Borrow racing pads for a week or two

[wangxiangg]

My 2011 M3 recently started to have excessive shaking during (medium to hard) braking, after I left the car sit for 2 weeks during the wet winter, and all the rotors rusted heavily. Took it to dealer and Northeast Motorsports, and both of them recommend replacing the front rotors/pads (dealer quoted $1400) and see if the problem goes away. Neither put my car on the lift and measured using a dial indicator.

I am not sure if I am down to spend $1400 already to see if it will fix my problem. Did some research and came across Dean's thread:
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1384226

The pad deposit theory made a lot of sense and I would like to try it out first before replacing rotors.

I wonder if anyone local (near Hoboken NJ) has a spare set of racing pads they can lend to me (for a fee that's hopefully less than a new set ) for a week or two (of street driving), in order to get rid of the pad deposit as described in Dean's thread.

Thanks in advance!

[SAMM3Y]

I have a set of front and back EBC yellowstuff that I used for a track weekend I'll sell you for $55 shipped. If your interested I'll dig them out the attic and send you some pics. They're noisy and dusty and grabby.. should do the trick for what you need. Like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/EBC-Yellows...-/252979299613

[wangxiangg]

Originally Posted by SAMM3Y

I have a set of front and back EBC yellowstuff that I used for a track weekend I'll sell you for $55 shipped. If your interested I'll dig them out the attic and send you some pics. They're noisy and dusty and grabby.. should do the trick for what you need. Like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/EBC-Yellows...-/252979299613

Thanks for the recommendation! Let me look into them and also please give me a few days to see if anything turns up locally.

[dbyrd]

Someone out there has got to have a used set that has enough material for your purposes. I have several that'd I'd give you but they aren't sized for the OEM caliper. Try posting in the track section.

[MasterP]

Use a Flex Hone for rotors to knock down the deposits.

[wangxiangg]

Originally Posted by dbyrd

Someone out there has got to have a used set that has enough material for your purposes. I have several that'd I'd give you but they aren't sized for the OEM caliper. Try posting in the track section.

Good suggestion! Thank you!

[wangxiangg]

Originally Posted by MasterP

Use a Flex Hone for rotors to knock down the deposits.

Thanks! Will look into this.

[furry]

Have a set of new track pads if you're interested, PFC 06. $150

[wangxiangg]

Hi guys, quick update:

Dean from the original thread was kind enough to offer his racing pads for rental, however he reminded me that I needed to check for rotor thickness before attempting his method. Since I can feel the lips on my rotors quite easily (didn't measure with a micrometer), I've decided to just replace the rotors.

Thank you all for the offers/tips!

[PACarGuy]

For ~$250/rotor for the Zimmermans, and $80 for pads (I like the Stoptech Sport pads and run them year round), you can DIY this quite easily. It's really not a difficult job. Will save you a ton of money.

[daarts]

If your rotors are above minimum thickness, why not just try heat cycling/rebedding the brakes first before swapping to race pads? There are various methods but pretty much a couple sets of 8-10 hard stops (just before abs) from 60 to 10mph should do it then let the brakes cool by driving at highway speeds for a few minutes.

This has worked for me in the past.

[wangxiangg]

yes and I can buy from FCP Euro to take advantage of their lifetime replacement policy.

But the PFC DD v3 rotors are starting to grow on me. Probably overkill for me though since I don't track. Decisions decisions...

Originally Posted by PACarGuy

For ~$250/rotor for the Zimmermans, and $80 for pads (I like the Stoptech Sport pads and run them year round), you can DIY this quite easily. It's really not a difficult job. Will save you a ton of money.

[wangxiangg]

Thanks for sharing the experience!

I actually thought about it too, but quite concerned with the shaking under hard braking. Mine is pretty bad... Would it damage the suspension or something else?

Originally Posted by daarts

If your rotors are above minimum thickness, why not just try heat cycling/rebedding the brakes first before swapping to race pads? There are various methods but pretty much a couple sets of 8-10 hard stops (just before abs) from 60 to 10mph should do it then let the brakes cool by driving at highway speeds for a few minutes.

This has worked for me in the past.

[daarts]

Originally Posted by wangxiangg

Thanks for sharing the experience!

I actually thought about it too, but quite concerned with the shaking under hard braking. Mine is pretty bad... Would it damage the suspension or something else?

A little tricky in that case. Mine was mostly pad deposit and actually smoothed out with harder braking as opposed to normal street driving. If it's that bad then maybe not the best idea.

[wangxiangg]

Originally Posted by daarts

A little tricky in that case. Mine was mostly pad deposit and actually smoothed out with harder braking as opposed to normal street driving. If it's that bad then maybe not the best idea.

Were you able to see/feel the uneven pad deposit on the rotors though? And when you brake hard, did your steering wheel shake, and you could hear a lot of road noise like you were driving on an uneven road?

[daarts]

Originally Posted by wangxiangg

Were you able to see/feel the uneven pad deposit on the rotors though? And when you brake hard, did your steering wheel shake, and you could hear a lot of road noise like you were driving on an uneven road?

Yes, I had all those issues. Interior felt like it was going to rattle apart lol. That said mine took place after a pretty hard run here in SoCal. Not sure if having the car sitting for a while would affect it differently.

If you are worried, I would try to find an opportunity for slightly harder braking from a slower speed first to see if it will be safe to attempt rebidding. My noise/vibration was nowhere near as bad when braking hard than when pressing more lightly.

Worst case, track pads are always an option, but might not be necessary is this approach works and can be done safely.

[wangxiangg]

Ok sounds good! Yeah I felt my car was going to fall apart as well, haha.

To be honest I think the shaking has gotten better, so I might as well give the rebedding technique a go!

Thanks again for sharing!

Originally Posted by daarts

Yes, I had all those issues. Interior felt like it was going to rattle apart lol. That said mine took place after a pretty hard run here in SoCal. Not sure if having the car sitting for a while would affect it differently.

If you are worried, I would try to find an opportunity for slightly harder braking from a slower speed first to see if it will be safe to attempt rebidding. My noise/vibration was nowhere near as bad when braking hard than when pressing more lightly.

Worst case, track pads are always an option, but might not be necessary is this approach works and can be done safely.

[daarts]

Originally Posted by wangxiangg

Ok sounds good! Yeah I felt my car was going to fall apart as well, haha.

To be honest I think the shaking has gotten better, so I might as well give the rebedding technique a go!

Thanks again for sharing!

Good luck!