2002 BMW 325i brake pads

toyotacelicagt4 · 13 Jul 2010 at 20:05

Evening all,

my 325's front brakes are useless so i was thinking of changing the front pads. Should I go for replacements like mintex or upgrade them with ebc redstuffs? Will i also need new wear sensors?

cheers

[TW]Fox · 13 Jul 2010 at 20:11

You will probably need a new sensor, definately will if the pad warning light is on.

OEM manufacturer is Jurid or Textar. £40ish from GSF.

toyotacelicagt4 · 13 Jul 2010 at 20:23

The warning light has not come on yet. Will I get away without new sensors?

[TW]Fox · 13 Jul 2010 at 20:23

You might do you might not, they are pretty brittle and will probably break when you remove them.

Joshy · 13 Jul 2010 at 20:29

Do you have any idea just how worn the current front pads actually are?

What's your usage "profile" like?

I wouldn't have thought you would need uprated pads unless you regularly plan on driving "enthusiastically".

mejinks · 13 Jul 2010 at 20:50

Zimmerman disks and Pagid pads are pretty good even with enthusiastic driving, they are very dusty though.

mrk · 14 Jul 2010 at 09:00

I have EBC Greenstuffs on my car and the breaking is all round better especially at NSL+ speeds and in the wet. They're only a bit moe expensive than stock pads too. They are not dusty at all unlike the stock pads which are comically dusty.

Red or Green they're quite well priced even on the ebcdirect website as well as sensor wear leads (as fox said, good idea to replace them anyway plus they're cheap).

Virdi · 14 Jul 2010 at 11:43

BMW brakes are normally quite good.

If you use good quality OEM pads likes: ATE, TEXTAR - You shouldn't have a problem.

Maybe try a brake fluid change...?

PMKeates · 14 Jul 2010 at 11:47

Khaaan! said:
I have EBC Greenstuffs on my car and the breaking is all round better especially at NSL+ speeds and in the wet. They're only a bit moe expensive than stock pads too. They are not dusty at all unlike the stock pads which are comically dusty.

Red or Green they're quite well priced even on the ebcdirect website as well as sensor wear leads (as fox said, good idea to replace them anyway plus they're cheap).

I always wanted to change my pads from OEM, so that I wouldn't receive any more visits from the Ghost of BMW Brake Pad Past, who paints my wheels black of a night. But.. I was always worried about getting some annoying aftermarket brake squeal. Are your brakes near silent on the EBC pads?

paradigm · 14 Jul 2010 at 12:06

Virdi said:
BMW brakes are normally quite good.

Lol.

Typically, just no.

mrk · 14 Jul 2010 at 12:10

Yeah have had no problems with them really.

I had the front pads fitted by a local garage and the rears by a friend who works at a at a local dealer.

The fronts had no squeal problems from day 1 but the rears did on the first few days but after that they were as good as the fronts. I guess the rears needed some time to bed in. I do need a new sensor lead though as I think one of them is borked after a pressure washer incident ^_^

[TW]Fox · 14 Jul 2010 at 12:30

paradigm said:
Lol.

Typically, just no.

They are absolutely fine for road use, infact more than fine. I'm quite sure they fall apart on the track or after a constant pummelling on a hard fast road drive but 99.9% of the time they are more than adequete. I am always satisfied with the performance from my standard braking setup.

Virdi · 14 Jul 2010 at 12:33

paradigm said:
Lol.

Typically, just no.

Hello mate,

You have 330d right? are the brakes not good?

mrk · 14 Jul 2010 at 12:37

I was never up in arms with stock pad performance either, they were very good! Just damn dusty!

Virdi · 14 Jul 2010 at 12:40

Some performance pads are actually more dusty...

mrk · 14 Jul 2010 at 12:41

Well the EBC Greenstuffs are better than stock pads (which are good anyway) but aren't performance pads in the sense you're thinking of and aren't dusty at all.