
Reply to Adrian Clarke
Luckily we know a guy brave enough to go there.
Abdominal Snoman
5 hours ago
You sure? On our Class C winning Lemons car a new set of pads and rotors cost roughly 140% the cost of our car…
Go custom if you REALLY want that carbon ceramic fun. Wilwood makes a universal carbon ceramic rotor for about $3800 (not sure if single or pair). https://www.wilwood.com/Rotors/RotorList1?mcat=312
A $1000 for custom hats to fit the rotor to the car and in the right place, and you’re done. All the carbon fun for 1/10th the price!
Or realize no one drives these hard enough to merit the brakes, take your nice factory ones off, put them on the shelf, and drive the car around on the sweet $10 brakes from rock auto.
Rock Auto has brake pads for $15 a set 😛
Someone else on here said that E55 brakes fit too, and those rotors are “only” $50-100 each
Michael Beranek
7 hours ago
Meh, Rock Auto has Chinesium equivalents for thirty bucks each.
Reply to Michael Beranek
“Oh good, there’s ‘Economy’ section options…wonderful. Oh and they’re on manufacturer closeout!”
Andrea Petersen
7 hours ago
Ngl, I ran the VIN through our Mercedes EPC and looked around at stuff for funsies.
I have a feeling these may be discontinued and the price is Mercedes make to order program or whatever they call it. Where they make any part for any car they ever made as long as you pay the cost.
Chris Popovic
8 hours ago
And I was upset when the dealer quoted me $650 for rear brakes and drums on my 2019 Ram 1500.
Reply to Chris Popovic
Brake pads and rotors? Does it have the towing package?
Actually, never mind, that’s still absurd. I just did a front set for a friend’s F-150 at my shop and it was like $350 for rotors, pads, and all labor.
Stealerships, indeed.
Last edited 8 hours ago by Box Rocket
Chris Popovic
8 hours ago
Reply to Box Rocket
Yep and the long bed. I thought it was equally absurd. Had a buddy of mine do them for a little under $400. Funny thing is it’s got 38K on it and the fronts are still fine.
Reply to Chris Popovic
That sounds better.
Does your truck have Lane Keep Assist? I’ve noticed vehicles with that equipped seem to go through rear brakes more than expected (mostly Nissan/Infiniti but not exclusively), especially for those who rely more on that system.
Chris Popovic
7 hours ago
Reply to Box Rocket
Not the assist, thankfully. I hate that stuff. It does have the lane warning system which I like. Althought the audio tones will pierce your eardrums. No way to turn it down, only off. Otherwise, very happy with the truck. It’s been great.
EmotionalSupportBMW
8 hours ago
If your looking to save some money on your SLR, all the E55 stuff will drop right in.
Reply to EmotionalSupportBMW
I knew it 😀
In most of these cases, they share with other cars. I looked up the pads on Rock Auto, and other models were listed, so that means other rotors usually fit too 🙂
EmotionalSupportBMW
6 hours ago
Reply to Dogisbadob
All the SLR stuff is more exotic material and marketing wise. But if you were ever in the situation were you needed your SLR to get to work and low on cash, its all the E55 stuff fits and it will work. SLR is mainly just E55 stuff in a cool body with sidepipes.
I’ll get you a set of Brembo brand brake pads, front and rear, through my NAPA store for $171.98 plus tax, and have them by Wednesday. Mention Autopian and I’ll give you a 10% discount.
Part numbers P50062 (front) and P50061 (rear).
Reply to V10omous
I would say. Even the Brembo brand ceramics I have access to are less, $137.98 for both ends.
The pads are shared with many other AMG models; I assume the carbon rotors are unique, but $26K each is ridiculous.
Last edited 7 hours ago by Matt Sexton
The invoice shows 2 at $6840 how does that equal $53680 ?
Reply to Sklooner
The leading 2 is cut off.
2x $26840 = $53680
I need to buy a 3D printer and make some knockoffs
Daniel MacDonald
8 hours ago
Oof, and I though the $4200 the dealer quoted my brother for brakes on his RS3 was bad.
Reply to Daniel MacDonald
No thats still bad lol
Daniel MacDonald
8 hours ago
Reply to H4llelujah
oh yeah, even for a low production Audi sports sedan I was a little shocked when he told me that. But I did try to talk him into “just” getting an S3.
Reply to Daniel MacDonald
Kind of the difference between getting kicked in your nuts by your girlfriend and getting kicked in the nuts by a horse. They are both bad.
Reply to Daniel MacDonald
That sounds about right. Are they Brembo-branded?
Officer: “Why did you blow through 3 red lights in a row?”
SLR Owner: “The ticket costs less than stopping this thing!”
Daniel MacDonald
8 hours ago
Reply to Sc00t3r
Best comment
Reply to Daniel MacDonald
It was funny but how did cop catch a guy driving a McLaren that refused to use his brakes?
Reply to Mr Sarcastic
Coasted to a stop?
Reply to Daniel MacDonald
This is as good as the one about David not plugging his phone into his Nissan Leaf, for fear of range exhaustion.
Icouldntfindaclevername
8 hours ago
Wow, and I thought I was getting ripped off for $120 on my front brakes
Reply to Icouldntfindaclevername
That’s a pretty good deal, actually, if they replaced the pads, cleaned and lubed the hardware, and resurfaced the rotors.
Arch Duke Maxyenko
8 hours ago
There’s a reason why people who track cars with carbon brakes take them off and replace them with conventional units. Then keep the factory units in a box for when it’s time to sell the car.
Jonathan Hendry
8 hours ago
Reply to Arch Duke Maxyenko
I was thinking, why not just put brakes on that are good enough for the speeds you actually use the car at.
Reply to Arch Duke Maxyenko
The whole thing reminds me of back when Porsche starting regularly putting leather in its cars b/c people had come to expect it when they paid that kinda money. Performance alone was no longer enough.
Now, with the sums for stuff like this, people expect racing team level stuff. Not matter the livability factor.
Last edited 8 hours ago by Jack Trade
Reply to Arch Duke Maxyenko
Yep. With earlier generations of carbon ceramics, what tended to happen is you’d have uneven wear where you’re basically “beveling” the rotor” under repeated high loads like a track day with lots of long sessions. So the thickness on one side would end up significantly different than the thickness of the other, so you basically threw them out.
For those that aren’t aware, they’re expensive because of how long the production time is. It takes WEEKS to produce a complete rotor, and that’s far faster than it used to take. Also, Brembo bought another supplier (SGI Carbon), and combined they’re most of the market. That’s how even “cheaper” rotors like Porsche PCCBs can be between $5K and $9K per rotor depending on what model you’re putting them on. Even something like a C8 Z06, where they’re considered “cheap” you’re still in it for around $4K per rotor.
Ouch, that would definitely brake the bank, I’d be very brake after that.