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Need advice on best affordable replacement brakes

23K views 46 replies 23 participants last post by  ktb15 
#1 ·
hi i am new to this forum and have been searching for hours but cant find much on what are the best replacement brakes. everyone seems to have a different opinion but i also noticed those threads are pretty old. i have an '05 ZHP coupe and am not really looking for an upgrade because i am satisfied with the oem brakes and i dont take it to the track or anything, but the oem brakes are ridiculously overpriced from BMW. if anyone has any recommendations for good and affordable brakes and rotors it would be appreciated. i am trying to stay under $500 thanks.
 
#3 ·
I've had good luck with both Brembo and Zimmerman rotors as replacements for my BMWs and MB over the years.

As for pads, jurid, pagid or textar tend to be OEM for german manufacturers. I think the E46 generally has jurid or pagid pads.

I'm running Brembos and textar pads, no complaints so far.
 
#19 ·
+1 this. BMAParts has these for competitive price, free shipping, 5% discount with a code and online order, arrives in app 3 days from order, and are very helpful if you call with any questions.

Just did mine and the original pads on my car (2006 330Ci w/45K miles) were Textar. Naturally, fit was exact. Pedal and bite same or (placebo) better than before. Yes, they are dusty but car stops on dime.
 
#4 ·
thanks for the reply. yea i can do it myself ive just been reading a lot of mixed reviews on the different aftermarket brands. i was originally going to buy the kit from bavauto but saw some bad reviews on it. i was just wondering if anyone could recommend a good set of pads and rotors that are as good or better than oem. i know the stock rotors are bosch but they are way more expensive than other brands for oem performance and i was planning on replacing all 4
 
#11 ·
I've owned my 2005 325i for just over 4 years now. When I first bought the car, I picked up a set of OEM pads, rotors and sensor for the front. Last year I wanted to go the cheaper route, so I bought a set of jobber/after market, from Lordco. Canadian version of "autozone"

As long as I own this car, I will never ever buy any after market parts. This pads have been squeeling a month or so after they were installed. I hate them. But I refuse to buy a new set just yet. Like an idiot I lost the receipt.

Oh yeah I also bought a brand new pair of windshield wipers (Bosch) a few years ago. Yeah the suck as well..

IMO save up the money and buy OEM.
 
#13 ·
The best bang for your buck with staying as close to Oem is Akebono Euro ceramics pads. I have them and they work great with no noise and low dust.

With that being said, I want a more aggressive bite so I am switching to Hawk HPS pads next time.
 
#15 ·
Zimmerman rotors, and Mintex OE replacement pads. I've 285K on the car, and this is OE=without issues or rotor warps. Arizona Autohaus. They dust a bit but if you wash your cars as much as I do, it won't matter.
 
#16 ·
Textar are OE for my year. You can get the identical set of pads for around $50. They're brakes; do you really want to save $10 on a part that lasts 3-5 years?

My pads and rotors were replaced around 75K miles ago in all four corners. Textar pads and balo blanks.

60K miles later, all I needed to do was replace the front pads. The rotors were only halfway between original thickness and the minimum thickness. Rear pads were only halfway worn and the rear rotors were fine.

So, the cheapest you could get might just be a set of pads.

That said, if you've gotten your brake pad warning light, get to the work soon--700 miles after my warning light came on, I was down to 1.5mm of pad material. Another few miles and I'd have needed to also buy rotors.

Buy yourself a $10 micrometer and measure the rotors. If the brakes currently stop you smoothly, and the rotors are above minimum thickness (stamped on rotors; listed in Bentley), then all you need are pads.

There...$50 for OE brakes. Done!
 
#17 ·
Brembo blank rotors (if you need them), coupled with OE pads offer the best solution.

In case you hate brake dust like I do, get Akebono Euro pads.
Although I've heard you lose a bit of brake bite with them, I have not noticed this since I'm only running them on the rears.

