Brake upgrade on Z3M.....Recommendations please

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W444 LKR
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Brake upgrade on Z3M.....Recommendations please

Post by W444 LKR »

Hi,

Will be changing my discs and pads all round soon on the Z3M, can anyone recommended what make to buy, put EBC discs and green pads on my golf and was impressed.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

Brad.
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c_w
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Post by c_w »

OEM front discs (two piece) either ffrom EuroCarParts or a BMW dealer. For the rear OEM or fomr a good source (I use www.brakeparts.com for my rears).

For pads I'd recommend EBC Yellostuff all round.
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SpunkyM
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Post by SpunkyM »

Yeh, unless you have lots of spare cash hanging around or do a lot of track work then the std discs are up to the job.

For me the Pagid RS4-2 just edge it over the Yellowstuff.

http://www.pagid-brake-pads.co.uk/produ ... -based.php
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c_w
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Post by c_w »

Yea Pagid are one of the top pads you can get (in the compound) but the price reflects this, so depends on budget. But for road and track I've found EBC Yellowstuff to be fine.

I buy my pads from www.ebcbrakesdirect.com (£70 front and £45 rear delivered I think)
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NorwegianBlue
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Post by NorwegianBlue »

Last year I replaced mine with EBC brakes. Both front and rear I fitted the Ultimax Sport Slotted rotors to avoid problems with cracking. However, I can see that the OEM BMW disks are technically the better choice, vanity got the better of me. As for pads I went with EBC recommendations and fitted reds. They said green were not man enough and unless you're doing track days a lot, yellows would be too much the other way.

I can report that after 4,000 miles they are all doing fine, I'm really pleased with them. They stop well, even when stone cold and wear has been even. Look good too :)

If you change them yourself, beware of the small screw that holds the disk on, it can be a sod to get off, so don't rely on a hex key, have some hex sockets and an impact wrench to hand. Also, for the small price they cost, have a set of parking brake shoes to hand too.
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Gazza
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Post by Gazza »

Can I ask what's the fascination with changing Brake Pads to EBC, Pagid etc ?.

My pads are OEM and have done a track day at Brands Hatch (they did suffer from fade after 4 laps) and on the road only on one occassion have I had to slam on the brakes from 50mph, they stopped the car almost instantly.

I have done 20,000 miles on them and they weren't new when I bought the car. For everyday use I'm very happy.

I'm not knocking those that have changed their pads BTW :wink:
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PhoenixCoupe
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Post by PhoenixCoupe »

I have EBC RedStuff Ceramic pads on all my cars (as do quite a few friends I recommended them too afterwards) and would strongly recommend those over anything else.
Great stopping power, even from cold and I have yet to get any fade despite a good few hard days on track and road.
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c_w
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Post by c_w »

garythefish wrote:Can I ask what's the fascination with changing Brake Pads to EBC, Pagid etc ?.

My pads are OEM and have done a track day at Brands Hatch (they did suffer from fade after 4 laps) and on the road only on one occassion have I had to slam on the brakes from 50mph, they stopped the car almost instantly.

I have done 20,000 miles on them and they weren't new when I bought the car. For everyday use I'm very happy.

I'm not knocking those that have changed their pads BTW :wink:
Absolute braking power won't really alter running different pads (up to a certain point) over OEM as the "weakest" link is usually the tyres - it's the pads ability to cope with repeated high speed stops and high temps that the OEM pads fall short.

Mine, and many others' experience of OEM pads are that they fade after a couple of high speed stops on the road (and wouldn't last half a lap for me on track) and also produce huge amounts of brake dust even in normal road driving. The EBC Yellowstuff are great as a fast road pad and also on track as they don't appear to fade and the bonus is almost zero dust.
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SpunkyM
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Post by SpunkyM »

Yep, c-w has it spot on.

