[Andyiism]

I’m looking to switching my brake pads right now from oem and some suggestions would help a lot. Right now I am pushing somewhere close to 500 wheel right now in my 340i xdrive and I would like new pads where there are minimal brake dust, great for stopping at high speeds, and sound I really don’t care as long as it’s not loud. I have the stock brakes which are gray too and I am going to eventually change my rotors too in the near future but for now I need new brake pads.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Andyiism

I’m looking to switching my brake pads right now from oem and some suggestions would help a lot. Right now I am pushing somewhere close to 500 wheel right now in my 340i xdrive and I would like new pads where there are minimal brake dust, great for stopping at high speeds, and sound I really don’t care as long as it’s not loud. I have the stock brakes which are gray too and I am going to eventually change my rotors too in the near future but for now I need new brake pads.

Grey brakes are front 340mm x 30mm and rear are 330mm x 20mm. Hawk 5.0 are by far the best street pads. Best bite, low dust. Huge upgrade from stock. See photo for part numbers. Rear 330's are in smaller print

[Andyiism]

Originally Posted by johnung

Grey brakes are front 340mm x 30mm and rear are 330mm x 20mm. Hawk 5.0 are by far the best street pads. Best bite, low dust. Huge upgrade from stock. See photo for part numbers. Rear 330's are in smaller print

Thanks dude, you think you can find me these brakes on Fcp euro? If not I’ll just get them somewhere else I just want to take advantage of their lifetime warranty

[Billfitz]

Do you want him to order them for you too? Sheesh.

[Andyiism]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Do you want him to order them for you too? Sheesh.

I wish 😂😂 I just can’t find them on fcpeuro so I can order them.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Andyiism

I wish 😂😂 I just can’t find them on fcpeuro so I can order them.

FCP jacks up the price on pads because they are such a wear item. Buy them from TireRack. Their prices are good and they keep them in stock. Their search function sucks like FCP's so call them with the part numbers that I provided if you don't find them on website

[casualDIYer]

Take a look at Akebono Euro pads. They include the brake sensor and are low dust. The Hawk 5.0 street are also decent as well but the initial bite is not to my liking. That's where I prefer the OE pads, on initial bite.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by casualDIYer

Take a look at Akebono Euro pads. They include the brake sensor and are low dust. The Hawk 5.0 street are also decent as well but the initial bite is not to my liking. That's where I prefer the OE pads, on initial bite.

Akebono like other ceramic pads are no better than stock pads. Your comment about bite doesn't make sense based on my experience. I've used Hawk 5.0 pads on several cars and initial bite is far better than stock pads.

When I have heard initial bite complaints before, it often turns out to be that the BMW brake bleeding procedure was not followed completely. An analyzer must be used to shake and vibrate air bubbles loose from the inside walls of the ABS system. That dramatically improves the brake performance. See attached.

[Dz340i]

Originally Posted by johnung

Grey brakes are front 340mm x 30mm and rear are 330mm x 20mm. Hawk 5.0 are by far the best street pads. Best bite, low dust. Huge upgrade from stock. See photo for part numbers. Rear 330's are in smaller print

I recently just installed Zimmerman rotors with my Hawk HPS 5.0 front brake pads & upon installation I found that the slot/hole where the caliper pin goes into on the Hawk pads are too big which causes the pads to slide forwards and backwards causing a clicking noise when initially braking. I have the standard 340mm grey calipers and would like to know if you have the same problem I am having. any information would be greatly appreciated thank you.

[anom3]

I just did my front rotors + pads 3 days ago.

I had the same behavior you describe after my previous (about 1.5 years ago) pad change. I never did track it down, I had my pads changed at local shop and am fairly sure they just used whatever bmw lists.

The clicking noise was most pronounced when going from drive to reverse and reverse to drive. It was pretty much always there.

With my new rotors and pads the brakes are dead silent now.

I used zimmerman rotors and ate (non ceramic) pads this time when I did the rotor + pads swap my self.

Just to be clear, until 3 days ago I had the same clicking noise for about 1.5 years... After changing to zimmerman rotors + ate pads, its dead silent.

I am running msport brakes btw.

