Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #1

    Brake Refresh - Opinions wanted!

    Hey All,

    if you have been following my build thread you know that I was recently in an accident. The accident was totally my fault and I ended up hitting the car in front of me when traffic came to, literally, a screeching halt. When I slammed on my brakes, my front end locked up, and I slid into the car in front of me.

    I have since tested the brakes on some side roads and the performance is dismal. I was told the car had new rotors and pads installed before buying it, but was never told what was installed. After inspection, I believe the rotors were just turned, and who knows about the pads. I know the rears are old as well.

    This brings me to a full brake refresh. What I am looking for is 1.) New rotors at all corners 2.) New pads at all corners 3.) stainless steel brake lines 4.) New fluid

    Budget - $500 to $700.

    This should get me an "OEM+" setup. Not looking for a big brake kit, but I do want substantially more performance than what I have now. Performance is the priority, I don't care if the setup is dusty (Nothing compares to my other ride, Fiesta ST. Ford has an option for "painted wheels" and they literally paint the wheels brake dust color so you don't notice.) To me, safety is a priority and brakes are consumables, so service life is a factor, but not an important one.

    I've just begun to research and will continue to do so. Just to see how far $500 to $700 dollars will go, I've thrown together a few package options from Turner Motorsports.

    Option 1 - Just buy the Turner Motorsport refresh kit. There are several options, and this is what I was looking at. However, I am unsure about the rotors but again just trying to see value for $$$

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    Next option I was looking at is the following. all from Turner and totals around $650

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    Name:  Front pads.JPG
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    Was looking for some feedback and opinions from others. This project is a week or two away so I still have time to research and come to a decision.

    Thanks mafia

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    22841
    Posts
    9,921
    Blank rotors, good pads and fluid and you should be set. Unless you prefer the look of drilled/slotted.

    For rotors, either Brembo or Zimmerman.

    For pads, Hawk, Stoptech, or EBC.

    For fluid, ATE 200 or Motul.

    Also pick up a set of Stainless Steel Rotor Screws from ECS tuning.

    His - 2004 Imola Red / Alcantara 330i | 6MT | ZHP |

    Her's - 2005 Black Sapphire Metallic / Black Leather 330i | 6MT | ZHP |

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    10,243
    Pretty much what Vas said. I don't have a whole lot of braking experience, but I do have Turner's stainless steel brake lines. I think they're just rebranded StopTech lines. Either way I've had no issue with them.

    I have BMW Performance drilled rotors, which I only picked up for the slight decrease in unsprung weight and supposed improvement in wet weather performance which is a nice touch for where I live. Otherwise blanks are just fine. I have Hawk HPS 5.0s and they're fine. I'm sure you could get just as good if not better pads from StopTech, EBC, or similar.

    I use Pentosin DOT4 low viscosity (LV) fluid in mine. Haven't had an issue with it. Supposedly our ABS uses low viscosity brake fluid to work appropriately, so that's why I use it, but other people swear they haven't seen any adverse effects from using normal DOT4 brake fluid.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Dallas, TX
    Posts
    336
    I went with the following for my brake system overhaul in February:

    Blank brembo front rotors: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...4-34101166071b
    Blank brembo rear rotors: https://www.ecstuning.com/ES260037/ (I have no idea why FCPEuro doesn't carry these also)
    Akebono ceramic front pads: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...t-front-eur946
    Akebono ceramic rear pads: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...et-rear-eur683
    TechnaFit stainless steel lines: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...hnafit-bmw1700

    Zero complaints and great performance from everything so far. The Akebono pads produce MUCH less dust than OEM, which is fantastic. Literal night and day difference. They have softer initial bite but very effective overall stopping power. I also ordered a big jug of OEM BMW DOT4 fluid, but I think my shop used a different name brand since it was full when I picked up my car from them.

    I don't intend to track my car so all these "OEM+" selections are perfect for my daily use.

    I went with FCPEuro with as much of this as I could to take advantage of their lifetime replacement guarantee.


    5/2003 Silbergrau Metallic ZHP
    - Sedan :: 6MT :: Style 68 -
    h&r | drvanos | koni | active autowerke | vibrant | akg | turner

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Fairfax Station, VA
    Posts
    2,806
    Contact fellow ZHPMafia member Ray, aka Smilez, at BrakeYourself.com, he'll be easy on your budget. I did at least a half dozen brake sets with him -- Centrix S&D rotors, ceramic (dust free) pads or StopTechs (dusty), SS lines, and fluid, all for in the $500/600-ish range. The Centrix rotors, even the Tophats, don't rust. S&D paired with ceramics are great for the street, not for the track though. Be liberal with the CRC Disc Brake Quiet when installing, then no squeaks.

    Bruce
    21 GMC Sierra - mine
    16 X5 M-Sport - wife
    11 M3 - 1st son
    04 Tundra - 2nd son
    17 X1 M-Sport - daughter

    Former (mo/yr sold):
    15 335xi M-Sport (8/18)
    11 335is (8/17)
    11 X5 AW/blk (11/15)
    04 330xi blk/gray (7/15)
    06 ZHP SGM/blk (6/15)
    08 335xi blue/blk (4/15)
    04 ZHPci MB/blk (2/14)
    04 ZHPcic IR/Alc (10/13)
    01 540iT anthra/blk (7/13)
    04 ZHPci TIAG/blk (9/12)
    03 540i M-Sport (9/12)
    01 325ci (3/12)
    02 325iT 5MT (10/11)
    05 ZHPci (7/11)
    03 330cic (2/11)
    00 323ci (10/10)

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Vas View Post
    Blank rotors, good pads and fluid and you should be set. Unless you prefer the look of drilled/slotted.

    For rotors, either Brembo or Zimmerman.

    For pads, Hawk, Stoptech, or EBC.

    For fluid, ATE 200 or Motul.

    Also pick up a set of Stainless Steel Rotor Screws from ECS tuning.
    Thanks VAS SS rotor screws are added to the list

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by BCS_ZHP View Post
    Contact fellow ZHPMafia member Ray, aka Smilez, at BrakeYourself.com, he'll be easy on your budget. I did at least a half dozen brake sets with him -- Centrix S&D rotors, ceramic (dust free) pads or StopTechs (dusty), SS lines, and fluid, all for in the $500/600-ish range. The Centrix rotors, even the Tophats, don't rust. S&D paired with ceramics are great for the street, not for the track though. Be liberal with the CRC Disc Brake Quiet when installing, then no squeaks.
    Thanks! Going to shoot him a PM.

  8. #8
    Going to do another thorough inspection of the brakes today.

    Safety inspection on Monday and my brakes and lights all need to be in working order

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    22841
    Posts
    9,921
    Zimmerman e-coat rotors, ebc red stuff brake pads, ecstuning ss rotor screws and centric brake hardware kit.

    All 4 corners under $500.




    His - 2004 Imola Red / Alcantara 330i | 6MT | ZHP |

    Her's - 2005 Black Sapphire Metallic / Black Leather 330i | 6MT | ZHP |

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    VA/DC
    Posts
    14,445
    Nice work.


    ---
    "ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - anonymous

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