[Joshd63]

Hi guys, m sport brake pads are getting quite thin at the front and back so I'm undecided wether to just replace with oem or to 'upgrade' to some fast street pads. Any recommendations or are the oem ones already 'fast street'? Thoughts?

[Radmobile]

What's your intended use? If street and spirited driving then the OEM M Sport pads are best given cold bite performance. I personally would only consider an alternate for street and spirited driving if the brake dust was the biggest motivating factor. The amount of dust they generate seem to be the biggest complaint. However any lower dust option likely will be a decrease in cold bite and high temp performance. Remember; performance, dust, noise. One will always be compromised.

[Joshd63]

Yeah street and spirited use would be the fastest use for 95% of the time but I maybe taking it to the track possibly once a year.

I've never had anything other than oem pads so the dust from the bmw oem pads hasn't stood out as a problem (however I've never had 'low dust' pads so I can't really compare here).

So do you think a move to ebc red or yellow would be a mistake possibly?

[Radmobile]

I honestly don't have experience with EBC. But I'd ask myself, what about the stock pads are underperforming for me that warrant a more aggressive pad, and how will that pad coincide with the stock rotors and fluid? I haven't had my 435i long enough to be able to get it out on the track but I have heard very few complain of brake fade even in track situations. Most that I've seen tend to upgrade brake fluid to prevent boiling the brakes.

[Joshd63]

That's a good point I think I will track it first to see what let's it down first as they may be more than capable. Like you say fluid might be the first thing to change

[dr.roro]

I've also searched the topic and EBC Reds seem to be the most popular recommendation for low-dust spirited/daily street driving. Also, I think they supposedly squeal less in the winter. I may consider switching from the OEM M Sport brake pads when they are due for replacement.

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by Joshd63

Hi guys, m sport brake pads are getting quite thin at the front and back so I'm undecided wether to just replace with oem or to 'upgrade' to some fast street pads. Any recommendations or are the oem ones already 'fast street'? Thoughts?

I run stock M Sport Brake Option pads in the winter. In the summer, F80/F82 M3/M4 brake pads are used. They will fit the M Sport Brake Option calipers. I think the M3/M4 brake pads are as "fast street" and medium track pads as you can go. They should be okay in a stock powertrain F30 335i for most HPDEs in the intermediate to upper intermediate run groups in my opinion.

[AFRIEND435]

Just installed centric ceramic front pads on my 435 m sport with performance big brake kit and they have almost eliminated brake dust and feel better than the oem pads. Highly recommended. Got them at rock auto, great price.

[Joshd63]

Originally Posted by Polo08816

I run stock M Sport Brake Option pads in the winter. In the summer, F80/F82 M3/M4 brake pads are used. They will fit the M Sport Brake Option calipers. I think the M3/M4 brake pads are as "fast street" and medium track pads as you can go. They should be okay in a stock powertrain F30 335i for most HPDEs in the intermediate to upper intermediate run groups in my opinion.

Are the M3/4 pads more expensive than standard m sport ones do you know?

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by Joshd63

Are the M3/4 pads more expensive than standard m sport ones do you know?

According to getbmwparts.com, they are almost double the cost.

[IAmATeaf]

I had a look around and settled for oem in the end. Read too many reports of people by being unhappy with performance pads on the roads.

[Joshd63]

I more tempted by oem now as it would be nice to get a lower dust pad without sacrificing performance but realistically without paying a fortune that's not going to happen

[Joshd63]

Anyone had any experience of centric ceramic Posi quiet pads?

[Crjetlife]

Originally Posted by Joshd63

Hi guys, m sport brake pads are getting quite thin at the front and back so I'm undecided wether to just replace with oem or to 'upgrade' to some fast street pads. Any recommendations or are the oem ones already 'fast street'? Thoughts?

Where do you buy your pads from? I can't find m sport pads anywhere...

[redbullfan]

Originally Posted by Crjetlife

Where do you buy your pads from? I can't find m sport pads anywhere...

