Brakes for a 335i?

[Herbmiester 925]

Just landed a set of Stoptech Street Performance pads from BuyBrakes.com landed in NZ for $160. Good reviews with a bit more temperature resistance than the very good Hawk HPS pads. Downside is they dust so weekly cleaning is supposedly a must.

[Matth5 471]

The RDA slotted/dimpled rotors and EBC Redstuff pads are on the car. She's still at the workshop, picking her up in the morning. Fresh fluid too.

Will be giving this setup a good test when I head up North between Christmas and New Years, assuming the traffic isn't crawling everywhere. 

[Matth5 471]

Firstly, I like the way they look on the car. 

Only been some slow driving to and from work, but I like the feel so far. Sharp, but not as jerky as the OEM pads that I felt in the BM Workshop loan cars, these are easy to modulate. 
Feel might change once I burn through the bed-in layer. So far I like them, but need to test with some hard driving still. 

I've heard slotted rotors can make a noise from air passing through the slots. I notice a slight 'helicopter' like sound when cruising in a quiet street with the windows down, I doubt everyone would notice though.

Perfectly quiet braking action so far, no squeak at all. 

 

Also I've got my old rotors and pads. Plenty left on the pads. No idea how usable the rotors are still. Can't figure out what brands they are. Will figure out what to do with them. Are worn rotors any use?

 

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by Matth5

[Olaf 3317]

Noise?  The cross-drilled and skotted PowerStop rotors on my Volvo are noisy AF.  In comparison, the StopTech slotted rotors on my e46 are un-noticable (noise wise), but effective.

Here's what you need to know about bedding in your brakes.  http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/bed-in-theory-definitions-and-procedures/stock-brake-system-bed-in 

I found that getting out early on the motorway before anyone's around, helps... you don't want to be interrupted in your heat cycles, or get rear-ended on heavy stopping... or have to come to a full stop when the brakes are hot from cycling through the heavy stops (imprinting).  Tomorrow morning (25/12) should be good, mind you don't collect Santa though.

 

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by Olaf

[Matth5 471]

EBC have a different procedure compared to Stoptech:
Pretty detailed guide here:
http://ebcbrakes.com/articles/bedding-in/
They say to drive the car gently for several hundred miles before doing the bed-in procedure. I've probably done barely 100km so far, too soon still. 
Will probably do it during or after my trip this week, that'll certainly put enough KMs on the pads to bed them. 

Edited December 25, 2016 by Matth5

[polley 916]

On 13/12/2016 at 7:13 PM, Matth5 said:

When? From what I've read they were rubbish until they changed ownership a few years ago, the Redstuff Ceramic/Kevlar pads seem to get good reviews.

Last year i think it was when i got them. 

[Matth5 471]

So after about 1000km  on my trip up north... this combo is working great.

Did the bedding procedure on the road towards Cape Reinga
I was more aggressive than EBC recommends, braking hard. First I did 5 hard braking runs from 100kph, then drove gently for 5 mins, then did 6 hard braking runs. Even on the 6th run there wasn't even a hint of fade. 

Drove hard on the roads up north, not much traffic up there and the cops were all focused south of Whangerei it seems. Braking from well above legal speeds was fine. Nice sharp yet linear response, easy to reach the ABS threshold.  Perfectly smooth with no noise or vibration under braking so far.

[Matth5 471]

So I had a 20 min track session at Pukekohe and these did well at first, but towards the end when I had the space to go all-out, they started to fade. Breaking at 200kph at the finish straight just killed them, I had to slow down and the traffic behind me caught up. Brakes were the only thing to let me down here.

What's the main weak point(s) here? Pads? Perhaps EBC Yellows or performance pads from Stoptech/Hawk would have fared better. 

Perhaps EBC Redstuff is ok for track use on lighter cars, but they cannot handle a 335i. I think they're great on the street, but not suitable for the track for a 300hp+ car. 
If I go again with these pads I'll be sure not to go so fast on the straight

[Herbmiester 925]

Yellowstuff are supposed to ok for track days with lighter cars, so perhaps the 335i is just a bit too heavy? Maybe you need to swap out front pads on track day events?

