Brake pad recommendations

[swissfrank]

Originally Posted by Tomaz

Fair enough, but if I have to learn what a "bonnet" and "boot" and "naught" all mean, you can learn "rotor"

haha I quite commonly say bonnet and boot, since top gear started up again in 2001 and being a big fan. haha.

[swissfrank]

Originally Posted by jrsteeve

Need to change the pads on my 2004 3.0 and want to try to save a few ££s if at all possible. Are there any brands you would or wouldn't recommend? I've seen GreenStuff, RedStuff and Mintex.

thanks for any help

Some very useful information here, but at risk of sounding cheap, I've just recently done full front and rear brake job for $100CAD all in (roughly 50GBP) and with my aggressive driving habits I tend to eat up brake pads quite rapidly so I figured it was worth a shot.

I had a bad vibration when braking, and after measuring the run out it seemed that I have warped my rotors, Most likely on my road trip They were still within spec so i brought them to a machine shop to have all 4 machined for $40. I know BMW recommends never to do so, but IMO that's what minimum tolerances are set for.

I then bought 1 liter of brake fluid to bleed my brakes $10, and then these Centric Front and Rear Brake pads.
http://www.racepages.com/products/in...&Ns=price2%7C0
They should show up as the first two and cheapest Brake pads. $50 for both.

I'm pretty sure a lot of people will disagree with this choice, but I was willing to give them a try. Since I had machined my old rotors it did take considerably longer for these brake pads to bed in, but over that period they got much, much better. And at this point a month later, I'm very happy with my choice and will definitely make this choice again. They don't have the exact same OEM Bite, but they stop very, very well. They respond well both HOT and COLD, I do take my X5 auto crossing and they stand up to track torture very well, except they smell awful when they smoke. I have also tried Napa Ceramix and Truestops, both of which costed considerably more and both of which were considerably worse.

If your rotors are out of tolerance, I would use Brembo Blanks, as they seem to be the cheapest alternative.

If you are able to do this yourself, owning a BMW doesn't have to be expensive. lol

[SuperGreg]

Originally Posted by DZeckhausen

Actually, Axxis Deluxe is no less a "true ceramic" pad than Hawk Performance Ceramic, Centric Posi-Quiet Ceramic, or Akebono ProAct Ceramic. Ceramic is simply one of up to 40 ingredients in the mix of particles that goes into a friction compound and makes up from 1 to 5 percent of the total volume. It is not, as some marketers would like to make us believe, a pad carved from a solid block of ceramic. And there's nothing about the word Ceramic in the name of the pad (or on the box) that tells you anything about how the pad is going to perform. Yet people call me all the time asking for "ceramic" pads, as if that tells me anything about what they are really looking for in terms of their ideal mix of performance characteristics...

I just bought and installed the Axxis Deluxe pads from Dave. His customer service and knowledge is amazing, and I received my parts within 4 days of ordering. I bedded the new brake pads last night using Dave's bedding procedure. I am very happy with the performance of these pads. I can't wait to wash the car this coming Saturday, and begin to enjoy the lack of brake dust accumulation between washes .

[STALKER]

I also run Axxis pads.
I would also suggest upgrading your to SS lines and replacing the stock brake fluid with something with a higher boiling point.

[acejam4]

Try the Akebono Euro Ultra Premium pads...I put them on my 2001 and my 2006 4.4is....no dust and great performance. The only difference was a softer braking pattern to the OEM gripping.

I also just put them (part # EUR919) on the rear of my 2008 model....the fronts as I am told by the US Akebono plant is due out in late August, at which time I will replace the fronts.

A Place for Brakes: http://www.placeforbrakes.com/product.php?pk=1682&cmk=31474&car_year=2007&avail= 1
ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-X5-X-5-Brake-Pads-Pad-Kit-Ceramic-Akebono-Euro_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2em20Q2el1116 QQitemZ350077283246