Brake job questions

[Dinoti]

Howdy!
1. Does anyone know the minimum allowable thickness for the REAR discs on a '96 ti? I can't find it without removing the wheel and dust shield. (OK, I'm lazy!) I'm doing the fronts, and want to know if I should do the rears, too.
2. Should I bother to replace hoses after 90k miles? Is it a pain?
3. Any preference between bake fluids? I'm thinking either ATE Super Blue or Valvline SynPower. Any bad experiences out there?
4. Does anyone have any particular brand preferences of front discs between Balo and ATE? (I'm planning on Balo. I read nice things about them and they're cheaper.)
5. Anybody NOT like PBR MetalMaster pads? I don't want to sacrifice stopping power, but I hate all the dust of German pads!
Thanks, friends!
Dino
'96 Active

[ahutson03]

Ive got ATE powerslot rotors on the front there great. Dont go with the PBR pads there horrible. Theres no dust but the stopping power is horrible. Mine faded pretty easily also. As for thicknesses and such Iam not sure. When I did mine I replaced all the rotors, they were starting to dish out. Also I did not replace any brake lines and it seems to be alright. I also have about 95,000 miles on my car so... I would, though like to put braided stainless steel lines on sometime.

[1996 328ti]

I have Balo rotors on the rear. The difference between Balo and OE is that OE are balanced. I don't believe Balo are. I don't feel the difference though. I don't remember saving that much money when using a CCA member's discount.

There is nothing wrong with MetalMasters on the street. They do not dust badly. They will work fine. Track is a different story.

Why change to Ate Blue unless you need the higher boiling point. For the street it's a waste of money. Same as S/S brakelines. They will not make a difference on the street.

The brake lines are probably OK. Just inspect them for cracks I suppose.

I would not use dust shields at all!