[Gooey33]

Apologies as this is another brake pad thread, but i'd like some upto date opinions please.

Looking at fitting new brake pads and dics in the next few weeks as my current setup is looking/feeling tired.

Not sure on the discs that are on but the pads i think are ECP Eicher ones...so not great.

I've got a track day coming up in a couple of months so want something which will perform ok on the track. I have 4 new Brembo HC discs and some RBF660 fluid waiting to be fitted.

So far my selection seems to be between;

Stoptech Performance Street (light track)
EBC Yellowstuff (road/track)
EBC Redstuff (fast road?)

All come in at <£150ish.

For the money (which i appreciate isnt much), is there anything else i should consider? A friend of mine recommended Black Diamond Predator pads, which do seem cheap...but no mention of them on this site via the search function and certainly no reviews. Not bothered about dusting, i want it to stop well rather than not stop well but have clean wheels!

Given the history with EBC (which appears to be mainly positive now) should i go for those or the Stoptech's which get good reviews on the US side of this site....getting hold of them though is a right pain!

Would love to have the budget for some high end Pagid / DS2500 etc ones but at the moment i've just not got it, plus we have a driving trip into france/alps in 4 weeks so full race pads may get a little tiresome if they squeak too much...

any advice / recommendations?

[Aragorn30d]

A lot of it depends on you as a driver.

I've ran standard road pads on all my cars, and never managed to cook them on the road. I've also tracked my car a few times on its stock road pads, and they were fine, so long as you didnt try to just keep pounding round and round. You'd get perhaps 10 laps, then would need to let them cool off a bit.

Ofcourse some tracks are harder on brakes than others, and some drivers are harder on brakes than others, so it really depends on a lot of factors. Your 325i might also have the smaller 300mm 4cylinder-spec brakes, which wouldnt take as much punishment as the 330mm stuff fitted to the 330i/330d. It might be the ideal opportunity to switch up to the larger 330 brake parts if you dont already have them.

If your going to go with EBC, use the Yellows not the Reds.

I tried to find the Stoptech pads the other week, but couldnt actually find them listed on the Stoptech catalog for our models.

[Gooey33]

My car does have the 300mm discs all round, so they will heat up quicker and therefore fade quicker i guess. They're heavy-ish cars too (car will be going on a diet prior to event!) so would rather put some pads in that are a bit better than stock road pads and designed for some track use.

First limitations on a car being tracked are usually brakes/tyres so given the tyres are pretty good the weakpoint will be brakes. I've had the feeling of brake fade before on a previous car on a track and its not nice, so would rather under-use EBC/stoptech pads than overuse standard pads and end up going straight on!

From the reviews (back to 2010) yellowstuff seem to be pretty decent and work well on the road, prior to that its hit or miss so will probably go for those over the redstuff.

[phozy888]

have yellows all round on me 330d and havent had any issue - have used on previous cars dc2 , dc5 so thought id stick to them. stops very well and not overly priced.

[marknjayne]

Brembo HP2000 with EBC USR discs and ATE Blue fluid,,,the hotter they get the better they stop,thats on track and fast road,never had fade

[Aragorn30d]

Personally i'd be spending the money on 330 (330mm) or 335 (347mm) brakes, rather than trying to raceify your existing 300mm setup.

[Gooey33]

Originally Posted by Aragorn30d

Personally i'd be spending the money on 330 (330mm) or 335 (347mm) brakes, rather than trying to raceify your existing 300mm setup.

That's all fine in theory and the right thing to do but it then goes up in cost a huge amount (discs/calipers/calipers carriers? Etc) plus the new pads and takes it away from being a home DIY job (for me anyway!). Appreciate the sentiment tho, why waste money flogging a dead horse etc...

The 300's are fine for the weight of the car, which i guess is somewhat lighter than something like a 330d, so it's just a case of wanting to better the existing setup. I would have thought the new brembos/ebc's and better fluid should be a step in the right direction.....I hope!

Even bigger disks with stock pads will fade? Isn't it the pad that resists the heat soak rather than heat dissipation through the disc?

[mjn77]

I'd fit some braided hoses as well.

[Gooey33]

Originally Posted by mjn77

I'd fit some braided hoses as well.

Do they make a huge difference to the standard set-up? from what i've read on the forum its really only a must if you go BBK?

Have you got them on yours?

[Aragorn30d]

the larger disk has a bigger surface area to dissipate heat, and a larger thermal mass so it takes more energy to heat it up.

The pad has a heat range that its happy to operate in, but its the disks job to dissipate that heat thats generated.

So potentially a larger disk and road pads could end up better than track pads and smaller disk, if the larger disk was able to dissipate sufficient heat to keep the road pads happy. I say potentially, becuase without actually trying it or finding someone else who has, you wont know.

What will happen for sure though, is the 300mm parts will run hotter than the 330mm parts. This means that potentially you could get the system hot enough that you either boil the brake fluid, or exceed the temperature range of your mild track pads, and thus still get fade. Again you wont know without trying it.

I guess at this point, seen as you've already got the disks etc, just nail in some EBC yellows and see what happens!

[mjn77]

Originally Posted by Gooey33

Do they make a huge difference to the standard set-up? from what i've read on the forum its really only a must if you go BBK?

Have you got them on yours?

I had them on my E46 330D, gave the brake pedal a rock hard feel.

[Gooey33]

Originally Posted by Aragorn30d

the larger disk has a bigger surface area to dissipate heat, and a larger thermal mass so it takes more energy to heat it up.

The pad has a heat range that its happy to operate in, but its the disks job to dissipate that heat thats generated.

So potentially a larger disk and road pads could end up better than track pads and smaller disk, if the larger disk was able to dissipate sufficient heat to keep the road pads happy. I say potentially, becuase without actually trying it or finding someone else who has, you wont know.

What will happen for sure though, is the 300mm parts will run hotter than the 330mm parts. This means that potentially you could get the system hot enough that you either boil the brake fluid, or exceed the temperature range of your mild track pads, and thus still get fade. Again you wont know without trying it.

I guess at this point, seen as you've already got the disks etc, just nail in some EBC yellows and see what happens!

good points....i figured higher spec pads and a slightly lighter car would compensate to a degree for smaller discs and the resultant reduced area for heat loss (as its "only" 15mmm radially)

the fluid is being flushed and changed out to the Motul product which should mitigate the risk of boiling the fluid earlier than standard - it should be the pads that give up first basically, once i've done the track day i'll reply to this thread with how i get on...hopefully not be saying "in the market for new front bumper"

Will speak to my local performance part shop about the brake lines too, see what they have.

thanks for all the advice/help - i will report back when fitted and post trackday...

[Rich_D]

I run EBC Yellowstuff on my E39 M5, much improved over standard, still bite ok from cold for daily use, improve with heat, well priced, I'll be getting some for my 330d I think

[Sinbad666]

Ds2500 are only £128

Hawk HP + are about the same.