[AllBlackBimmer]

OK I finally decided I am going with stoptech or Zimmerman rotor and probably hawk hps pads.

now my ? Is, I only need to replace my rear rotors/pads at the moment, fronts won't bye due til end of summer or fall.

if I replace just the rear with stoptechs and hawks and leave the front go for now, is that going to screw my braking up? Do I need to do front and rear at the same time?? Will I have braking issues?

any reason to NOT go with stoptech or Zimmerman rotors? I am pretty sold on hawk hps pads for my daily driver.


EDIT: where can I get zimmerman rotors that will be Guaranteed with the Z-coating?

... I also looked into Meyle rotos from ECS but may want to stick with the zimmermans z-coat if I can find them.

[will.c]

all of the mentioned items should be fine. You can even go cheaper and get some Centric rotors from Tirerack.com. I've even tracked with these without any problems.

[AllBlackBimmer]

Originally Posted by wonho

all of the mentioned items should be fine. You can even go cheaper and get some Centric rotors from Tirerack.com. I've even tracked with these without any problems.

what about only replacing the rears for now and having Hawk HPS on the rear with the OEM old pads/rotors on the fronts until they wear out?

if anything, I will shell out a little more $ and get the z-coated zimmerman rotors.

Not sure if the brembo has a blank-oem rotor with z-coating?

Will be looking for venders to buy all this from... GTB Performance has the best Hawk pad prices..

what about rotors?? looking for zimmerman z-coated but need to be SURE they will be coated ... i know some vendors cannot guarante this

[AllBlackBimmer]

... now I am questioning if I should go with the zimmerman z-coat rotors which seem to be hard to find and a vender that can GUARUNTEE they will be coated when i get them...

.. also looking at the stoptech rotors...

so.. zimmerman z-coat or stoptechs? not sure if the stoptechs have a coating or not?

[will.c]

Originally Posted by AllBlackBimmer

what about only replacing the rears for now and having Hawk HPS on the rear with the OEM old pads/rotors on the fronts until they wear out?

No prob, just do the rears for now.

Originally Posted by AllBlackBimmer

if anything, I will shell out a little more $ and get the z-coated zimmerman rotors.

Hey man, whatever makes you happy. but I've run many rotors at street and track, including OEM 335i sport, OEM Z4 3.5is "2 piece" (close to $400 for a set of fronts!!), and Centric 125 from Tirerack.com. I could tell absolutely no difference between any of these.

Originally Posted by AllBlackBimmer

Not sure if the brembo has a blank-oem rotor with z-coating?

again, to me, just snake oil...

Originally Posted by AllBlackBimmer

Will be looking for venders to buy all this from... GTB Performance has the best Hawk pad prices..

cheapest vendor I found with good customer service and pretty quick delivery:
http://raceshopper.com
Just go to the web page of the item you're interested in, write some info down, then press "Get me a Quote," and they send you an email within a few hours.

[EJ_3]

I had those pads on my Altima back in the day. They were great. I can't speak on Zimmerman, but I can say you wouldn't be let down going with StopTech. Just change out the rear and do the fronts when needed. If you have the brake light on your dash, don't forget to pick up a new brake pad sensor.

[AllBlackBimmer]

Go figure, I changed my mind... again...


now leaning towards getting stoptech/centric rotors with the painted hubs and stoptech street performance pads...

[ashmostro]

Rotors doesn't matter if you do F+R separately.

Pads, make sure your higher friction compound is on the front, not the rear. Preferably matched compounds unless you are tracking.

[ashmostro]

Said another way, I do not recommend running Hawk HPS pads in the rear if you still have stock pads on the front.

[AllBlackBimmer]

Well...

I am not going to run the HAWK HPS pads AT ALL. I have decided to go with Stoptech Street performance pads.

What would happen if I runa higher friction pad in the rear for a few months first before switching the fronts? Aren't the OEM pads pretty "high fricition" themselves, hence why all aftermarket pads don't have the same "bite" the OEM ones do (i undersntad most aftermarket pads, have less bite, but better linear braking overall)

[ashmostro]

Got it.

The problem isn't intial bite- it's max friction level. If they are markedly different, your brake bias is going to be off... and if you want your brake bias to be off you want more front bias, not rear. Locking up or engaging ABS on just the rears can result in a slide faster than the fronts first. Yes, our ABS sytems have proportioning valves to compensate but that takes time and is reactive, not proactive. You have to lose traction first before the compensation can measure and kick in the right amount of modulation.

If your friction coefficients are close, it's not a big deal. I don't know what the mu is on the Stoptechs vs stock, so I can't comment.

Just felt strongly enough about the potential safety issue to say something. Your call on what to do with that information. Take care.

[ashmostro]

Oh, and the reason aftermarket pads dont have the initial bite of OEMs is because high-friction pads usually need more heat in them to reach those friction levels. But when they get up to temp, they will have more bite than stock- and the stocks will fade much sooner when they warm up and then you have the opposite effect. Another reason to stay with matched compounds (similar temperature effects).

fwiw.

[AllBlackBimmer]

Thanks for the info...


What are people's thoughts on running the Centric Rotors + Stoptech street performance pads at ALL FOUR corners compared to OEM?