Brake Brand 2001 z3

[Buzzaround]

I just bought my first BMW car (I once owned an R90/6). It's a beautiful 2001 Z3 roadster with the 3.0 engine and a hardtop. 88k miles.The pre-purchase inspection showed the brakes down to 2mm, so that will be my first repair job. I drive fairly conservatively, and will put maybe 6k miles per year on this car. I see rotor & pad sets from $45 per axle. My questions:
Solid or drilled rotors?
Ceramic or metallic pads?
Any brands people have had problems with?
Recommendations?

Thanks,
Dave

[shadowpuck]

i've run stock pads/rotors for many years with great results. no real need for drilled/dimpled rotors at all. the stock gear works very well. check the brake hoses and the fluid as well - the fluid is likely due for a flush.

general advice i give all new bmw owners:
look into and join the BMW Car Club of America (BMW CCA - www.bmwcca.org/join) and check out your local chapter. chapters often have the best info on qualified shops local to you.
if you are going to do things DIY - be sure to look into a Bentley service manual.
purchase quality parts from trusted BMW suppliers including dealers. FCP Euro, RM European, and Pelican Parts are all quality/trusted suppliers.

[bmwdirtracer]

+1 !!!

Do NOT buy $45 pad rotor sets -- they will be absolute GARBAGE ! Buy your brakes from one of the places shadowpuck mentioned above.

I recommend against drilled rotors. They crack and craze, and are very noisy, for no benefit whatsoever.


You didn't say front or rear, so I'll price fronts for you. This is what I'd recommend:

PADS: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...t-front-d1131a

Rotors:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/clo...ft-34112227171
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...nn-34112227172

(Um, you can buy Meyles at ~$15 cheaper; they are also OEM, but the Zimmermans are made in Germany, the Meyles in China.)

You will also need a sensor:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...ro-34352227385 (I do not know why the printing for the link says "URO", (bad), when the link takes you to a BOWA part (good).

[Buzzaround]

Thanks so much for the info. I'll ordrr frim them.

[marcva]

Given what you do, stock is fine. If you drove a lot and had preferences for clean or higher temp pads for hard driving (ie drivers Ed events), then there is a range of decent aftermarket alternatives. I'd keep it simple for your car.

[ross1]

No reason for slotted or drilled rotors. Boy racer hoo-ha. Don't get sucked into high performance stuff unless you really intend to be pushing hard.
MY criteria would be based on how hard your wheels are to clean. The OE pads have great pedal feel, work well cold, aren't too hard on the rotors and can stop much harder than most people would be comfortable with. BUT they are dusty.
Ceramics are rougher on the rotors but make a lot less mess of the wheels.
So, nice smooth 5 spoke wheels and I'll buy OE pads, complicated ones with lots of nooks and crannys and I'll buy ceramics.
Cheap stuff is cheap stuff, so 'nuff said there.

[marcva]

Also your local BMWCCA will have tech sessions to teach you how to do a lot of basic repairs.

[TostitoBandito]

For the street I strongly encourage you to just buy quality blank (not slotted/drilled) OEM rotors from a good brand like Centric/Meyle/Zimmerman/Brembo/Stoptech/etc... For pads, the BMW OEM pads are great on the street; they bite hard when cold and last a very long time. If you go aftermarket, be aware that if you get any of the "higher performance" street pads that you'll likely be losing quite a bit of cold bite over OEM. This means that you'll have to press the pedal harder to brake the same amount, especially when they aren't warmed up or are wet. The benefit of such pads is that they can tolerate more heat without fading in track situations, but they can be occasionally frustrating on the street if you aren't used to them. I won't begin to give you aftermarket street pad suggestions since there are literally dozens out there. Popular brands are Hawk, PFC, Pagid, Cool Carbon, EBC, and many others.

Also, make sure and bleed the brakes if you're doing pads and rotors. It's also a good time to do brake lines if desired, and also to rebuild calipers if necessary.

[Jmiller69]

Use organic pads this is what BMW's come with from the factory. They won't wear out your rotors like metallic or ceramic, and they stop on a dime. Only draw back is the brake dust. Slotted or drilled rotors are a gimmick. The more surface material the better the braking. And organic pads don't create heat. Hope this helps....

[MarcoZandrini]

If you’re dust-phobic, buy a bottle of RejeX, clean the wheels and put a couple coats of the stuff on the wheels. Brake dust basically rinses off.

[jclausen]

I run textar pads and rotors