I had Yellowstuff on my Fiat Coupe 20V turbo and never had any problems with fade but did scare me a couple of times from flat cold. EBC tweak the compound quite regularly though so could well be better now.
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c_w
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Post by c_w »

SpunkyM wrote: I had Yellowstuff on my Fiat Coupe 20V turbo and never had any problems with fade but did scare me a couple of times from flat cold. EBC tweak the compound quite regularly though so could well be better now.
Yep I've never had any problems with cold performance on the BMW. However, I run Yellowstuff on my 205GTi and they need some heat to work best.
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EBC Reds

Post by ZZZEMMCO »

Have used Reds since they came out in the Alpina, always effective with little dust after many visits to the Ring.

Had them in the MC with same results untill stop-tech kit fitted, using their pads which leave lots of dust on rims.When the ST pads wear will use Reds. :)
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Alex L
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Post by Alex L »

I managed to warp my OEM discs on the S2000 so replaced them with the EBC Turbo Groove discs with yellow stuff pads which I subsequently warped.
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c_w
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Post by c_w »

Alex L wrote:I managed to warp my OEM discs on the S2000 so replaced them with the EBC Turbo Groove discs with yellow stuff pads which I subsequently warped.
I can't speak of S2000 discs but generally I wouldn't go for EBC discs, their pads are fine but not their discs as they are cheap and not nearly as good as the OEM 2-piece floaters.
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Post by estocks »

c_w wrote: 2-piece floaters.
Sorry but that raised a schoolboy snigger from me :oops:
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c_w
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Post by c_w »

estocks wrote:
c_w wrote: 2-piece floaters.
Sorry but that raised a schoolboy snigger from me :oops:
:lol: LOL I was kind of thinking as I wrote that "should I write this?" :lol:
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PERRIN Z3M
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Post by PERRIN Z3M »

I have just ordered a complete set of EBC yellow stuff pads for my car and i am now looking for the front dics. I realise that BMW do them and they are the ones to get but on this thread it is also advised that euro car parts do them. When i go onto euro car parts i am not sure which ones to get as they list a few different makes and i dont no what is standard.

* Are these ones from euro car parts the "floating" rotas.

* Will the new pads still use the warning sensors


thanks steve
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Post by Guest »

You can get the genuine BMW front floating rotors from Eurocarparts. They even come in the BMW boxes. I did this a while back. The key is to get the ones where the part numbers end in a '5'.

Yellow stuff pads should also use the pad wear sensor. Get new sensors when you get the discs.

Si.
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c_w
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Post by c_w »

From ECP the discs will be around £95-£100 each - these are the ones to get (they should also have a BMW part no. too next to them I think).

There is one sensor on the front passenger and one on the rear driver's side, if it's not come on (ie the pads aren't that low) then you can usually reuse it/them.

A SiWilson said, they'll come in BMW boxes so you know you've got the right ones with the aluminium centres.
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PERRIN Z3M
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Post by PERRIN Z3M »

cheers guys for your comments i will try euro car parts first and see what they will charge me looks like £106 per side plus the vat, bmw are more expencive at £130 but i do get 20% discount so could be a close one

I Dont actually know what it means by floating rotas anyway can any one explain the visual differences to me.

steve
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SpunkyM
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Post by SpunkyM »

It's a bit of a misnomer as if they really floated they wouldn't even be attached to the wheel and wouldn't do much braking :lol:

The term describes the way in which the actual brake rotor is fixed to the hub of the disc. On the M it is not solid but suspended by fins which allows the rotor to run at very high temperatures without lots of heat being conducted into the hub.

Why is this good? Well a primary cause of disc warpage is a high heat differential across the surface of the rotor - something you get with a high amount of heat conduction on normal non-floating disc. A floating disc allows a more even temperature across the whole of the rotor which is a very good thing.

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PERRIN Z3M
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Post by PERRIN Z3M »

Thanks Spunky M that has helped me understand what is ment by this now.

Parts now ordered from BMW so will be fitted on saturday.
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SpunkyM
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Post by SpunkyM »

No probs, please let us know how you get on with the pads.
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W444 LKR
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Post by W444 LKR »

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated!

After reading all the posts I think I will go for OEM discs and EBC Red pads as I don't think I will be putting this car on a track.

Cheers Brad.