Originally Posted by Dz340i

I recently just installed Zimmerman rotors with my Hawk HPS 5.0 front brake pads & upon installation I found that the slot/hole where the caliper pin goes into on the Hawk pads are too big which causes the pads to slide forwards and backwards causing a clicking noise when initially braking. I have the standard 340mm grey calipers and would like to know if you have the same problem I am having. any information would be greatly appreciated thank you.

[FastFrog]

I'm not sure whether it's a popular (or even available) option in the US, but in Europe, the Ferodo DS2500 is usually the best available choice for high performance road brake pads ('road' implying they won't catch you off guard being ineffective when cold).
That's my setup with M-sport brakes and metal-coated break lines + RBF600, very happy with it, even on track. Intense stopping power.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by FastFrog

I'm not sure whether it's a popular (or even available) option in the US, but in Europe, the Ferodo DS2500 is usually the best available choice for high performance road brake pads ('road' implying they won't catch you off guard being ineffective when cold).
That's my setup with M-sport brakes and metal-coated break lines + RBF600, very happy with it, even on track. Intense stopping power.

The Ferodo DS2500 isn't that well distributed in the US. However it does have an excellent reputation. While I would characterize the Hawk 5.0 as the best street pad. The Ferodo DS2500 is more of a hybrid pad that could handle daily street driving and probably hold up to the higher heat of weekend tracking longer than the Hawk 5.0. Most guys who track try to use a separate dedicated set of track pads.

List price of the Ferodo DS2500 set in the US is about $520, while the list price of a set of Hawk 5.0 pads is $331. A good street price on the Hawk 5.0 right now is $237. Since Ferodo isn't well distributed there isn't as much retailer competition so Ferodo's probably sell for closer to list price. These are all prices for F30 Front 370mm/Rear 345mm brakes.

Hope that provides some insight.

[Cobra358]

Originally Posted by casualDIYer

Take a look at Akebono Euro pads. They include the brake sensor and are low dust. The Hawk 5.0 street are also decent as well but the initial bite is not to my liking. That's where I prefer the OE pads, on initial bite.

I agree, Hawk pads don't have as much initial bite as stock pads.

[pauli18c]

I have the Akebonos, and would say they're close to OEM. A little less initial bite, a little less stopping power, WAY LOWER dust. I was chasing something close to or slightly better than OEM with less dust.

If you're looking for big stopping power from 100mph+ I would try something else as these just dont seem to grab all that hard IMO. Although I am running 245 front / 275 rear PS4S tires.

I'll be trying something else when these are done

[BMWILUVU]

Generally you either bite and dust with softer pads or give up bite and dust with harder pads. Can't have best of both worlds. I prefer performance/safety and stay with the OEM M-sport pads they dust bad but the bite is great.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by BMWILUVU

Generally you either bite and dust with softer pads or give up bite and dust with harder pads. Can't have best of both worlds. I prefer performance/safety and stay with the OEM M-sport pads they dust bad but the bite is great.

Very well said. OEM M Sport brake pads provide excellent initial bite and also prolong rotor life. Brake dust is simply is what it is: evidence that brakes perform their job well.

[Tommi_Mav]

Originally Posted by FastFrog

I'm not sure whether it's a popular (or even available) option in the US, but in Europe, the Ferodo DS2500 is usually the best available choice for high performance road brake pads ('road' implying they won't catch you off guard being ineffective when cold).
That's my setup with M-sport brakes and metal-coated break lines + RBF600, very happy with it, even on track. Intense stopping power.

I don't know which regulations regarding brake pads stand in US, but beware that DS2500 pads in EU are only for race use and not road use. Even FERODO itself says it on their product page: "DS2500 DOES NOT HAVE R90 CERTIFICATION AND SO IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR ROAD USE IN THOSE COUNTRIES WHICH REQUIRE R90". Nevertheless, some drivers use them even for road use.

For those interested only in DD, I would suggest the Ferodo Premier Eco-Friction pads. Way better initial bite and performance than OEM pads. I use them for several years in both my cars and couldn't be happier. Further advantage their competitive price, at least here in Europe. For my 435dx, I paid - for F (4-pot) and R (1-pot) pads - 90 euros in total 2 years ago.

[FastFrog]

You are right to mention it. If you want to stick with regulations, you need to stay away from the DS2500 for road use.

