[Hockey13]

After much contemplating, I decided to get the following pad and rotor set from FCP for my 2.5 tuned D. $90more for the drilled vs..non but also lifetime replacement from FCP. of course could get cheaper elsewhere but without lifetime replacement.

Anyone have thoughts as to if I made the right decision or not?

what I ordered:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...116855000ktf14

what I passed up:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...4116855000ktf6

[335stoner]

its a good buy and a good choice!! since you are asking if you made the right choice.... here is my view on the different rotor styles..

-for a daily driver that sees no track time a "factory" style rotor is going to be your best option.. when driving in traffic with a lot of stop and hold the extra material will absorb the heat slowly and be less prone to warping or cracking. the extra material will not allow the rotor to cool down quickly.

-for spirited drive or nice upgrade daily driver and track time a slotted rotor will be a good option.. the slotted rotor will allow brake gasses to escape and allow for additional cooling, but still allow for traffic heat to not distort the integrity of the rotor.

-for more track use a drilled rotor is the best option. while moving the drilled holes allow the brake gas and heat to be remove at a rapid rate allowing maximum cooling. the down side to these is when used in a daily driver traffic the rotors will absorb the heat quickly due to the lack of material and slow speeds will not allow the rotor to cool as the drilling intended. the lack of material in daily driving will sometimes lead to heat cracks around the drilled spots..

[Hockey13]

Originally Posted by 335stoner

its a good buy and a good choice!! since you are asking if you made the right choice.... here is my view on the different rotor styles..

-for a daily driver that sees no track time a "factory" style rotor is going to be your best option.. when driving in traffic with a lot of stop and hold the extra material will absorb the heat slowly and be less prone to warping or cracking. the extra material will not allow the rotor to cool down quickly.

-for spirited drive or nice upgrade daily driver and track time a slotted rotor will be a good option.. the slotted rotor will allow brake gasses to escape and allow for additional cooling, but still allow for traffic heat to not distort the integrity of the rotor.

-for more track use a drilled rotor is the best option. while moving the drilled holes allow the brake gas and heat to be remove at a rapid rate allowing maximum cooling. the down side to these is when used in a daily driver traffic the rotors will absorb the heat quickly due to the lack of material and slow speeds will not allow the rotor to cool as the drilling intended. the lack of material in daily driving will sometimes lead to heat cracks around the drilled spots..

sweet I'm mostly highway no traffic. however spirited otherwise hence the mention of 2.5

[Mark M]

While I can't comment on today's cross drilled rotor technology and longevity, I will share a story from my past that has forever changed my mind in favor OE type rotors.

Back in the day I did a lot of HPDE events in my E30. I opted for cross drilled rotors sourced from a very reputable vendor and Ferrodo 2500 pads. The setup worked stellar until after the 3rd or 4th event. At the end of the day I was swapping my track tires off and bolting the street tires back on, the front right rotor had developed a large crack starting at in inner hole making its way all the way out to the outer edge connecting 2 or 3 holes if I recall. I inspected the other side, same thing but to a lesser extent. Cracks were forming between the holes.

The vendor made good and replaced them. Guess what, the replacement set began to suffer the same failure mode. I have since switched to using OE solid vented rotors.

My logic.....A good driver can control a car with brake fade. A good driver can not control a car if the rotor cracks in half...game over. Further, on most race cars...rotors are changed after every race. Mine is a street car that may see track time....I'd rather have street reliability instead of that extra ~1 sec/lap on the track.

Others opinions may vary....just sharing a tale from prior days.

[chau]

Completely true regarding the cross drilled rotors cracking Mark. I have friends that run TT with NASA and they all use blank rotors or slotted.

[Hockey13]

so maybe I should cancel and get the second set I mentioned...

[Mark M]

Originally Posted by Hockey13

so maybe I should cancel and get the second set I mentioned...

FYI, Zimmerman was the manufacturer of the cross drilled rotors I used on my E30. Albiet that was ~10 years ago.

[TorqueAddict]

You wouldn't be disappointed. I have the same rotors with Hawk HPS 5.0 pads. Really good stopping power. over 20k km on the setup and so far so good.

Haven't had the time to track this year, but they behaved well for the two events that i attended last year. No cracks so far - at least on the outside.

I switched to Stop-tech Steel braided lines and Motul RBF 600 at the same time.

[Hockey13]

such hard decisions ... lol... well since I'm buying through fcp... if I have an issue and decide to go back to stock I can... so I'll give em a try...???lol

[bvanlieu]

Get pads...not rotors.

You rarely actually need rotors. Its a huge profit item for service centers to do a brake 'job'. Is your rotor worn below minimum spec? If so replace. If not keep.

When buying aftermarket rotors of meh quality, XDrilled etc...you will have to replace them as they develop radial cracks rather quickly

77K on my D, replaced pads with Ake's earlier this year. Much less dust, lost a bit of initial bite as reported by others. Original rotors going strong.

Dealer recommended rotors on my 07 cayman (factory XDrill, original on there)...measured rotors to only 60% worn from factory limit...still going strong 2 years later as well, with no radial cracks past the limits.

Past two visits they have not said boo since the pads were changed and have lots of meat

- b

[Hockey13]

Originally Posted by bvanlieu

Get pads...not rotors.

You rarely actually need rotors. Its a huge profit item for service centers to do a brake 'job'. Is your rotor worn below minimum spec? If so replace. If not keep.

When buying aftermarket rotors of meh quality, XDrilled etc...you will have to replace them as they develop radial cracks rather quickly

77K on my D, replaced pads with Ake's earlier this year. Much less dust, lost a bit of initial bite as reported by others. Original rotors going strong.

Dealer recommended rotors on my 07 cayman (factory XDrill, original on there)...measured rotors to only 60% worn from factory limit...still going strong 2 years later as well, with no radial cracks past the limits.

Past two visits they have not said boo since the pads were changed and have lots of meat

- b

I don't know if the rotors can be turned as they're still on. I can't really chance it either because if they can't, I can't have my car down for days as I await a shipment of new ones... here in the west coast not sure where I could go and just pick up same day at a good price.

I suspect they're warped because upon breaking soft to medium, I get a bit steering wheel shake side to side, but none in the peddle atm. they're probably the original rotors etc as the last break job was before 50,000 and I'm at 115k.

[chau]

The shaking is probably from pad deposit rather than a warped rotor.

[TorqueAddict]

Originally Posted by chau

The shaking is probably from pad deposit rather than a warped rotor.

Could be (could be not). In my case (I had Brembo blanks before). My rotors developed hot spots, which caused them to heat up and warp and behave stupid. I developed shakes after a few hard stops, and they would go away as rotor cooled down. No pad deposits.

[Hockey13]

looks like I ordered just in time... weird thing is this is the front pass side... the front driver had a good amount of pad left...

[taibanl]

Your best bet for an oem replacement with increased stopping power is actually Z4is rotors. They are a two-piece that fit any 335 e90 and have better cooling (thus stopping ) power than stock.

Recommend coated for sure

[Hockey13]

old pads all had cracks. new rotors and pads

[335duff]

No rotors will give your car more stopping power. You are always limited at the tire contact patch, not the pad . otherwise your brakes are broken.

Rotors can have a larger heat capacity or better heat dissipation, but you should still always be able to lock up all 4 tires.

Edit: also i think the z4 35is rotor is about the best street rotor available. Havent seen any cheaper aftermarket parts that actually seem better