128i stock brakes

[Eau_Rouge111]

Hey all, I've had my 128i going on 5 years and put on about 140km on it and have done the brakes 4 times now...front and rear. Is it just me or does this car eat brakes? Just for reference, my previous car...a Mercedes C230 coupe...did 120km in that and only did the front brakes once, rear never.

Also, now I'm considering adding 335i front brakes to the 128 as from what I've seen...it's a straight bolt on for the caliper, no mods required and MUCH cheaper than the 135i calipers or the BMW performance brake pack. Anyone with experience doing this?

[Hops128i]

That seems unusual for wear, but it's about the conditions. I did my first pads/rotors change around 50k miles 85% highway miles), I'm due pretty soon for another change at 80k miles, but that's with an added 3 novice track hours.

[Eau_Rouge111]

Originally Posted by Hops128i

That seems unusual for wear, but it's about the conditions. I did my first pads/rotors change around 50k miles 85% highway miles), I'm due pretty soon for another change at 80k miles, but that's with an added 3 novice track hours.

I'm 80% city driving on it...but was as well with the Benz...

[Matticus91]

Are you doing rotors and pads or just pads? The BMW rotors are known to be pretty tough and can eat pads

[Eau_Rouge111]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Are you doing rotors and pads or just pads? The BMW rotors are known to be pretty tough and can eat pads

I always do both pads and rotors. I've seen a few write ups on other owners who swapped to the 335i caliper/rotor/pad set up...parts are bolt on according to the two builds I saw...given one can find used 335i calipers quite easily....ill probably do this swap. I can do the job myself...i do the vast majority of my own maintenance...so I'll give this a try to avoid having to do brakes every year.

The reason I'm not considering the 135i setup...calipers are multiple times more expensive given they are 6 pot brembos...the 335i brakes are built to stop a heavy car so on a 128i...should make a big difference to the life of the brakes

[Mach1er]

That seems very high. I'm at 65,000 km and have 8.5mm left on the rears. I think new is like 11mm. Unless your stability control is kicking in a bunch to stop you from spinning the rears, something seems wrong.

[Eau_Rouge111]

Originally Posted by Mach1er

That seems very high. I'm at 65,000 km and have 8.5mm left on the rears. I think new is like 11mm. Unless your stability control is kicking in a bunch to stop you from spinning the rears, something seems wrong.

Could be all the city driving I do but again...my previous car...i got out double the kms from the brakes vs this car and my habits haven't really hanged. I'll see what I'll do but doing brakes each 30ish km is a bit much

[NorthernDancer]

I have a 128 also. Front brakes done at 66K because they were evidently less than 50% and I was doing a HPDE soon. Rears have not been done yet, they are at 50% now. Car has 83,400 kms.
Now compare that to wife's Toyota Venza which is on its 2nd full brake set and just 72K kms.

[WDE82]

My rears tripped the sensor at 36000 miles and that's with a few autocross events. My fronts had plenty of pad left but the PO drove stupidly and wore the rotors strangely. They're now all new. You must be doing something strange to wear out brakes that fast. They are clearly not the issue since no one else seems to have this problem.

[Olgeezer1]

Something funny here. This is just street driving? Mine were fine, front and rear, when I changed them for the Performance brakes at around 60K kms. The only time I ever saw any brake dust on the rears was when I forgot to turn off the traction control for a HPDE day. That system really works the rears. I thought about 330/335 brakes but decided on something designed for my car and didn't want to lose my E-brake, which I understand is what happens with the conversion you're talking about.

[WDE82]

Originally Posted by Olgeezer1

Something funny here. This is just street driving? Mine were fine, front and rear, when I changed them for the Performance brakes at around 60K kms. The only time I ever saw any brake dust on the rears was when I forgot to turn off the traction control for a HPDE day. That system really works the rears. I thought about 330/335 brakes but decided on something designed for my car and didn't want to lose my E-brake, which I understand is what happens with the conversion you're talking about.

You just have to convert the parking brake as well.

[Eau_Rouge111]

Originally Posted by Olgeezer1

Something funny here. This is just street driving? Mine were fine, front and rear, when I changed them for the Performance brakes at around 60K kms. The only time I ever saw any brake dust on the rears was when I forgot to turn off the traction control for a HPDE day. That system really works the rears. I thought about 330/335 brakes but decided on something designed for my car and didn't want to lose my E-brake, which I understand is what happens with the conversion you're talking about.

Car has never seen a track day in its life....tge track car is my Z4M and it has 45k on its very abused brakes which are still only about half worn. I'm going to look at all options...

[JimD]

I've never checked mine and I'm at about 55,000 miles. I guess I could wait for the sensor to tell me it's time but I may just pull the caliper and look. My other vehicle, a Suzuki SUV, went 135,000 miles on the original pads. They were not worn out at that point but I got tired of looking at them. Obviously one replacement should finish the car for me.

So I don't expect the bimmer to go 135,000 miles but I will be a little surprised if I need pads soon.

I don't normally replace rotors. I guess I should measure to be sure they are above the minimum thickness. If you do not replace or turn the rotors, the brakes will feel different for a few miles as the pads wear in. Allow a little extra distance for stops and it goes away quickly. I think brake shops replace rotors due to the odd feel for a few miles. Seems like a waste of money to me.