Auto Parts: Japanese sl 500, salvage cars, chassis number

Question
I have a Japanese 1993 Mercedes sl500 with the 5.0 V8. Now when I went to replace the pads and rotors the 1993 sl500 part available in north america don't fit. Someone had told me there should be a north american equivalent to the sl500 that should have parts that fit. If you could tell me what model this may be it would be much appreciated. I really don't want to have to find the parts from Japan there has to be something that can work.

Thanks

Andrew  

Answer
    This is probably because of the way model years are denominated in the U.S.  The 1994 SL500 had a lot of changes, but went on sale in the summer of 1993.  So, when you asked for 1993 parts, you got parts from the previous year to your car, which is equivalent to the 1994.  Or, this being only one possibility, something else may have happened.  Mercedes has a couple of factories in South Africa.  Cars that are intended for a right-hand-drive market, such as Japan or the U.K., are built there.  It is not hard to see that the model changeovers may very well not happen at the same time with these cars.  You need to take the VIN number and the chassis number (not sure where it is on this model, but the dealer can tell you) to the dealer and get the straight skinny on what kind of car you bought.  I had a gray-market 500SEC and , when I needed a new master cylinder, discovered that the U.S. model from that year would not fit my car.  Fortunately, my mechanic lives just down the road from me and has a small lot full of salvage cars behind his shop.  He wandered through the S-class cars from the eighties until he found one with the M/C identical to mine, and ordered one of those.  You may be forced to do something similar to that in order to get the correct parts.  I will tell you that, after my experience with a gray market car, and in spite of the fact that it was a much faster and better-handling machine than the equivalent U.S. model, I will never buy another gray-market car.