:)
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c_w
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Post by c_w »

W4 LKR wrote:Thanks for the advice, much appreciated!

After reading all the posts I think I will go for OEM discs and EBC Red pads as I don't think I will be putting this car on a track.

Cheers Brad.

:)
It's your call, but honestly the Yellows are fine on the road too. In fact someone on the Z3MCoupe forum (Exdos on here) has gone from Reds to Yellows on my recommendation, it might be worth asking his thoughts on the change.
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W444 LKR
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Post by W444 LKR »

c_w wrote:
W4 LKR wrote:Thanks for the advice, much appreciated!

After reading all the posts I think I will go for OEM discs and EBC Red pads as I don't think I will be putting this car on a track.

Cheers Brad.

:)
It's your call, but honestly the Yellows are fine on the road too. In fact someone on the Z3MCoupe forum (Exdos on here) has gone from Reds to Yellows on my recommendation, it might be worth asking his thoughts on the change.
Cheers for the advice c_w, do the yellows need warming up first when going out in the car? Is the response quite quick, the only reason for thinking about putting reds on are that I thought that they were more geared for road driving and yellows for track.

After what you have said I am now thinking yellows...

:)
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exdos
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Post by exdos »

As c_w says, I've fitted Yellow Stuff pads all round to my MC a few months back after having had Red Stuff pads for 10k miles. The Red Stuffs have been great but the Yellow Stuffs definitely improve the stopping power by a few metres. I have OEM discs all round.

They work great from cold: in fact, I have brake ducting on my MC which ensures that the brakes are always as cool as possible, so they will work well for you. The added bonus of the Red and Yellow Stuffs is that they are relatively clean and don't make your nice alloys filthy like the OEM ones.

On track they are superb and do not fade.

At the end of the day, brakes are brakes, and you should fit the best you can. Stopping power is the same required on the road as on track.
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W444 LKR
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Post by W444 LKR »

Thanks for the advice exdos, will purchase the yellow stuff pads.

Regarding the OEM discs I have looked on the internet and there are several site selling brake discs for the Z3M where the front discs are around the £50 mark, are they any good? Also I have spoken to a company on ebay regarding their discs and they say they are just as good, here is the link http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0258999220

What do you think?
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PERRIN Z3M
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Post by PERRIN Z3M »

The discs look very nice but from what other people have reported on here in their experience the after market copies tend to warp under heat.
I just fitted a set of standard discs and they have air vents all round look at the pick above posted by spunky M.

I have fitted standard discs on the front and Yellow stuff pads all round, i have not been lucky enough to drive the car much since fitting them so they are not bedded them in yet but it does seem to stop rather well already.

steve
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SpunkyM
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Post by SpunkyM »

I wouldn't bother with those if I were you - they don't even say which brand they are and no-named drilled discs are even more to be avoided.

Not many things on a car more important than brakes - and this sort of thing is common if the iron hasn't been sufficiently heat treated..

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Not good.
.
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exdos
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Post by exdos »

W4 LKR wrote:Thanks for the advice exdos, will purchase the yellow stuff pads.

Regarding the OEM discs I have looked on the internet and there are several site selling brake discs for the Z3M where the front discs are around the £50 mark, are they any good? Also I have spoken to a company on ebay regarding their discs and they say they are just as good, here is the link http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0258999220

What do you think?
I changed my discs all-round at the same time that I fitted the Yellow Stuff pads. I did lots of research on discs before fitting them and there is nothing better than the front OEM floating discs.

After doing my research, the only other discs I would consider would be cryogenically treated discs. You can actually have the OEM discs treated this way. I actually put my new OEM discs in my domestic freezer at around -30degrees C for 9days before I fitted them, because I'd read that you can change the crystal structure even at this temperature. I may have completely wasted my time doing this but I felt I had nothing to loose trying it.
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c_w
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Post by c_w »

Yes, don't be fooled into buying some cheap discs off ebay with holes in them, they won't be as good. If there was a better alternative to the OEM 2-piece discs then I'd recommend them as the OEM discs aren't cheap but its because they are the best disc.
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