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[zamboni]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

I'm aware of which you are choosing, I'm just asking what you are hoping to get from them.

Stopping distance on a bigger brakes.

[Zeros and ones]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

For a 128 customer it makes more sense to spend that money on a setup from ap racing, stoptech, brembo, etc...

that is not necessarily true. it just depends on the price point that you get them at. Getting the kit at $1000, which that is where they were selling at is way more than worth getting the kit than ap racing, stoptech, or brembo. All of those are at least $3000 and up.

Even with the kit selling at $1800 now is still far worth getting it than any of those. But of course at the end of the day, it just depends on what you are going to be using the brakes for. Everyday street use, full on track, or a little of both.

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Save your money though and get a well made brake kit, unless you are just looking for bling calipers.

Don't kid yourself. The performance brake kit is much more than just show, especially if you are driving a 128i. Those 6-pot calipers have some serious stopping power.

[Spoolin Montego]

Last month I paid $400 for front rotors and pads, installed. fyi.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by zamboni

Stopping distance on a bigger brakes.

They won't change that at all, that's tires. Save your money.

Originally Posted by Zeros and ones

Don't kid yourself. The performance brake kit is much more than just show, especially if you are driving a 128i. Those 6-pot calipers have some serious stopping power.

No, they don't. To think so demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding about how braking functions, and what the benefits of a BBK are. Furthermore the BMW P BBK costs 2/3rds as much as a real BBK, and as evidenced by the 135i on the track, has some serious flaws.

Most *actual* brake upgrades increase the thermal capacity or cooling of the braking system. Whether it is ducting or a BBK, the goal is the same. To increase the number of times the car can slow at 100% grip without thermal fade. This isn't something you are going to run into on the street unless your brakes are woefully under-matched for the car, which they aren't in the case of the 128i. You also gain easy pad swapping with a proper BBK.

Tire upgrades provide the variance in stopping distance. This is why more recent F30 328i stops from 70-0 in 191 ft, while the E90 328i stops from 60-0 in 110 feet. Low rolling resistance(and lower grip) tires have neutered it's braking distance into SUV territory. Such is the way of the modern quest for MPG at any cost, eg electronic power steering.

[Alow]

Don't think of the BMW performance brakes as a BBK. Because that's not what they are. A BBK usually focuses on thermal capacity and heat dissipation (typically for continuous abuse like on a track). That's not what the BMW perf brakes are.

The BMW perf brakes are a slight upgrade for the 128i. The stock brakes of the 128i are floating calipers, while the perk brakes are fixed calipers. the Rear calipers have a bigger piston too. I suspect the reason the car needs coding after the upgrade is because the bias or the brake torque changes, and dsc Needs to adapt. While i agree that better tires offer better traction (and thus shorter stopping distances), the brake torque plays a part in how you can achieve braking at the limit of the tire. with the upgrade, many things change - pedal feel, slightly more urgent braking, etc. while they do not compare to a true BBk, it is a nice upgrade if you use them for the street. Especially if you can get them at 1/3 of the price of a BBK, which does happen from time to time. That's what I did about 2 years
ago. If they were the price of a BBK ( and they may be right now, I haven't checked) that is definitely less appealing.

[TheSt|G]

Yup. I can easily see them changing pedal feel. But for $2000 you are getting pretty close to a real BBK or could pay for a lot of good mods like coilovers or M3 suspension links.

[luv135i]

Ouch for 1000 i hope they changed the rotors in your car and 3 of your buddys cars for that price. Brake jobs are no diffrent on a bmw than any other car. Any indy shop can do it. Parts a a little more expensive if you use OEM. Never use the deal for brakejobs unless its under maintenance

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by luv135i

Ouch for 1000 i hope they changed the rotors in your car and 3 of your buddys cars for that price. Brake jobs are no diffrent on a bmw than any other car. Any indy shop can do it. Parts a a little more expensive if you use OEM. Never use the deal for brakejobs unless its under maintenance

I just do em in my driveway.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

I just do em in my driveway.

Exactly.

[zamboni]

Originally Posted by Alow

Don't think of the BMW performance brakes as a BBK. Because that's not what they are. A BBK usually focuses on thermal capacity and heat dissipation (typically for continuous abuse like on a track). That's not what the BMW perf brakes are.

The BMW perf brakes are a slight upgrade for the 128i. The stock brakes of the 128i are floating calipers, while the perk brakes are fixed calipers. the Rear calipers have a bigger piston too. I suspect the reason the car needs coding after the upgrade is because the bias or the brake torque changes, and dsc Needs to adapt. While i agree that better tires offer better traction (and thus shorter stopping distances), the brake torque plays a part in how you can achieve braking at the limit of the tire. with the upgrade, many things change - pedal feel, slightly more urgent braking, etc. while they do not compare to a true BBk, it is a nice upgrade if you use them for the street. Especially if you can get them at 1/3 of the price of a BBK, which does happen from time to time. That's what I did about 2 years
ago. If they were the price of a BBK ( and they may be right now, I haven't checked) that is definitely less appealing.

The cost for the P brake kit is $1750 plus labor to installation, my brake would last for another 6K miles and maintenance will expires next month. Since I have to pay for the brake job why not pay a little extra and upgrade to a bigger brake kit.

