[mmmnot]

Hi guys,

I went on a spirited drive yesterday with a buddy of mine and noticed during hard braking, 60-75MPH, I experienced slight brake fade. To avoid this, I tried to modulate the pressure on the brakes.

After a few moments they seemed to 'cool' off more and allowed me to brake harder.

Question is, would this be due to break pads solely?

I have Hawk HPS pads, SS lines, recent brake fluid flush and cross drilled rotors all around. There are maybe 10K miles on this set up.

I heard Hawk's were top dog, but the more I read, the more I see Cool Carbon? and this 'red stuff' pads.

Am I good with Hawk or is it worth upgrading to a better pad to hopefully eliminate or at least reduce such brake fade?

[matteblue3er]

Here's my 2 cents. There is no dual purpose pad. You either have comfort or performance.

By comfort I mean no/low noise, low dust, good initial bite.

With performance pads, initial bite will be poor. There will be a lot of dust and probably noise.

I am currently running HPS pads now and the initial bite is decent. Once they are warm they bite well but they quickly overheat. Believe it or not, my Textar pads did better on the street and with a few hard runs on the 'Tail of the Dragon versus the HPS. The HPS feel spongey once they are nearing their limit.

The problem with these cars is that they are heavy. It takes a lot of stopping power to slow down the momentum of these cars.

I have not run a more aggressive pad on this car so I can't comment on a better pad. But I have used Pagid, EBC, and Brembo in the past with great results on a 996 911 GT3 and E36 M3.

Also for the future, I normally just go with slotted rotors. Cross drilled may look cool, but the drilled holes actually reduce surface area of the brake rotor, which means the pads have less area to grab. You will never see the benefits of cross-drilled rotors in a street application.

[mmmnot]

Originally Posted by matteblue3er

Here's my 2 cents. There is no dual purpose pad. You either have comfort or performance.

By comfort I mean no/low noise, low dust, good initial bite.

With performance pads, initial bite will be poor. There will be a lot of dust and probably noise.

I am currently running HPS pads now and the initial bite is decent. Once they are warm they bite well but they quickly overheat. Believe it or not, my Textar pads did better on the street and with a few hard runs on the 'Tail of the Dragon versus the HPS. The HPS feel spongey once they are nearing their limit.

The problem with these cars is that they are heavy. It takes a lot of stopping power to slow down the momentum of these cars.

I have not run a more aggressive pad on this car so I can't comment on a better pad. But I have used Pagid, EBC, and Brembo in the past with great results on a 996 911 GT3 and E36 M3.

Also for the future, I normally just go with slotted rotors. Cross drilled may look cool, but the drilled holes actually reduce surface area of the brake rotor, which means the pads have less area to grab. You will never see the benefits of cross-drilled rotors in a street application.

You're right - I just liked the rotor look

EBC - that's the company with the 'red stuff', I believe. I keep hearing about them and cool carbon. I might need to venture and play with some new pads I reckon.

[mmmnot]

Originally Posted by matteblue3er

Here's my 2 cents. There is no dual purpose pad. You either have comfort or performance.

While I have your attention and you seem to have great experience here - could you explain why this set up will work for an E90/1/3 but not E92?

http://www.getbmwparts.com/partlocat...gid=4462&tab=1

[matteblue3er]

Originally Posted by mmmnot

While I have your attention and you seem to have great experience here - could you explain why this set up will work for an E90/1/3 but not E92?

http://www.getbmwparts.com/partlocat...gid=4462&tab=1

It's mislabeled. It fits E92 models

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/partxref?q=34110444769

Btw just noticed you have solid subframe/diff mounts.....how's that feel?

I have M3 subframe bushings in mine but I wish I just put poly in. I mean I did the labor myself but it was a pain in the ass and now I wish I just went with something stiffer to begin with.

[mmmnot]

Originally Posted by matteblue3er

It's mislabeled. It fits E92 models

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/partxref?q=34110444769

This is the REARs as well, right? Because EVERY site I've visited claims the rears won't fit. Fronts are fine, just rears - I always assumed something with the parking brake.

Edit:

3' E92, 325d, Coupe, M57N2, EUR, (WD31) : Set of BMW Performance Brakes front/rear
3' E92, 325d, Coupe, M57N2, EUR, (WD32) : Set of BMW Performance Brakes front/rear
3' E92, 330d, Coupe, N57, EUR, (WA91) : Set of BMW Performance Brakes front/rear
3' E92, 330d, Coupe, N57, EUR, (WA92) : Set of BMW Performance Brakes front/rear
3' E92, 330d, Coupe, M57N2, EUR, (WD51) : Set of BMW Performance Brakes front/rear
3' E92, 330d, Coupe, M57N2, EUR, (WD52) : Set of BMW Performance Brakes front/rear
3' E92, 330i, Coupe, N52N, EUR, (WB51) : Set of BMW Performance Brakes front/rear
3' E92, 330i, Coupe, N52N, EUR, (WB52) : Set of BMW Performance Brakes front/rear
3' E92, 330i, Coupe, N53, EUR, (WE71) : Set of BMW Performance Brakes front/rear
3' E92, 330i, Coupe, N53, EUR, (WE72) : Set of BMW Performance Brakes front/rear

But not 328?! UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[matteblue3er]

Yea after you asked about the rears I looked further into that cross-reference and saw that too, no 328 and mainly euro models.

I'm pretty sure this kit is listed for the specific models it's listed for because those models have slightly larger brakes than the US spec 328i. From a quick glance, it seems the rotors are the same size, but the calipers are different.

Not sure on this....your best bet would be to measure the caliper mounting holes and see if they are the same as your current setup. That's pretty much the only thing that needs to match. I don't think you'll have an issue getting the rotors to fit the hub.

[mmmnot]

Originally Posted by matteblue3er

Btw just noticed you have solid subframe/diff mounts.....how's that feel?

I have M3 subframe bushings in mine but I wish I just put poly in. I mean I did the labor myself but it was a pain in the ass and now I wish I just went with something stiffer to begin with.

It's amazing. It's literally the best mod I've done suspension wise. There's much less skip in the rear end going over dumps and bits int he road.

People have blown it WAY out of proportion regarding noise/vibration.

I got more "annoyance" or feedback from my headers (regarding noise) than the bushings.

I just installed solid motor mounts and stiff tranny mounts last week. My dad hates it when I picked him up for lunch - but my god, I love it. No regrets at all.

[mmmnot]

Originally Posted by matteblue3er

Yea after you asked about the rears I looked further into that cross-reference and saw that too, no 328 and mainly euro models.

I'm pretty sure this kit is listed for the specific models it's listed for because those models have slightly larger brakes than the US spec 328i. From a quick glance, it seems the rotors are the same size, but the calipers are different.

Not sure on this....your best bet would be to measure the caliper mounting holes and see if they are the same as your current setup. That's pretty much the only thing that needs to match. I don't think you'll have an issue getting the rotors to fit the hub.

Yeah, I'm going to talk to my local shop to have them double check and see if it requires fab, if they could handle the rear end for me. We'll see.