Front Brake Upgrade opinions

[hubrisin]

In a few weeks I'll be doing a front brake job, new rotors and pads at 125k.
I just replaced my rear pads with Padig which I've been quite pleased with. For the front I'm considering the following combo:

A) Brembo solid rotors with Hawk HPS (composite) pads.
B) ATE solid rotors with Padigs.

Keep in mind there's no racing, just street application, but I do live in city were people are fond of abrupt breaking. The service manager at Kelly BMW in Columbus states I should stick with OEM parts, and that the Hawks are ideal for racing only. I'm just trying to get a direction before orderingin a week.
-Matt

[Tyler]

I bought brembo brake rotors for the front and mintex brake pads and i have no complaints. I bought them from bavauto.com all together for like $160. Pagid pads are way to expensive and i've only seen racing pads by them

[96cali]

surprised he did not advise you to stick with a similar compound at all 4 wheels. I think that's to be considered.

[cali-ti]

since you're going to do rotors and pads, perhaps consider upgrading to e36 32x front calipers and getting the stock vented rotors and then whatever pad you desire. used calipers are typically around $50-75 each. those will still work with 15" rims (if you have them) and are a good upgrade (still uses all stock bmw parts).

[hubrisin]

thanks for the info guys. i have 16" rims (alloy) and am wondering what the benefit of having the same pad all around? as forthe calipers, bleeding the brake line is something i wish to avoid, but i see the benefits to an upgrade.

[cali-ti]

system should be flushed/filled/bled every two years anyway :)

[nick_hegel]

Pagid pads are all over ebay or at least used to be when i got mine. I wasn't very happy with the amount of dust they produced.

[pdxmotorhead]

My local import shop caries the Jurid/Pagid products and they are about the same price as E-bay without the e-issues ;)

Dave

[Tyler]

My Mintex pads are great,there's hardly any brake dust. I think they were MIntex REd.

[1996 328ti]

thanks for the info guys. i have 16" rims (alloy) and am wondering what the benefit of having the same pad all around? as forthe calipers, bleeding the brake line is something i wish to avoid, but i see the benefits to an upgrade.Having the same pad all around maintains the same brake bias. Unless you want to experiment with more grip up front I'd keep the same on all fours.

[ClubSport]

I run the Hawk HPS with 325is vented rotors up front and I love them. They dust waaaay less than stock, don't squeal noticeably, and have excellent bite when warm. They don't have that immediate cold bite of stock pads until they're broken in for a couple hundred miles, but once they get a couple revolutions they pull you down hard. I didn't notice any fade when lapping PPIR, but that's not really a track that's hard on your brakes.

[H3_2.1-ti]

For street use, I would definitely keep the same pads fr. & rr. If you want to improve on brake performance without changing calipers you can upgrade the rotors to Zimmermann cross drilled and use Mintex Red Box pads all around. Great bite, quiet and practically no dust. You still need to flush the brake fluid. It is essential for brake maintenance.

Cheers,

[pdxmotorhead]

Cross drilled rotors arn't an upgrade.
They will crack. Even the 2000 dollar brembos crack.
Heck the guys who need to stop from 200mph or more
don't use them unless they have no other choice.

Holes and slots don't work unless your getting your breaks hot
enough to outgass. That means repeated hard braking into the
fade zone.

Slots for street, save the drilled rotors for your 962porsche...

Drilled rotors usually need special internal casting to prevent uneven
heating of the rotor. (If internally vented.)

For solid rotors you need steel disks not cast if they are drilled.


Good Luck
Dave

[marko]

Cross drilled rotors arn't an upgrade.
They will crack. Even the 2000 dollar brembos crack.
Heck the guys who need to stop from 200mph or more
don't use them unless they have no other choice.

Holes and slots don't work unless your getting your breaks hot
enough to outgass. That means repeated hard braking into the
fade zone.

Slots for street, save the drilled rotors for your 962porsche...

Drilled rotors usually need special internal casting to prevent uneven
heating of the rotor. (If internally vented.)

For solid rotors you need steel disks not cast if they are drilled.


Good Luck
Dave


I have Bav Aut. crossdrilled/slotted 'ultimate' rotors on my 1999 318ti... it's been 6 months since I bought them and they are bent to hell! Besides, the grinding noise due to the 'sloted' grooves is just ridicilous... I don't 'track' the car and therefore do not even notice/care for the differrence in performance. Personally, I think it is a waste of money & not worth it... Going back to stock (vented) front and solid rear rotors ASAP, specially since you can actually resurface the OEM rotors and get some more life out of them.

Does anyone know how to prevent rust from accumulating on the edges of the rotors as well as on the rotor hubs??

[BobbyDigital]

I bought Brembo cross-drilled rotors for the front with HAWK HPS pads.

its been 20,000 miles or so and they arent warped, I like them. I havent autocrossed or anything, so maybe more extreme driving would be different.

As far as the pads, they do produce a lot less dust, my rear wheels actually get more dusty than my front ones now.

PLUS, I like the sound of the cross drilled rotors.

[J!m]

I don't know why they haven't been discussed yet (perhaps they don't have fitments for the smaller caliper), but the Porterfield R4S pads are the best I have ever used as a dual-purpose pad with little sacrificed.

With 16" wheels, you are limited on 'big' brake up-grades, because of limited caliper space. I went with the M3 solution (which opens up every manufacturer of brake pads and all compounds); however you are limited to 17" wheels as a minimum. The 'donut' spare will have to go in the nearest land-fill as well, because it will not clear the calipers. I carry a compressor, plug kit and fix-a-flat in the trunk, and save the weight of the spare...

With the stock (fits in a 16" wheel) solution, go with the 325/328 brake up-grade as mentioned earlier. More pad options are available for you there than the 318 calipers I believe. Slightly larger swept area means better brake performance. Vented (not slotted or drilled) rotors are key to good long-term braking (reduced fade). For immediate stopping, stock, dusty pads are hard to beat (sorry). Even the Porterfields (as good as they are) need a revolution to heat up enough to really detach your retinas. Another option is to follow less closely...