Time for a brake job

[ss3964spd]

Hi all,

Time to do a brake job of the DW's 2001 325CiC. Good news is that I can do all the wrenching myself, bad news is I know nothing of which brands to look at to ensure quality components.

Basically, I am not trying to up grade the brakes at all. The car's limits already exceed what my wife will ever test - she does not drive the car hard. Nevertheless, I want nothing less than OE performance.

I know brands like Brembo. I don't know AKEBONO, ATE, Hawk, Satisfied, Mintex, Pagid, etc-etc. Do not need slotted, drilled, milled, spilled, or filled rotors.

I see Brembo and ATE offer what appear to be stock replacement rotors so I assume either of those brands will be just fine. If there is another brand that is better please let me know.

Pads: what's the stock compound type? Semi metalic? Ceramic? Only thing I know about the stock pads is they generate an impressive amount of brake dust. Just need a stock replacement pad that performs as well as the OE pads. If they perform as well (again, this car is not driven hard so I don't need a compound to reduce fade) as stock and produce less dust that's a bonus.

I've read a number of threads regarding rotor/pad replacements - not too horrible of a job it seems. Brake wear lamp has not come on yet so I am assuming I can reuse the sensors. If your experience says "just replace the sensors" please let me know.

Also, when pushing the pistons back into the calipers do you open the bleed cock or leave it closed?

Finally, proper wheel lug torque is important to prevent rotor warping - what's the torque settig for the lugs?

Sure appreciate any feedback you may have.

Many thanks,

Dan

[Hootie]

I just put plain Brembo rotors on my car and used Pagid pads. Many people here recommend OEM pads with a new set of rotors. I've also heard good things about Hawk and Mintex pads. Mintex are perhaps the lowest dust generators... Pagid are uber-dusty, but impressive stopping distances.

Reuse the sensors, save the cash. Just be careful when prying them out and make sure not to lose the metal retaining clip (looks like a mini-horseshoe).

I opened the bleeder when compressing the piston, makes it much much easier (you can force it open with a screwdriver instead of a C-clamp then).

Call your dealership to ask about the appropriate torque on the lugs, they'll tell you what the service manual says. Good luck and enjoy!

[ss3964spd]

Thanks for the feedback Hootie.

I went ahead and ordered stock replacement rotors, ceramic pads, and even the sensors from AutoWerks. I ended up going with ceramic pads based upon recomendations from the sales associate I spoke with. According to him the ceramic's don't quite have the initial bite of the stock organic pads but are better in that regard than some of the others. Friendly to the rotors and produce far less dust. For the way my DW drives the car they should be fine.

I did a little more digging here and found that the lugs get snugged down with 87 P/FT of torque.

I asked about opening the bleeder prior to compressing the piston because I am almost certain I read someplace that forcing the fluid back through the antilock system could cause issues with the the antilock module. Don't know if there's any truth in that but I don't think I wanna find out.

Regards,

Dan

[ovidelaurel]

brembo works best