Definitive best pads + rotors for street on a 135is?

[TridenTBoy]

Getting around that time of needing to replace my rotors + pads. I'm not sure what the issue is - haven't taken the wheels off yet... but I did do some measuring. Rotors are fine - pads are somewhat unknown. Getting some weird looking surfaces, abnormal-ish looking wear in some parts of the rotor, and the pads are looking lower than they should... (yet no warning on the dash - wtf) Getting some grinding sounds when driving around or braking sometimes. Not the good kinda grind... if there is such a thing.

Shopping around now. What pads + rotors do you guys think are the best available now?

I saw that ECS carries some 2-piece designs that are lighter. I'm not a big fan of cross drilling just because of how many pictures I've seen of people getting really bad cracking in their rotors from that - but I was thinking of trying slotted. Not sure if there's something I need to do extra when using drilled rotors as to prevent cracking. Also - the 2-piece design seems to only add the benefit of lower weight... Doesn't seem you can just replace the rotors instead of the hat and save some $$$. So, it's like twice as expensive - which is a bit much... But, :shrug:

Right now, my priority with pads is performance and less dust. The pads I got from Bavarian Auto some time back are dusty AF. I don't know the model exactly but I got
"Brake Pad Set - Front - 573294J-AS". Something by Jurid - apparently. Would not recommend.

I've seen this thread but it seems outdated. https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show...ghlight=rotors

Seems one person suggested Cool Carbon ST+ as th e EBC Red stuff seems less optimal.

[dtla1]

Declaring something the best is a bit tough as some people may weight things differently. My current setup though:

R1 Concept Slotted rotors with EBC Redstuff pads.

I only needed to replace front rotors at the time. They've been great so far. No issues with cracking, glazing or warping, no rusting or anything weird like that either.

For the pads, I think they have a good initial bite, when cold similar to OEM. Feel and consistency warm/hot seems good. They do dust a bit, but from what I remember, considerably less than OEM. You can't expect 0 dust obviously.

[135ivert]

Originally Posted by dtla1

For the pads, I think they have a good initial bite, when cold similar to OEM. Feel and consistency warm/hot seems good. They do dust a bit, but from what I remember, considerably less than OEM. You can't expect 0 dust obviously.

I have the EBC Redstuff pads on the front of our X5. I concur with your assessment. Much less dust than OEM with similar initial bite.

[TridenTBoy]

You guys haven't experienced any fading like the person in that thread reported? That's why I'm thinking about going without the Redstuff and going with with Cool Carbons ST+ instead.

[Olgeezer1]

Originally Posted by TridenTBoy

You guys haven't experienced any fading like the person in that thread reported? That's why I'm thinking about going without the Redstuff and going with with Cool Carbons ST+ instead.

That could have been me. Switched from EBC Redstuff to Cool Carbon ST+ and glad I did. Redstuff's fine for the street, won't hold up for the track, and to be fair they don't claim to be track capable. I've found the ST+ to be the best "dual purpose" pad so far. No doubt a little more dust than Redstuff, which was pretty much no dust, but much better than OE. Couple of 30 min. track sessions showed a big improvement in resistance to fade, basically no issues. That's where OE and Redstuff really fell down. Very occasional light squeal on slow stops but very light and only occasionally. A dual purpose pad ( low dust, no noise, plus no fade ) is a very hard thing to find, I really didn't think it was possible. The ST+ is as close as I've been able to come.

[TridenTBoy]

Originally Posted by Olgeezer1

That could have been me. Switched from EBC Redstuff to Cool Carbon ST+ and glad I did. Redstuff's fine for the street, won't hold up for the track, and to be fair they don't claim to be track capable. I've found the ST+ to be the best "dual purpose" pad so far. No doubt a little more dust than Redstuff, which was pretty much no dust, but much better than OE. Couple of 30 min. track sessions showed a big improvement in resistance to fade, basically no issues. That's where OE and Redstuff really fell down. Very occasional light squeal on slow stops but very light and only occasionally. A dual purpose pad ( low dust, no noise, plus no fade ) is a very hard thing to find, I really didn't think it was possible. The ST+ is as close as I've been able to come.

Ok. I might try the ST+.

I have these Jurid pads that are just horrendous when it comes to dust. Just a little bit of braking makes them completely caked in dust.

The EBC Redstuff is about half the price of the Cool Carbon ST+ though.

I'm also reconsidering the rotors. I'm not a big fan of drilled rotors as I'm very worried about cracks developing in the rotors. I'm somewhat concerned about that with slotted rotors as well but I thought "maybe a little reduction of mass would be good for the car..." But at a $300+ premium - I'm not sure.

