brakes?

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#1
so i bought a set of pagid brakes for the front of my car and i'm trying to decide between slotted (ATE for $43 each) and X-drilled (zimmermann for $52 each) is the 10 dollar price difference (per rotor) worth buying the X-drilled considering i'm pairing them with the pagids?
 

epj3

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#4
$43 each for regular vented rotors is a little low -- for slotted I would be worried as to their quality!!!!!! Why would you save money on something like brakes -- the most important saftey device on your car?

BMW's have world class brakes -- why give them less than stock specs?
 

Big Daddy

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#5
I had ATE gas slotted rotors on my 318is. ATE is a top quality brand, they are not vented they are slotted, two different things. Brembo woudl be my choice for the rears.
 
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#6
Ate is the original brake manufacturer of most BMW's I think. I have the ATE slotted ones on my '85 318i and they worked great. The older 318's had the thinner rotors, not vented ones.

Two weeks ago I just installed a set of the Zimmerman cross drilled rotors and a set of PBR metal master pads. The rotors cost me $60 each from my local parts guy and the pads for $30 from him also. So I paid $150, I like this guy so I try to buy from him when I can.

I really like the zimmermans and the PBR's. Real smooth, nice feel, and no noise. I havent really gone out and heated the brakes up yet... but I am sure they will do well. I cannot really compare the ATE's to teh Zimmermans has 325 I drive now has vented rotors and the 318 did not. Plus the 318 was noticably lighter but it did not have ABS like my 325 does. They are both good in my opinion, and wont go wrong with either. I just think the cross drilled look cooler :).

Later
 
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#7
epj3 said:
$43 each for regular vented rotors is a little low -- for slotted I would be worried as to their quality!!!!!! Why would you save money on something like brakes -- the most important saftey device on your car?

BMW's have world class brakes -- why give them less than stock specs?

i have a good answer for that one. 43 is the sales price, which is why i'm in somewhat of a hurry to jump on this one. they're 65 retail, i believe. they are vented and slotted (unless i misunderstand the term "vented." the other ATE offered is vented (i think) but not slotted, and is $38 each. the zimmermann x-drilleds are on sale for 54 a piece, but i've been steered away from those for various reasons. i'm probably gonna go with the slotted "ATE power disc" for the front, and brembo vented/ non-slotted for the rear (28 each). that will be roughly 140 for new rotors for the whole car. give me your imput, but i think those will be good options. also, is it ok to put new rotors on the rear, but not replace the pads? i just put new pads on about 2 weeks ago for the rear.
 

epj3

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#8
Front pads I would definitely get good pads -- rears dont worry about getting the TOP quality. Dont do what I did and buy the 20 dollar box of rear pads. Even though the rears dont do much, they show a lot of wear after 5k miles!! And rears do not do much!!!!!
 
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#9
epj3 said:
Front pads I would definitely get good pads -- rears dont worry about getting the TOP quality. ... rears do not do much!!!!!
True. That's why Brembo concentrates on front wheel upgrades.
 

epj3

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#10
Ghost said:
True. That's why Brembo concentrates on front wheel upgrades.
Thats why everyone goes for front brake upgrades -- front brakes literally do 90% of the work (hence why most cars have crappy drum brakes in the rears -- they almost never wear out, just need adjusting now and then).

Fortunately BMW does not go cheap on saftey equipment, especially brakes. When you get this stuff installed, make sure you break them in properly!!! You can mess up an expensive rotor or set of pads if you go out and drive super hard on them brand new.
 
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#11
About breaking them in I have a procedure I usually use. Drive them with the new pads for 400-500 miles on them. Go easy on the new pads in order to season them to the rotor. after that initial period go out to a stretch of road and get up to about 60, then put on the brakes HARD and come to a complete stop. Do this a few times to glaze the pads, then you should be good. **This process may warp cheap rotors**
 
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#12
wood_e said:
About breaking them in I have a procedure I usually use. Drive them with the new pads for 400-500 miles on them. Go easy on the new pads in order to season them to the rotor. after that initial period go out to a stretch of road and get up to about 60, then put on the brakes HARD and come to a complete stop. Do this a few times to glaze the pads, then you should be good. **This process may warp cheap rotors**

that's basically what i read..take it easy for a few hundred and then break them in hard. regarding the cheap rotors, like i said, i was gonna go for the ATE slotted for the front and brembo non-slotted for the back, they're 28 a piece right now. i have (i think) PBR pads for the rear. does that sound right? and pagid's up front (not installed). when i do my new brakes the oldest pieces will be the rear pads, which will have about 1000 miles on them.
 
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#13
i have the same set up pagid pads and ate slotts in the front. works fine for me. but because of the slots brake dust every time you drive. worth it tho since the braking is better. you will feel the difference. vibration sounds while braking hard from the slotts means they are working.
 
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#14
to break in do a few runs going loww then brake lightly. then also do it reversing. then final is go fast then brake hard but not violent. then you should be good. you might get some smells from the pads since they are getting use to being used.
 


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