Do I have a brake problem?

[CoClimber]

I've never driven an E30 before so I don't know what is normal. My '87 325is brakes feel weak to me. I have to press down fairly hard to stop quick, much harder than my 2004 Honda CRV, as a point of reference. The car has drilled and slotted rotors and stainless lines. Pads are good on all corners. I pumped new fluid to all corners and did a fair job bleeding the system. It doesn't get better if I pump the brakes so it doesn't feel like a need to bleed issue.

When I was troubleshooting an engine issue I removed the vacuum hose from the master cylinder and there was a lot of vaccum stored there. Power brakes are one place I don't have a lot of experience.

Any thoughts?

[jlevie]

The effectiveness of the brakes is a strong function of what pads are fitted. in general, low dust pads will noticeably decrease braking performance. And having cross-drilled rotors doesn't help as the holes reduce the area swept by the pads. If you don't know what pads are on the car, or if they are a low dust type, replace them with OE equivalent or a High Performance Street pad

[CoClimber]

Any suggestion for a relatively inexpensive street/autocross pad?

[jlevie]

Axxis ULT pads are probably about the cheapest HPS type pad. Though more expensive, if you don't mind some noise in street driving Hawk HP+ pads will work really well in AutoX events. For a sampling of pads see http://www.zeckhausen.com/BMW/E30.htm