Brake Issue Opinions

[00BMW328CI]

I have this issue that I am having a hard time nailing down what the culprit is. A few months ago my 2001 540i needed front brakes. Like many others, I cannot stand how much the factory pads dust so after reading some reviews, I went with the Akebono Euro Pads and Zimmerman Rotor combo from EEuroparts. After installing them, I noticed a dramatic difference in pedal feel on my car. I didn't want to jump to any conclusions, so I pulled back in, bled all 4 brake lines and then went out again. Still the feel was not great. I let the pads seat in for a good while and the condition got worse. The initial bite on the pedal was not there. Sure, if slam on them they would stop but everyone knows that BMW brakes are very sensitive to touch. That feeling went away and the pedal felt like there was some air in the lines. I let it ride for a few months which brings me to today. My rear brakes were needing changing so I read the reviews again and all said that Akebono was good. I figured there was some air in the lines or something, so I ordered and installed the Akebono Euro Pads and Zimmerman rotor combo on the rear of my car. Went ahead and bled all four lines again, got some air out and figured it was golden. Set out for a test drive and I honestly think the pedal feel is worse than before. Is it just me or are these pads/rotors not all they are cracked up to be? Does anyone believe there may be air in the system up near the master cylinder or do these pads really change the pedal feel that much?

What are the opinions out there?

Thanks!

[YourE39]

Its hard to say, seems like you got all the air out if there was any at all to begin with. I think its pretty hard to achieve the factory bite with aftermarket pads. I've read reviews on the Akebono's and some people said they bite just as hard as factory and other people claim they don't bite that well. It's purely up the drive and what the driver thinks and feels. Personally i think the pads have not set in fully yet (how many miles did you let them set in for?). Is it possible you warped your rotors some how? Maybe you can get them resurfaced just to be safe? I had the same problem with my car when i first got it, there was no bite at all but the rotors kept getting warped, a new set of rotors fixed that problem. I am VERY picky when it comes to brakes and i learned with all my previous German cars is that nothing beats the OEM bite when comparing OEM to aftermarket.

[00BMW328CI]

I suppose I cant rule out warped rotors but it seems unlikely. I have run about 2000 miles on the fronts since putting them on. I too am picky about brakes and not easy on them either. I wouldnt mind the OEMs if they dust so damn much. Its weird that its affecting the pedal feel though. It makes it feel "spongy" if that makes any sense.

[YourE39]

Yeah i completely get what you mean. I had the same thing when i had my Audi A4, everyone in the tuning community was raving about Hawk HPS brake pads and claiming how they were so awesome and stopped better than OEM, no brake dust ect. So i bought them and installed them. The initial bite was missing and i hated that. So i used those 90$ brake pads for 3 weeks then went right back to OEM. Its a tough situation when it comes to brakes, when your missing that initial bite you feel unsafe. But yeah 2000 miles is way more than enough for the break in period. At this point im just throwing ideas, i doubt you have air in your system or had air initially since you bled it so many times, did you check for brake fluid? Did you re-grease the calipers when you re-installed them?

[ImTheDevil]

I'm wondering if you glazed the pads. You could try lightly sanding the brake pad faces and reinstall them to see if you get that bite back.

[jstern]

It is very important to perform a 'brake bed-in procedure' after replacing pads or pads/rotors. If you Google said procedure, you will get many write-ups. If you do not perform bed-in, the brakes will not perform correctly.