[alexwhittemore]

I'm coming up pretty shortly on needing new front brake pads and rotors. Thing is, my rear rotors are almost brand new, and the pads are pretty full also, so it's not really a great time to upgrade brakes in general - I'm going to save the awesome drilled and slotted rotors, stoptech calipers, etc etc etc for later on when I'm feeling like spending money for fun.

I've heard great reviews of Pelican parts from friends who've used them for DIY jobs on Porches and bimmers, but take a look at the wide variety of pads available for my particular car:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/..._pg1.htm#item0

The "genuine BMW" OEM parts are $184 for a front set, a set from "Jurid," which is apparently the same supplier, is $113, and some other options go down as low as $50 a set. The same wide price disparity is there for rotors as well.

Anyone have any input having used these parts?

Side question, my neighbor with a racing jack moved away recently, so now I've got to pick up one of those also. It seems Pep Boys sells one even cheaper than Hazard Fraught, which has me confused. What do you personally have?

[zhp43867]

I used to work at a shop that sold nearly all of those brands- and over the course of a couple of years of observation (and installation and use) of the various products, I have a few observations.

Genuine is always the safest bet. While Textar, Jurid and Pagid are all OEM for BMW brake pads- sometimes the compounds and anti-rattle shims, backings or clips differ on the pads they sell themselves (aftermarket) versus what they supply to BMW. Having said that, if you are not ultra conservative any of those three brands are a fine choice. I'd probably go with Jurid or BMW. Pagid and Textar are fine too, but in this case it looks like Jurid is a tad safer as its listed as OEM for this particular vehicle. If you want to cheap out (so to speak), the Textar may have a have a slightly different balance than the OE brake pads as far as dust versus stopping capability and what have you- nothing dramatic.

Rotors- never heard of Freman, stay away I'd say. Balo, Centric (Stop Tech), Zimmerman and Brembo are the safe bets more often than not. I've installed Zimmerman and BMW rotors side by side and besides the anti-rust coating being weaker on the former, I haven't noted a difference. Zimmerman is OE on some other german brands IIRC (not BMW).

[alexwhittemore]

SUPER helpful, thanks!

Originally Posted by zhp43867

If you want to cheap out (so to speak), the Textar may have a have a slightly different balance than the OE brake pads as far as dust versus stopping capability and what have you- nothing dramatic.

I guess that's sort of what I'm most curious about. I'm not worried that one particular pad is going to completely fail where the OEM is fine, but of course pads have all kinds of different compositions and balances, and of course these don't advertise performance style at all.

Interesting to hear about the rotors too.

[AceOnShake]

I've gotten Pagid Jurid OEM and honestly its all the same or pretty much the same. Don't cheap out on pads. Rotors its okay most track guys get the cheapest and it works for them. I used to buy Zimmerman rotors got expensive and now I get the centric close to 1/3 of the price and the only downfall is overtime it will show surface rust but Im anal about my cars so I just wire brush it for a minute and its gone.

I bought about a dozen different combos and my favorite is Pagid/ Jurid brake pads with any type of of rotor. Not cross drilled or slotted those are weaker and etc. Its mainly sex appeal for a daily.

I even bought akebono and many cermaic pads and they suck. I mean they do the job wonderfully but you lose the whole BMW PAD bite which is important. They tend to make noises as well.

[alexwhittemore]

Also very helpful!

Originally Posted by MentegoE90

I've gotten Pagid Jurid OEM and honestly its all the same or pretty much the same. Don't cheap out on pads. Rotors its okay most track guys get the cheapest and it works for them. I used to buy Zimmerman rotors got expensive and now I get the centric close to 1/3 of the price and the only downfall is overtime it will show surface rust but Im anal about my cars so I just wire brush it for a minute and its gone.

I'm planning on painting the hats black anyway as my current rotors are - do you mean the exposed bits, or is there a difference in iron blend that actually affects the wear surface? If you're wire brushing, you must mean hats... I admit that I'd kind of like drilled rotors for sex appeal, but of course it's functionally irrelevant as I have yet to even track the car, much less aggressively. I suspect if I ever bother spending money on those, I'll swap the calipers out for something more aggressive at the same time. Not now though.

It turns out one of the cheaper options for pads is actually stoptech from Turner at like $85 for the set, thoughts there? I think I actually saw a stoptech replacement kit, pads+rotors+sensor for $200, drawing a blank on where, I think bavauto. Seems like a good deal to me, am I off base?

