I'm relatively new to European cars, but I recently acquired 2 BMW's, and E53 and an E83. My E83 is coming up on a major service (level 2 in 2500 mi) and I can see that the brakes will need to be serviced. Being a former Honda guy, I am familiar with the quality Japanese parts manufacturers, but I am clueless when it comes to German parts manufacturers. I don't want to blow a lot on OEM parts when I know there must be other European parts manufacturers that make parts of equal or better quality than BMW at more competitive prices. I sure would appreciate some recommendations of sources for a brake kit at least equal to the OEM stuff. Can anybody name some European parts houses that have a reputation for quality at a reasonable price?
AceEngineer
The wife's DD___2005 X5 4.4i
My DD:________2008 X3 30.si
Akebono Brake Pads or Bosch Brake Pads
rockauto carries them, specialized sites include ecstuning and bavarian auto sport, but I find the part numbers and usually buy from amazon or ebay.
I just ordered Pagid pads and Bosch rotors for the e83, I have run this setup with several vehicles that are daily drivers, factory-like braking. For aggressive setups I recommend using EBC Green or Red pads.
Regards,
Brian
Cave Creek, AZ
I can't tell you what to buy, but I will gladly tell you what to stay away from. Do NOT buy Hawk Pads. Not unless you want to apply wd-40 to your brake discs every few days because it sounds like nails on a chalkboard. I don't care how well they stop and how little brake dust emanates, this is the absolute definition of first world problems.
I hope you were speaking figuratively about spraying a penetrating LUBRICANT on your BRAKES, lol.
I'm curious though, were these brakes properly bedded? I've had Hawk HPS on 2 prior cars (Mazdaspeed6 and Maxima). I'll agree that (at least on those cars with me doing the install and break-in) they had minimal squeal when cold. But usually after the first normal braking from 40 that would go away for the rest of the drive. Those pads are great but they are definitely more performance-based so if noise is an issue they're certainly not the pads for the OP. Most people would find it annoying but I didn't care as the little squeal I did experience went away after my first stop.
OP-
I would also recommend my latest brake experiment. On my A6 I put Stoptech street pads and cross-drilled rotors all around and they work great. Zero squeal, less than OE Audi brake dust (which is already less than what BMW "duster pads" put out lol) no fade even from hard stops from 90+. I've got about 22k miles/ just over 2 yrs on this setup thus far and it's still working great.
Let us know what you ended up going with and your impressions!
I can second Pagid brake pads - work well.
I usually use ATE coated rotors and they similarly work very well.
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