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      08-08-2018, 01:48 PM   #2
nachob
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Drives: 2004 330i ZHP, 2022 Cayman T
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: California

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Subscribing as I am also interested. I have used Zimmerman rotors on all my other BMWs except the 1M. On the E46, they worked great. I did learn a valuable lesson one time with my Subaru Legacy GT Wagon in 2002. The car had very good brakes but the rotors would warp. I loved the initial bite and cold characteristics of the Subaru pads just didn't want the rotors to warp. I ordered a brand new set of Subaru Original pads but Brembo rotors from Tire Rack. When I changed out the rotors, I noticed the Brembos were lighter than the worn Subaru rotors which I thought...cool, lighter rotors, more performance. I changed all 4 rotors again with factory Pads. At first the brakes had no bite, but I just figured ok, I replaced all 4, they just need to bed. But I drove my wagon brand new and the brakes were excellent brand new. They got a little better after about 200 miles but there was no bite. I drove another 300 miles and still no bite. I thought I did something wrong, so I went back to Subaru and got another set of front pads. Drove another 1000 miles and while not unsafe, I no longer had the awesome brakes my car came with. I was puzzled. It bothered me quite a bit. I went back to Subaru and bought a pair of Subaru rotors and put them on with the Subaru pads....boom! Instant bite back. I went back and bought the rears Subarus and again reused the pads. Brakes went right back to the way it was new.

The point is, that something in Brembo metal composition did not work well with the factory Subaru pads. Maybe if I used Brembo pads, things would've been different. So from that point, Zimmerman is the only non BMW rotor I use and have not had a single issue. I tried ATE uncoated rotors in my E46 325i and they worked well also but rusted up something fierce and looked terrible behind my BBS RXs so I switched them to Zimmerman coated.

So I expect Zimmerman to work just as well as BMW OE but I have seen non-OE rotors not work as well with OE pads. They are designed to work as a unit. I can't wait for feedback on this thread. Personally I drive the 1M so little that for an extra $100 a set, would get OE BMW but if you drive a lot, the lower price makes sense. Thanks for posting!
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