From a practical standpoint though (and I fully understand it is beside the point), banning DS2500 for road use is a nonsense since even their cold bite is better than OEM, not to mention the bite at nominal operating temperature.

Edit: reading more closely, I didn't know about the DS2500 not complying with R90. Wonder on which criteria it wouldn't comply, maybe it's just a matter of cost-effectiveness (obtaining a certification is generally very costly). Any insight on that appreciated!

[Tommi_Mav]

Originally Posted by FastFrog

From a practical standpoint though (and I fully understand it is beside the point), banning DS2500 for road use is a nonsense since even their cold bite is better than OEM, not to mention the bite at nominal operating temperature.

Edit: reading more closely, I didn't know about the DS2500 not complying with R90. Wonder on which criteria it wouldn't comply, maybe it's just a matter of cost-effectiveness (obtaining a certification is generally very costly). Any insight on that appreciated!

As I said, there are still owners who don't care about the lack of DS2500's certification for road use and continue to use them for street use. For example, here in Greece, nobody is going to check the certification of your pads, so I know a lot of petrolheads who use them. In other countries though, e.g. Germany, it's a different thing.

I don't think cost is the reason for DS2500 not gaining the R90 certification. Ferodo is a very well known brake manufacturer and I guess lack of funds is not the reason. The most probable cause is that the pads cannot meet the criteria to pass cerification for road use, plain and simple.

[Ennoch]

My personal feeling is that R90 is a bit of a nonsense in that while it sets out to achieve minimum quality, it also potentially clips upper performance too. And in any case it only applies to cars manufactured after 01/11/2016 - see here. If you've upgraded brake calipers away from stock then you don't need to bother with R90 even if you are trying to follow rules.

A key piece in 5.1.b of the regulation is "a replacement brake lining assembly or a replacement drum brake lining shall display performance characteristics similar to that of the original brake lining assembly or original drum brake lining it is intended to replace;". Ergo, you cannot easily have a performance pad that conforms to R90 because it is simply too good, especially if the hot performance improves dramatically (and even if the cold performance is better than stock anyway). Some performance pads do manage this because relative to their hot performance their cold performance is no better than OEM, and for others it's because their cold performance isn't actually as good as OEM. Some people tout 15% as the magic +/- from OEM for R90 approval but this isn't actually in the written regulations, although I suspect there are test figures somewhere otherwise how do you know what's similar and not? This is also why some pad compounds can be R90'd for some cars and not others.

Personally if you're worried about the R90 bit coming back to bite you then either just take some thinners to the back of the pads to remove the printed details, or spray black with some VHT black to cover it up. I certainly wouldn't worry about the R90 stamp as long as the pad was a proper performance one but I'd worry a lot of it wasn't R90 stamped because they were £11.99 on AliExpress! You'd have had to do something spectacularly wrong for them to be investigating whether you had R90 approved brake pads, and I suspect that if this was happening then you would have far bigger problems to worry about.

As to Tommi_Mav's recommendation of the Eco-Friction I would have agreed until recently, but they don't seem to cope well with repeated hard use and start to smear across the discs. Not only that I had every front pad start to delaminate quite seriously from the backing plate with one completely detaching. I actually recently replaced the pads all round with the Brembo HP2000's which have so far proven to be pretty decent albeit I've only put 1500 miles on them. Cold bite is fantastic and they seem decent when hot. I went for them over DS2500's as I've always found the DS2500 had the usual performance pad drawbacks of taking some heat to really work whereas the place I got the Brembo's from suggested that while performance was ostensibly the same between the HP2000's and the DS2500's, the Brembo's came at it from a high performance road pad philosophy which meant better manners, not needing to be kept bedded in etc for max performance. So far that description seems to hold true. I'll provide a proper update once I've had the chance to put some more miles into them, after all I was happy with the Eco's for the first six months!

[Ennoch]

Also, I just discovered this useful page which gives some characteristic comparisons. It's far from exhaustive and it doesn't quantify anything with numbers, but it's another piece of info to add to the decision tree;

https://www.racetechnologies.com/brake-pad-comparison

[Tommi_Mav]

Great info Ennoch. Much appreciated! Will give the Brembo's HP2000 a look.

I only suggested the Eco-frictions as a not pricey OEM pad replacement for normal daily driving mainly. One thing for sure, they cannot compare with the DS2500s.