Basics question on brakes & brake lines

[BimmerRob08]

I'm looking to upgrade the brakes front & back. I'm not planning on spending $5+ grand but curious to see if there are street performance pads that are good quality and can be used with the stock rotor discs. Or do I need to go with new rotors & pads without changing the calipers.

Also, who makes steel brake lines that I can install. So what I'm looking for is;

Brake lines
Front/Rear street performance pads
and/or discs

Thanks for the help,

Cheers!

[jk6672]

just out of curiosity, Why do you want to upgrade the brakes?

[BimmerRob08]

Well the brakes are great, I only have little over 8,000 miles. But was just wondering what's out there for when they are at their end and time to replace with either new OEM or upgrade.

The other day on the highway, I was going a bit fast, about 120mph and when I braked, it seemed that they gripped good at first but then I felt them fade as the temperature built up. So I'm wondering if that was normal or if more agressive driving is going to cause them to fade. Which is normal I'm sure but it's not like I'm on a track where I would be pushing the brakes at their limit continuasly. Anyway, just want to know what upgrades I can get besides a full Brembo brake upgrade, which would be awesome but I'm not gonna blow $4,000+ on brakes, at least not for a few years.

[lucid]

I don't see how you can make the stock system fade by braking from 120mph once on the highway even with the stock pads. If you are driving this car on the street, I don't see the point of upgrading the brake system in any way.

[BimmerRob08]

I agree, it's more of a "I have better breaks" type option. For the street their great. I just felt for a second that as I was breaking a little hard, that they were grabbing well then all of a sudden felt as if they got a bit mooshy or heated up, kinda like when breaks fade from heat type feeling. I don't know, maybe it was just my impression and they still had plenty of bite and temperature to work.

Some people go with Brembo brakes on it just because and almost never track the car. But I'm not planning on something that extream for street driving. Why spend the $$ for that when I don't need it? I'll probebly leave the brakes as is anyway.

[lucid]

I certainly would leave the brakes alone if the car was never going to hit the track. I suspect that what you experienced was mostly perception. Fade cannot be an issue with regular street driving. The rotors are fairly large, and it would take some serious braking to heat them up to the point where the street pads begin to fade. Even then, there is no reason to upgrade the rotors on the street; a pad upgrade would be fine. I guess the pedal feel would improve with a major upgrade, but again, is that worth the major investment? Finally, I spoke with Turner about the brake lines. He said BMW would not ship an M car with mediocre lines, and that he didn't see a need to upgrade them with stainless lines. But since stainless lines are fairly inexpensive, one could try just to see if it makes a difference.

[BimmerRob08]

It doesn't sound like it's worth the cash and time to invest going disc's/pads. Maybe better pads when these are at their end with some steel lines someday.

[sparkyg]

I've been told by others that really a pad change, brake line change and brake fluid change and you should really be set for almost any driving outside of heavy track use.

Another poster JAJ has track experience and the small changes make a big difference.

[M3 M3]

Pad change to Pagids are all you need. Anything else is bling and tossing $$$ to the wind.

Oh be sure to upgrade the fluid also.

[caveboy]

Yes, Brembo is around $7k plus install

[nkweisberg]

For street driving the OEM setup should be adequate. Cannot imagine fade being an issue off the track.

Since I track my car often, I upgraded my brakes as follows: pads to Ferodo DS2500's, Stoptech SS lines and Castrol SRF fluid.

I have done 2 track days (tomorrow will be my 3rd) with this setup and have not had any issue with fade. The Ferodo pads are not noisy and have good bite at street temps. Don't think there is any compromise using this pad on the street other than the OEM pads are covered for 4 years Might as well take advantage of that benefit. Castrol SRF is expensive and not worth it unless you are on the track a lot. The stoptech SS lines were not expensive so the are worth it IMO. If you are only using this on the street be careful using a dedicated track pad because they are noisy and don't stop as well when cold (cold being most of the time on the street).

[GregW / Oregon]

You can get Stoptech stainless lines from Zeckhausen pretty inexpensively. May be good for a little firmer feel, but won't really improve performance.

http://www.zeckhausen.com/BMW/E92_M3.htm