[polley 916]

13 hours ago, Matth5 said:

So I had a 20 min track session at Pukekohe and these did well at first, but towards the end when I had the space to go all-out, they started to fade. Breaking at 200kph at the finish straight just killed them, I had to slow down and the traffic behind me caught up. Brakes were the only thing to let me down here.

What's the main weak point(s) here? Pads? Perhaps EBC Yellows or performance pads from Stoptech/Hawk would have fared better. 

Perhaps EBC Redstuff is ok for track use on lighter cars, but they cannot handle a 335i. I think they're great on the street, but not suitable for the track for a 300hp+ car. 
If I go again with these pads I'll be sure not to go so fast on the straight

I had the same problem with ebc yellows, once they're hot and throw in some 200kph stops they were useless. Thats in what id suspect to be a lighter car too.

[Matth5 471]

https://ebcbrakes.com/product/redstuff-brake-pads/

Redstuff advertising 
"Capable of repeated heavy brake use without brake “Fall-Off”."

https://ebcbrakes.com/product/yellowstuff-street-and-track-pads/

Meanwhile Yellowstuff says the same and has this extra point:
"Zero brake fade makes this material perfect for fastest driving."

Guess their definition of heavy use is on something like an MX5, lol.
I think if I didn't go all-out on the straight they would have been ok, maybe.

The Evo in front of me yesterday just kept going while I fell behind when my brakes faded. When I took a look at his brakes afterwards, they were huge. Guess that's one solution!
Perhaps I should learn how to change my own pads so I can keep a set of something more powerful for the track. 

Think I'll not bother with "low-dust" pads in future, obviously there's a sacrifice that comes with that. The darker colour of my new Apex wheels mean they don't look dirty as soon and I've got a nice wheel brush to clean them with  
So I'll get something more performance oriented next time.

Also, is it worth getting some aftermarket brake fluid or is OEM fine for a run on a track not lasting more than 20 mins?

Edited May 13, 2017 by Matth5

[Navin 180]

Personally the first thing I do before a track day is to run some decent brake fluid. Normally run the penrite racing fluid and it's great. Consistent pedal feel throughout the day at the track. Normally run hawk hp plus pads and have never experienced fade with them but then again that was on a much lighter car. Yet to test the 135i. I have run ebc reds at puke a number of years ago and had a similar experience as you after about 4 hard laps, pretty damn scary having next to no brakes after the long back straight that's for sure!

[Olaf 3317]

BMT RBF is near as dammit (specification wise) the same as Motul RBF600; the guy behind the counter told me it's the same stuff.  And it's much cheaper, being BNT house brand.

Where'd you get the Penrite fluid, Navin?  I asked at Repco and Supercheap down here, and they didn't stock it, didn't know about it.  I do like to change colours when I change fluid, makes it easier to know when you've flushed through.

[Navin 180]

Repco stocks it up here and can get it very easily. If they get confused get them to type in rbf0005 into the system or get them to ring the Grey Lynn store for a part number. 

Edited May 14, 2017 by navin117

[demon335 4]

I know this is an old thread but obviously the problem with buying rotors is they are really heavy and expensive to ship. Thats normally a problem but now its not! It seems there is a silent promo going on at amazon currently there are a few NZ web sites talking about it : https://www.cheapies.nz/node/16498

Anyway just bought some replacement rear rotors for my 335i got some stoptech ones I have been wanting for a while but normally the shipping just made it not worth it. 

I also looked at buying some hawk pads and they were free international shipping too. It seems to only be orders fulfilled by amazon and you have to get right to the last step of the cart before the free shipping option appears.  For the doubters here's the proof. 

Also the prices shown are USD

 

Hope this helps a few people out ?

 

Edited July 10, 2018 by demon335

[Herbmiester 925]

Thanks Sam about to duplicate that order.