Brake Upgrade Thread

[eric (^__^)]

I have a '90 318i that needs a brake upgrade.

What's the hot setup? Thinking zimmerman's and some sort of ceramic/carbon pad. Oh and of course SS lines.

I hear that cross drilled rotors live a long time on e30's, is this true?

Really I think I just need a good idea for pads. It seems to be an area that's seen some great developments in the past 5 years, and I am a little behind the times.

[whiltebeitel]

What are you doing with the car? any track time? just street stuff?

[eric (^__^)]

I'd like the brakes to be ready for the track, and am not worried about the occaisonal morning squeal.

[Bimmerman325i]

I just bought a set of front and rear hawk hp+ pads (streetable autocross/track compound essentially) and plain replacement OEM spec + rotors from raceshopper.com.

The rotors are nothing fancy($26 each!!!) but the pads are phenomenal. I have not installed them yet as I was waiting until finals were over, but a friend of mine has the pads installed on his e36 and swears by them. I probably wouldn't recommend tracking the rotors I bought on a regular basis(I probably will only do HPDE and auto-x on them occasionally) but for the price I couldn't say no. I have the same brand/price rotors and comparable pads on my subaru wagon and love the setup.

Highly recommended!

[eric (^__^)]

I spoke with someone earlier who had a set of carbon/ceramic pads made in Australia, but he couldn't remember the brand name. They sounded interesting.

[jlevie]

Plain rotors and Hawk HPS or Axxis Ultimates are about as good as it gets for a car the will be regularly driven on the street. Hawk HP+ pads will yield more performance and will suffice for the first few times on the track, but they are hard on rotors and will squeal all the time. The HP+ pads are best put on the car just for a track weekend and removed after. The nice thing about the HP+ pads is that you can put them on the car and then drive to/from the track as they have decent cold bite. A full-up track pads (HT-10's, PFC01's, etc) have very little cold bite and can be a bit dicey on the street.

[eric (^__^)]

OK I've heard from the Hawk brake street team, anyone want to challenge Hawk pads?

I can get them easy enough so that's cool.

[Bimmerman325i]

Well, I've also got a set of Ferodo DS2500 pads for my Subaru, they're the equivalent of the HP+ streetable track pad. I love them, tons of cold bite, not much variation due to temperature. They don't squeal noticeably either. They are pricier than the Hawks though.

What are you looking for in brake pads?

[eric (^__^)]

I had some old Ferodo pads on my Bavaria. They were amazing, but everyone told me that they weren't available anymore due to the asbestos content.

Then again, the brake system on a Bavaria could stop a hearse, so

[smonkbmw]

brembo slotted rotors and solid rears with pbr deluxes stops the wifes ETA from 90mph pretty damn well.

[z31maniac]

*laughs at comment about solid rotors*

Anyway, Brembo blanks + your choice of pad. HP+, Pagid's, Ferodo's all these manfacturers make good pads, its mostly based on what guys like the "feel" of best. That said, I'll still probably buy ATE premium rotors or UUC Slotted just for the bling factor.

Go to www.spece30.com and search around for what they use for cars that see serious track use.

I talk to a spec e30 guy regularly from grassrootsmotorsports.com, for what you want to use the car for he has told me, Brembo blanks + Hawk HP+ = goodness.

[ieatpeople]

i'm running axxis ultimate pads front and rear with turner motorsport cross driiled rotors (also front and rear) and all braided stainless lines, very good brake feel, stops on a dime and picks it up.

[StereoInstaller1]

I sure wish I knew what the OP put on my car so I could tell you to STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM!!! Seriously, they are the #1 biggest pile of crap I have ever felt, plus, horribly grooved. Some fleabay drilled junk, some have said Zimmermann, but I don't know.

I just don't know what they are, but they suck. Goodridge SS lines, though.

[PiercedE30]

You could just cut a hole in the floor and strap some steel to your feet and upgrade t6o the flintstone style brakes.

[z31maniac]

My car has Zimmerman cross drilled rotors with some MetalMeister pads or something from the PO. He used to use only Zimmerman cross drilled on the track with Pagid pads, and he liked the feel and power. Haven't gotten a chance to auto-x or track my car yet. :(

But one Zimmerman cross drilled, will buy nearly all 4 brembo blanks.