[QUOTE=TheSt|G;13590594]They won't change that at all, that's tires. Save your money.

My current tire set up is Michelin PS2.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by zamboni

My current tire set up is Michelin PS2.

Then nothing will change aside from pedal feel, more of which you could accomplish with SS lines.

[zamboni]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Then nothing will change aside from pedal feel, more of which you could accomplish with SS lines.

Pilot Super sport is on my list, my current set had over 28K still has plenty of tread left.

[luv135i]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

I just do em in my driveway.

Me too but I am asuming OP cant since he went to the dealer and blindly paid 2k.

[MZWIE]

OMG. Replacing rotors and pads is one of the easiest DIY's there is. All you need are some jackstands and a coupe of wrenches.

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by e34m5

OMG. Replacing rotors and pads is one of the easiest DIY's there is. All you need are some jackstands and a coupe of wrenches.

+1. A lot of great DIY's here too!

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by zamboni

Pilot Super sport is on my list, my current set had over 28K still has plenty of tread left.

Then I promise you that you will never need a BBK of any sort. That is absurd tread life for a PS2, indicating a more relaxed driving style.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Then I promise you that you will never need a BBK of any sort. That is absurd tread life for a PS2, indicating a more relaxed driving style.

Or hes just really good at rotating his tires.

[zamboni]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Then I promise you that you will never need a BBK of any sort. That is absurd tread life for a PS2, indicating a more relaxed driving style.

Mainly freeway driving with little of mixed with city. Front brake pads were at 7mm remaining and rear is 6mm.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

Or hes just really good at rotating his tires.

Most I ever got from my 245 square PS2 setup on my E36 M3 was 15k.

My buddy used to get about 3k-4k from the rears of his E60 M5.

Originally Posted by zamboni

Mainly freeway driving with little of mixed with city. Front brake pads were at 7mm remaining and rear is 6mm.

Definitely save the money then. You could get a really nice suspension setup like a full TCK kit for that kind of money, and see a serious upgrade in performance.

http://www.tcklineracing.com/webdocs.../Details17.cfm

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by Alow

Don't think of the BMW performance brakes as a BBK. Because that's not what they are. A BBK usually focuses on thermal capacity and heat dissipation (typically for continuous abuse like on a track). That's not what the BMW perf brakes are.

The BMW perf brakes are a slight upgrade for the 128i. The stock brakes of the 128i are floating calipers, while the perk brakes are fixed calipers. the Rear calipers have a bigger piston too. I suspect the reason the car needs coding after the upgrade is because the bias or the brake torque changes, and dsc Needs to adapt. While i agree that better tires offer better traction (and thus shorter stopping distances), the brake torque plays a part in how you can achieve braking at the limit of the tire. with the upgrade, many things change - pedal feel, slightly more urgent braking, etc. while they do not compare to a true BBk, it is a nice upgrade if you use them for the street. Especially if you can get them at 1/3 of the price of a BBK, which does happen from time to time. That's what I did about 2 years
ago. If they were the price of a BBK ( and they may be right now, I haven't checked) that is definitely less appealing.

I agree that the performance brakes are a slight upgrade on the 128i. Not only did I notice a more immediate reaction on the pedal but if you really jump on the brakes they catch you by surprise much harder than the stock brakes do.

But thats all anecdotal. Lets think about this another way: the PBK on the 128i contains the front calipers and rotors from the 135i right? To assume that this package would not improve the stopping distance on the 128i is similar to suggesting that there is no difference in the braking distance achievable between a similarly equipped 128i and a 135i. Does anyone here believe that? My money is on the 135i stopping shorter if both cars have the same packages and tires. C/D has posted the stopping distances for both cars but based on the pictures in the article unfortunately I believe their cars had different tire sizes.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

I agree that the performance brakes are a slight upgrade on the 128i. Not only did I notice a more immediate reaction on the pedal but if you really jump on the brakes they catch you by surprise much harder than the stock brakes do.

But thats all anecdotal. Lets think about this another way: the PBK on the 128i contains the front calipers and rotors from the 135i right? To assume that this package would not improve the stopping distance on the 128i is similar to suggesting that there is no difference in the braking distance achievable between a similarly equipped 128i and a 135i. Does anyone here believe that? My money is on the 135i stopping shorter if both cars have the same packages and tires. C/D has posted the stopping distances for both cars but based on the pictures in the article unfortunately I believe their cars had different tire sizes.

Pad compound affects bite. You can easily get a more aggressive street pad if you want that.

I really doubt that on the same tires the 135i stops shorter. If anything given the extra 250lbs I would imagine it takes longer like the 335i vs the 328i. Once again, do some research. You will find that BBKs(even of the real variety) do nothing for stop distances. You get them for heat capacity, easy pad changes, and weight savings.

[crystaweizen]

Originally Posted by KamHiggs

So there was some squeaking going down in my rotors. Tell me why I just spent 1000 on new rotors? They tried to tell me with brake pads and new rotors it would come to $2000.00!!! Good god that hurt

as easy as it is you should be able to just get pads if you dont have warpage. its always smart to machine rotors to true but the cheapest way would to at least replace the pads with a quality part and lubricate slides and pad mounting surfaces. 2000 is unheard of