After looking at my pads and rotors more closely - I've realized that for the front, the pads are just basically gone. They're almost rotor on backing pad as far as I can tell - especially on the drivers side. There is also some heat checking on the front rotors - somewhat minor. I think that's been present for a while but it's gotten a bit worse as time has gone on - nothing substantial. I didn't do a finger nail test but it looks mostly like surface imperfections still.

I'm thinking of giving up the drilled or slotted designs and going with blanks. They're really the best in terms of performance+reliability AFAICT - and they're *a lot* cheaper. If I have heat checking on blanks then slots + drilled is possibly going to be problematic, right? The only problem I have is that these blank rotors still seem to be really expensive from ECS. I'm seeing them for $170 for a pair on ECS using "Zimmermann" brand. (Never heard of the brand) Seems a bit expensive - I'm used to rotors costing something like $25-40 on other cars. I'm seeing them for slightly cheaper at FCP Euro (https://www.fcpeuro.com/BMW-parts/13...c-Brake-Rotor/).

[MightyMouseTech]

Zimmerman are good, made in Germany rotors. They will be a fair bit heavier than the OE rotor as they are all steel, they don't have aluminium hats like the factory rotors.

[TridenTBoy]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

Zimmerman are good, made in Germany rotors. They will be a fair bit heavier than the OE rotor as they are all steel, they don't have aluminium hats like the factory rotors.

I see. Will that have any significant impact though on handling or much else? What is the weight difference - I've tried looking online and don't see any spec details on the page listings?

I'm also not sure how much aluminum vs steel/iron hats will be in terms of a real difference since the weight is as close as it gets to the center of rotation. (From what I remember - more weight is bad but the further the weight is from the center is much worse - thus light weight wheels would probably have a much more significant effect than light weight rotors)

[asbrr]

Would you feel the difference in weight? Possibly in some limited circumstances and maybe depending on how fresh your suspension / shocks are.

Rotors for these cars are simply not cheap. If you need to watch your budget then spend it on a quality blank that is a one piece/cast despite the extra weight. If you can afford a bit more look for a deal on the OE 2-piece blanks or a quality aftermarket 2-piece blank. Pagid used to make 2-piece blanks that were available from RockAuto.com, can't find them anymore. I think Brembo picked it up and started making the 2 piece blanks, there may be one or two other alternate options.

Just don't go with a cheap rotor - I regret going for the 2-piece cheap-o "Durago" brand. Paired with stoptech sport pads, there was pad deposit left on the rotor surface within 2-3 weeks of new. This is despite careful bedding.

EDIT: Found the Brembo 2-piece option! Here it is: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...445220&jsn=907

It's a good price compared to OE I think, just check with shipping calculated and compare.

[TridenTBoy]

Originally Posted by asbrr

Would you feel the difference in weight? Possibly in some limited circumstances and maybe depending on how fresh your suspension / shocks are.

Rotors for these cars are simply not cheap. If you need to watch your budget then spend it on a quality blank that is a one piece/cast despite the extra weight. If you can afford a bit more look for a deal on the OE 2-piece blanks or a quality aftermarket 2-piece blank. Pagid used to make 2-piece blanks that were available from RockAuto.com, can't find them anymore. I think Brembo picked it up and started making the 2 piece blanks, there may be one or two other alternate options.

Just don't go with a cheap rotor - I regret going for the 2-piece cheap-o "Durago" brand. Paired with stoptech sport pads, there was pad deposit left on the rotor surface within 2-3 weeks of new. This is despite careful bedding.

EDIT: Found the Brembo 2-piece option! Here it is: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...445220&jsn=907

It's a good price compared to OE I think, just check with shipping calculated and compare.

That 2-piece option is very close to the OEM price of BMWs though. That's $125 per rotor.

[TridenTBoy]

This website has a full performance kit for $450. https://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/488...mm-3724532KIT/

Seems cheap. Should buy? I know drilled rotors is a bad idea but looks cool... I'm somewhat curious to see how fast they'll develop cracks with my driving - lol...

[lakefront]

If you plan on keeping the car for some time, the warranty at FCP Euro is hard to beat. Decent prices to begin with, but after wearing them out you return them for free replacements.

[ShocknAwe]

There's no substitute for quality metallurgy with rotors.

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by TridenTBoy

This website has a full performance kit for $450. https://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/488...mm-3724532KIT/

Seems cheap. Should buy? I know drilled rotors is a bad idea but looks cool... I'm somewhat curious to see how fast they'll develop cracks with my driving - lol...

These are the rotors I was talking about earlier in the thread. OE quality, 2 piece design. But as another poster mentioned, not a lot cheaper than BMW parts (albeit cross drilled etc).

I'd be worried about your driving if you can induce cracks on the street!