2 Sets of Rotors, Now What Pads?

[OlegE90]

I have acquired a second set of slightly used OEM front rotors for my M3. The rotors have about 5K on them and are in great condition. I usually do about 4 track events a year and daily drive the car the rest of the time, including in MN winter. I believe in getting a dedicated set of pads for the track and the street.

I'm trying to decide on a brake pad/rotor strategy. How does this sound?

Rotors:

To keep the rotor surface "matted" to each type of pad, the plan is to swap the pads AND rotors before and after each track event. It seems that swapping the rotors isn't too much more work than swapping pads (2 bolts and a retaining screw, right?). So in the summer, the rotors could get swapped out up to 8 times. Is there any issue with swapping the rotors this often (fatigue on the retaining bolts?)?

Pads:

For the track I've decided to go with Carbotech XP12's (I don't run r-compounds).

But for the street, I'm not sure. I like the bite of the BMW OEM pads, but I can't stand the amount of dust. What is a good street pad? I've read good things on this board about Cool Carbon pads, but they seem to be more of a hybrid pad vs what I want, which is street-only performance with little dust. Plus I've head the bedding procedure for Cool Carbon is pretty intense, like bedding race pads. Any other suggestions? What about Carbotech Bobcats (their street pad)?

Please let me know your thoughts...

[kevin@bavarianx]

Usually ceramic pads will have little dust and have decent stopping power. Hawk hps/ceramics, mintex, Performance friction metallic, and carbotech bobcats. It is all up to you. I am more of a fan of Performance Friction as I am using their Z-rated pads but they dust almost like OEM which I don't really mind as the stopping power is amazing.

[808MGuy]

I ran Carbotech Bobcats on another car and they were a good street pad. I wouldn't exactly say they are light on dusting but the color of the dust is a lighter gray instead of charcoal colored so it is less noticeable until a thicker layer builds up.

[EAS]

The Cool Carbon pads actually come with 2 different bedding instructions. For street use they are very easy to bed and will bed in with very little effort.

The accelerated bedding is only intended for those that buy the pads and expect to track the car immediately at full potential. This accelerated bedding is intended to optimize the transfer of friction material onto a cleaned or new rotor surface in a short amount of time. If properly done on a clean, uncontaminated rotor there should not be issues with non-uniform material transfer.

It certainly is not mandatory to perform the accelerated bedding as pads will easily be quite usable after several good stops and continue to improve over the next several hundred miles of driving.

Having 2 sets of rotors /pads is an excellent solution for those that would like the absolute best of both worlds without sacrificing performance for either street or track activities.

Here is the bedding instruction: http://www.coolcarbonperformance.com/bedding.html

[OlegE90]

For Cool Carbons, How does the initial bite when cold and wheel dust compare with OEM?

So I wouldn't encounter any problems with swapping rotors often? (bolt fatigue?)

Also, what's a good way to clean old pad material from a used rotor?

[EAS]

Originally Posted by OlegE90

For Cool Carbons, How does the initial bite when cold and wheel dust compare with OEM?

So I wouldn't encounter any problems with swapping rotors often? (bolt fatigue?)

Also, what's a good way to clean old pad material from a used rotor?

The grabby experience is eliminated as pads are very linear from 0 to ABS. Performance is improved and dust is considerably less. OE pads have approximately 20% of full braking with light pressure and are difficult to modulate below this level. Also CC pads perform very well when cold and friction level increases with temperature. Bolt fatigue should not be an issue if proper torques are maintained.

To remove old material use brake Kleen and green Scotch brite pads.