EDIT: No, sorry, not a stoptech kit, a brembo kit - "The replacement brake kit includes front Brembo brake rotors, hold-down bolts, Brembo pads, a front sensor wire, caliper grease, and Noise Free anti-squeal compound. - $218.80"

[zhp43867]

Brembo rotors are good and may be OEM for your car- they don't tend to coat their aftermarket rotors though. Expect immediate rust without paint. Pads- not sure, doubt they are OEM. They're a good company but who knows what the compound is.

Impressions on StopTech are all over the map. I've run them on an E36 M3 and two E30s, they're okay. Would not buy them again versus the OEMs. Supposedly they have higher fade resistance- but that's where opinions differ. Some say they are better than stock, some say worse. Bite is close to OEM pads. Dust is the same or higher than the OE E90 pads (lower dust than older BMW pads).

Drilled rotors can crack and cause uneven pad deposits in some cases. The ones that are worth buying are included in BBKs (they're cast that way), aftermarket, cheap drilled rotors are usually drilled after casting which makes them weaker than stock rotors. Slotted are safer bets if you like the look.

[AceOnShake]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

Also very helpful!



I'm planning on painting the hats black anyway as my current rotors are - do you mean the exposed bits, or is there a difference in iron blend that actually affects the wear surface? If you're wire brushing, you must mean hats... I admit that I'd kind of like drilled rotors for sex appeal, but of course it's functionally irrelevant as I have yet to even track the car, much less aggressively. I suspect if I ever bother spending money on those, I'll swap the calipers out for something more aggressive at the same time. Not now though.

It turns out one of the cheaper options for pads is actually stoptech from Turner at like $85 for the set, thoughts there? I think I actually saw a stoptech replacement kit, pads+rotors+sensor for $200, drawing a blank on where, I think bavauto. Seems like a good deal to me, am I off base?

EDIT: No, sorry, not a stoptech kit, a brembo kit - "The replacement brake kit includes front Brembo brake rotors, hold-down bolts, Brembo pads, a front sensor wire, caliper grease, and Noise Free anti-squeal compound. - $218.80"

Brembo is one the most reputable brands out there for brakes. I have them for my moms e46 and don't really drive that car but she loves them.
Yes the hats like this



Damn thats a solid deal you have a link? I need brakes in 5k so might as well buy these now at this steal price.

[AceOnShake]

NVM I found it. I have a 330i so they don't have that pricing for mine!
Honestly I would buy this set If I was you. It's not including shipping to my door it was 254 shipped. Thats a solid price.

[Cloud9blue]

Pelican has some great DIY guides, but their price on parts always seem a little high.

Check out ECS tuning instead. Got most of my pads and rotors from them. I ran slotted ECS "Geomet" rotors front and Zimmerman blank rotors for the rear with Textar pads for my first HPDE. Slotted rotors actually performed much better than the blank, with more even pad deposit and much less grooving. The anti-corrorsion coating on the ECS and Zimmerman also seems to be much better than the coating on my OE rotors.

[mweisdorfer]

Pelican is a good website to get parts from. They are very complete. However, I will say if you do your research you can often find better prices.

I see they have bosch euro line, which is their new premium pad.

If you want to go middle of the row and safe some cash, perhaps get bosch rotors (quite cast) and bosch euro line. You could probably do both axels for about $375.00. Thus would include rotors , pads, sensors and retaining clips.

For $500.00. You could do Brembo UV rotors and Akebono pads.

I am not a fan of OEM pads due to the excessive brake dust.

[Meeni]

I had no issues with what I ordered from Pelican. As others said, price is average, not the best bargain, but I bought from them as a thank you for the great educational material, and the customer service was great.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by Meeni

I had no issues with what I ordered from Pelican. As others said, price is average, not the best bargain, but I bought from them as a thank you for the great educational material, and the customer service was great.

That's the core of what they offer. Especially for the aircooled 911 guys, the wealth of information on the forum and in the hosted DIYs is incredible. You pay slightly more for the parts as a thank you.

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

That's the core of what they offer. Especially for the aircooled 911 guys, the wealth of information on the forum and in the hosted DIYs is incredible. You pay slightly more for the parts as a thank you.

Agreed.