FCP euro has them

[Crjetlife]

Originally Posted by redbullfan

FCP euro has them

Thanks 👍

[Red_Baron]

My car has the track and handling package with the blue M-Sport brakes. These come with more aggressive pads (read dust & initial bite) than the grey ones on the M-Sport package. I tried a few pads due to the large amounts of dust. Here are my thoughts:

1. M-Sport Brake Option OEM pads: best bite, pedal feel, predictability and driver confidence. Good everywhere except for lots of dark, heavy dust that needs at least weekly cleaning. Dead silent. Excellent pads. These will go back on the car when the R4S wear out.
2. Centric Posi-Quiet Semi-metallic: Silent, much lower dust than OEM and R4S. More dust than Z23. Low bite makes the excellent brakes feel comparatively weak. Not aggressive enough bite for me to keep them on the car.
3. Porterfield R4S: lower bite than stock, more than the other two. Not a bad balance overall. These are currently on the car. I am not motivated to make a change. I prefer the stock pads to these. silent with no noise.
4. Powerstop Z23: absolute junk. I could not get these to stop squealing no matter what I tried. Very low bite, poor pedal feel. Lowest dust of all. Showed almost no signs of dust after 1 week of driving. Thinnest dust with the least build up by far. I regret wasting my time with them.

[timmay77]

Originally Posted by Joshd63

Anyone had any experience of centric ceramic Posi quiet pads?

I had them on my E61 and my E39 M5. HATED them. Why 2 cars if I hated them? Because I am an idiot who doesn't like cleaning wheels......

Originally Posted by Red_Baron

My car has the track and handling package with the blue M-Sport brakes. These come with more aggressive pads (read dust & initial bite) than the grey ones on the M-Sport package. I tried a few pads due to the large amounts of dust. Here are my thoughts:

1. M-Sport Brake Option OEM pads: best bite, pedal feel, predictability and driver confidence. Good everywhere except for lots of dark, heavy dust that needs at least weekly cleaning. Dead silent. Excellent pads. These will go back on the car when the R4S wear out.
2. Centric Posi-Quiet Semi-metallic: Silent, much lower dust than OEM and R4S. More dust than Z23. Low bite makes the excellent brakes feel comparatively weak. Not aggressive enough bite for me to keep them on the car.
3. Porterfield R4S: lower bite than stock, more than the other two. Not a bad balance overall. These are currently on the car. I am not motivated to make a change. I prefer the stock pads to these. silent with no noise.
4. Powerstop Z23: absolute junk. I could not get these to stop squealing no matter what I tried. Very low bite, poor pedal feel. Lowest dust of all. Showed almost no signs of dust after 1 week of driving. Thinnest dust with the least build up by far. I regret wasting my time with them.

I have had a completely different experience with the Centric Ceramic pads and the Z23's.

The Centrics were complete garbage on both of the cars I put them on. Pedal feel was absolutely horrible. No dust, but I had to CRAM the brake pedal to stop.

I have the Z23's on the F30 now. Initial bite is fine, slightly, and I mean barely more pedal required to come to a complete stop. My wife doesn't notice it at all, but I do. I really like the Z23's. No noise at all.

2014 328i xDrive Msport with base brakes.

[NashGnash]

Thanks for the recommendations, fellas! Would definitely keep these in mind.

[Red_Baron]

I did not get the Centric ceramic posi quiet.
Rather, mine are the semi-metallic.

This should explain the difference as they are different pads/materials entirely.

Originally Posted by timmay77

I have had a completely different experience with the Centric Ceramic pads and the Z23's.

The Centrics were complete garbage on both of the cars I put them on. Pedal feel was absolutely horrible. No dust, but I had to CRAM the brake pedal to stop.

I have the Z23's on the F30 now. Initial bite is fine, slightly, and I mean barely more pedal required to come to a complete stop. My wife doesn't notice it at all, but I do. I really like the Z23's. No noise at all.

2014 328i xDrive Msport with base brakes.

[TheBreeze]

Originally Posted by Red_Baron

I did not get the Centric ceramic posi quiet.
Rather, mine are the semi-metallic.

This should explain the difference as they are different pads/materials entirely.

I just replaced a full set of z23 pads on mine. After 10 months of use, I got tired of the brake squeal every time I backed out of my driveway in the mornings. Weird pads, they are quiet moving forward, but squeal in reverse. Had this happen on my f25 as well. They were virtually dust free though, and had decent pedal feel and bite, no real complaints as far as braking performance on the street.

I replaced them with Centric posi-quiet ceramics on the front and Akebono Euros on the rear. I'm a big fan of Akebono Euro pads for street use, have always had great luck with them, and run them on my M3 when not at the track. Unfortunately Akebono does not make a front pad for the F30 335 or I would have gone with that. I'm very happy with Centric Ceramic front and Akebono Euro rear combo. No noise, no discernible dust, and they work great on the street.

Bottom line, just depends what you want out of a pad. I gave up trying to find a good double-duty pad since anything that has remotely decent track performance is way too dusty for daily driving, at least for me. YMMV

[mermade]

Tarox strada pads are a good compromise for the road and spirited driving, no warm up needed etc
https://mp-uk.com/bmw/4-series/f32-f...-sport-brakes/