Going on week 4 and my rear rims are almost spotless :thumbup:
 
#21 ·
ok thanks for responses everyone. im going for the brembo rotors and leaning towards the akebono pads but is there really a noticeable difference in the bite with the cyramics? i like the feel i have now so would like to stay as close as i can to that. i used to hate the break dust but now i have a unlimited carwash thing so its not an issue now that im not the one cleaning them all the time. are there any other benefits of having ceramic or should i just stick to a semi metallic?
 
#23 ·
You can stay exactly where you are, and in the long run, it might also be the cheapest.

You might end up saving $10 and having cleaner wheels, but if you want to save the $10 so you can have your car washed every day, you're sort of putting the cart in front of the horse.

Also, I can't recall reading of anyone that has gotten the wear out of my OE pads...and although a pad might seem as good as OE, it might also be wearing out the rotors significantly more. Personally, it doesn't make sense to me to try to engineer the brakes on a car like a bmw. Sure on a Yugo I might, but BMW is a pretty good car, you know. I think they got it right.

If you're an automotive engineer, then I'm sure you'd do okay re-engineering our brakes, especially with all the anecdotes you'll get of great 'other' pads. You understand there's always going to be a bit of bias involved when it comes to recommendations here. If someone gets pads because they don't like dust, and the pads still stop them, they'll 'feel' they're as good as or better than OE, because they want to feel good about the decision they made...that dust is bad and stopping usually isn't that important anyway.

Just saying. I say OE because I'm not an engineer, but I know they'll stop the car--in rain, snow, day, night, hot, cold, smoothly, evenly, and quickly. Why do I know? Because I've trusted bmw brakes since 1994 and they haven't failed me once...except that one time when they stopped me too fast!
 
#24 ·
thanks dmax. yea break dust isnt an issue as i pay for a monthly unlimited car wash and just go there whenever they start looking dirty which is about every 3 days. i read somewhere that ceramic has less rotor wear, dont know if thats true or not but it would be nice not having to replace rotors as often. i dont mind paying an extra ten bucks or so for a better set i was just wondering if there were any other benefits to ceramic besides the brake dust and if there are any ceramic pads that have a bite close to the oem i have now.
 
#25 · (Edited)
If you've heard ceramics don't wear out rotors, and that's actually true, then they, themselves are wearing quicker...or, I suppose, they're really not stopping as quickly as oe.

Something has to give...you're stopping a 3,000 lb. object going fast. Only reason I can think of to do other than OE is if you're tracking the car and then I'd say a dedicated pad. The 'compromise' pads seem to do better on the track with fading, but worse on the street with stopping. Many that do these pads, track maybe 2-3 times a year, so for 360 days of the year, their brakes aren't as good as mine.

Also, there are other components to brake pads beyond just the material too...you want to know the clips fit in piston properly and that the backing plate is a nice thick hunk of metal.

Anywhooo...you have a bmw and you can get bmw brakes for less than from the dealer. Mine were $50 an axle from bmaparts (I think), and my balo blanks will end up going around 120K in the front and could be 2-240K in the rear. Can't imagine better and I can't imagine cheaper (in the long run).

Search thread titles for 'brakes' here...there are a few who swear their brakes saved their lives.

Also, search for "hit a X" threads--deers, beagles, iguanas--bet you 90% of those drivers also posted about how much they hate dust on their wheels. I almost hit a beagle, but was able to save its life because I have the brakes I'm highly recommending to you...the ones you said you wanted by saying you want that same stopping power. Only one way to get it imho!

I did suggest measuring rotor thickness, didn't I? You might not need rotors, and I'm sure you don't need pads in all corners...and frankly, unless your pad light went off, you don't need pads at all.

Okay...my work is done here! :lmao:
 
#27 ·
yea dmax i definitely need rotors as well so im going with brembo for those. im just undecided between ceramic and oem and im not really looking for the cheapest way out and i do like the oem brake feel and bite but was curious if i could get a decent set of ceramics that perform close to oem and if so are there any benefits over oem aside from the brake dust. i dont track the car and i have michellin pilot super sports so i should be good there. im just wondering if anyone has experience with ceramics that perform close to or better than oem feel and if there are other benefits to ceramic
 
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