I'll be doing some DE this summer and I need a little advice. Anybody have any recommendations on pads. Bav Auto's got Padgids, Mintex Xtreme and Cool Carbon pads. Anyone have any advice as to how they perform?
Usually, OEM pads perform best on initial cold application like one encounters in street driving. OEM formulate each pad compound for each model of car. Aftermarket suppliers use just one ora few formulations and just cut the pad to fit. For track and fast mountain or high speed driving, you may well need a harder aftermarket pad.
I'm glad you asked this question. I'm in a similar situation, but looking for both rotors AND pads. I put OEM pads two days prior to tracking my car - they held up well but towards the end of the weekend they just got too hot. Keep in mind the car was running twice as much as all the other cars on the track and, well, perhaps one of the drivers were a bit hard on them a time or two. The pads themselves were good - but didn't impress me incredibly. I've been looking into the Stoptech high performance or the Hawk, I've heard nothing but great things about them - but at the same time I'm going to upgrade the rotors to either slotted or drilled. I've heard pros and cons for each, I'm going to keep digging and make a decision pretty quick. This may be helpful (also, they have a chat window that will pop up if you have further question, its pretty handy) http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/resu...oYear=2011&autoModClar=Built On or After 9/10
What is usually required is greater thermal mass. As an aside, on the 135i (same as 128 performance brakes) high temperatures cause the dust seals to melt and the ceramic pistons to crack. Some aid to cooling is afforded by modifying the backing splash plates to allow more airflow on these cars. The F30 backing plates with a minimum of snipping also are used as the ducting is built in. For same or near size rotors, look at Racing Brake or ECS. The RB is 28mm rather than 26mm and has a little more mass. Otherwise, if your sugar daddy is in town, go for the full stoptech treatment, or Brembo or AP Racing.
I don't have the 128 Performance Brakes, due to that exact melting aspect. I looked into it and a couple peeps from down in the Peachtree chapter gave me a heads up on that whole bit. The stock brakes are pretty simple and incredibly easy to work on. As far as Brembos, I have heard incredibly mixed reviews on them. They work fantastically on some car set up and others they aren't as comfortable in everyday usage. I'm not sure exactly where the Sugar Daddy stab came from, but I certainly am not the one to ask for anything that I can't go out and get under my own power. If I can't get it on my own, I probably don't need it.
Talk about reviving a thread from the dead, May of 2011! Still can be pertinent, however. I thought maxnix was saying that figuratively, as an expression, vs literally - at least, I certainly hope so...! Replacing the stock flexible rubber brake lines with stainless-braided lines that literally 'take the heat' better is pretty much a no-brainer upgrade for track-driven BMW's. Many big-brake kits include upgraded lines as part of the package. Take a look at Bimmerworld or Turner Motorsports. Higher-temp brake fluid is also a no-brainer. Lots of options there too - ATE Super-Blue is popular, dry boiling point of 536°, I use Motul RBF, dry boiling point of 594°. I think I've caught lately some suggestion that the racing brake fluids lack component-protective qualities of "street" DOT4 brake fluids; perhaps so, I've never had a problem with anything from using racing-type fluids, and, as most of the core members in the club around here that regularly participate and socialize are mostly also long-time track junkies, I can't say I've heard of anyone saying they've had any negative issues from using racing brake fluid. However, I'm flushing brake fluid through the system 6 times a year or more. If I were to retire my car from track usage and go to flushing brakes once every 2 years, then a 'street' fluid perhaps might be more appropriate. It might be worth finding out how others have made out by using race-pads, higher-temp brake fluid, and stainless lines, before jumping to the expense of bigger, more expensive rotors, and really expensive calipers. I'd suggest sticking with stock rotors, or nothing more than slotted - skip the cross-drilled. I forget if you have a 135i or not - 135i's already have 3-piston Brembo's; that might be an upgrade path to consider vs. the Stoptech/Brembo big brake kits if your car is a 128i. It's true that the heat can be an issue for the rubber dust seals - however, one thing with racing calipers typical of big brake kits, the pistons do not have protective dust seals at all, which might become an issue if, as a street-driven car, 99.9% of your driving is all year around in all kinds of weather conditions and not on the track. Of course, if you don't mind the effort and bleeding brakes, you can always swap back on the stock brakes at the end of the season - though, you're far enough south, your off-season might only be 1/4 of the year, vs. up here, where it's not quite 1/2. For myself, I'd rather not have to do anything more than I need to. For the 135i oem brakes Turner (at least, likely others as well) have a solution to the 135i oem Brembo ceramic-brake-piston inserts cracking. http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-1...-upgrade-kit-for-e82e88-and-e90e91e92e93.aspx http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3168-genuine-bmw-performance-brake-kit-e82-e88-128i.aspx http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-11705-front-caliper-piston-upgrade-e82-135i.aspx http://www.turnermotorsport.com/BMW-E82/c-2-bmw-brakes.aspx I'm a fan of Performance Friction racing brake pads - throw 'em on and drive, no fussy x-many stops from x-speeds to get them bedded in, etc. etc. - Works fer me. Plenty of pad options though, so suit yourself in that arena. My approach to pads was I used Axxis Metalmaster pads (basically, a slightly upgraded street pad that could work on the track; but, for a much less powerful car, an E30) until I got to the point where I'd burn through a complete set in about three 1/2-hr. track sessions, (in other words, not quite 1.5 hrs. of track lapping, in my case, at Mid-Ohio). At that point, I started trying different racing pads. Ultimately found myself happy with Performance Friction. Getting some air ducted AT the rotors can be very helpful, but often that's more easily said than done. I have a setup from Korman that replaces the brake splashguard to duct air from the front airdam directly into the center vanes of the rotors. The ease of getting some air-ducting setup is going to vary substantially from model to model.
Maybe my brain overheated. I DO know better, believe it or not. Maybe I'M the one that needs some breaks.
Sorry. Just a pet peeve of mine. Well, two pet peeves. Brakes, not breaks. And Redline refers to lubricant were Red line refers to a tach. But back to the brakes. Before anyone invests in big brakes, know what they are getting themselves into and know why. I believe that changing brake setups and even pads effect brake bias. A lot can be accomplished with technique. Unless you have a good technique, you are just throwing away money. Novice drivers tend to brake too much. Too early and long. That heats up brakes.
No need to apologize! We all have peeves, mine is usually more landscape focused ieeople that trim their bushes like meatballs. I understand what you're saying about the upgrades too. If it was one thing the instructor ingrained was that you should always improve the driver before the machine. What good are fancy bits if you're not skilled enough to use them! I am going to invest that brembo budget on more track days. Then we'll see what happens.
Money well spent. I'll let you know when we head up to VIR. I knew a guy agonizing over his car. Wanted to dump all kind of money into suspension mods. When I asked what his air pressure was, he had no idea. Need to start with basics. Air is cheap. You can only buy so much talent. And I better not let you see my yard unless you like tall weeds and overgrown hedges.
"the best investment you can make in your car is the driver". Some random guy. VIR looks like a killer track, although, I already am breaking (correct usage) a sweat over thinking about driving through the roller coaster. That's a wicked turn combo
Roller coaster isn't bad. Hog pen commands more confidence. You are putting too much pressure on yourself. Baby steps. Baby steps. You need to remind yourself how much time and experience others have. It all comes in time and there is always something to learn or do differently. I've been driving VIR for +10 years and it's amazing how many different lines or techniques there are. They are subtle differences. It's all about fine tuning young grasshopper. The ultimate goal is to drive your car home.
