So, this topic has been shredded apart for years but here's my 10 pence!
Model: 2008 N54 135i 6 pots front, 2 pots rear.
When I bought the car it had OEM pads fitted with OEM fluid. They were fine. Stopped the car OK but nothing write home about. A bit dusty but with a heavy'ish car and big brakes, I was not surprised. Did get brake fade when hammering around the Somerset countryside and a couple of track days but not bad for an OEM pad and fluid. The fronts were eventually destroyed on a track day (the rear still had plenty left). The tyres were finished too so I changed from Hankook Ventus to Yoko V105S.
(BTW Yoko V105's are dreamy! I recommend them to everyone
I then decided to replace the fronts with Yellow stuff and change to Motul 600 brake fluid. The Yellows were in a different league in terms of stopping performance. OK braking when cold with good initial bite. Perfectly acceptable and not dangerous as I have read. Face tearing when hot especially when combined with the Yoko's! But OMG the dust! No squealing when hot or cold. The pedal was not particularly positive in feel though. It felt a tad soft. Now you might say air in the system, but it was properly bled and being a soft pad it made sense. Much less fade than before but I put this down to the Motul fluid. Having done 6 months of driving, 6-7000 miles and a couple of trips to the Welsh mountains, the fronts and back pads were now finished.
I was surprised the fronts had not lasted longer but again, being a soft pad, heavy car, big brake combination, I understood. Expensive though!!
So then I decided to go to Redstuff for the front and rear. I wanted a pad with less dust and that would- in theory- last longer than the Yellows. I was also willing to sacrifice some braking performance for longevity of the pad.
The Reds are great. Much less dust than Yellows. I would also say less than OEM pads too (subjective). The braking performance is pretty close to the Yellows but the pedal feel is so much better. It's much firmer and gives more feedback, which enables better modulation. I really have to stamp on the pedal to achieve full braking force (a positive in my book). With the Yoko's fitted, the grip is stunning and it's hard to get the ABS to kick in. I get the feeling our cars have less servo assist that I've been used to in the past, or it could just be that my BMW weighs around 300KG more than my previous Alfa Romeo?!!
They work well from cold with very good initial bite. Get them hot and they work even better. They are lasting much longer than the Yellows too! There is some slight squealing at very low speeds when cold, but this is to be expected from a ceramic compound pad.
Conclusions:
Yellowstuff-
Work OK from cold (perfectly safe)
Amazing when hot
Short life span
High dust
Soft pedal feel
Redstuff-
Work well from cold
Brilliant when hot
Longer life span
Low dust
Slight low speed squeal
Very firm pedal feel
I will buying the Redstuff again.....and again. Thanks for reading. Apologies there are no pretty pictures!