[jamiestuart]

I have just upgraded mr brakes for the EBC Drilled and grooved and EBC yellow stuff pads.
I am of to the ring on Monday for the week so wondered if anybody else has carried out this upgrade and what they thought??

[willhollin]

Never tried the EBC stuff, i'm sure someone on here has though.....

Did you upgrade the brake fluid and brake hoses too?

[jamiestuart]

I Left The Lines As Standard But Did Upgrade The To 5.1 Brake Fluid.
Will Look To Upgrade Lines When I Get Back. Thought It Would Be Good To See How Good The Discs And Pads Where First As On Previous Cars I Have Found The Rubber Lines Gave A More Progressive Feel.
Will Find Out After A Few Laps On Monday Evening??
I HAD THE EBC YELLOW STUFF PADS ON MY Z4MC AND FOUND THEN VERY GOOD AND REASONABLY PRICED COMPARED TO PAGID, FERODO ETC.

[Koalway Kid]

i've tried several aftermarket discs and pads including the EBC ones you have fitted... i keep overheating them on trackdays & ring... so just changing back to OEM for now... but was also considering m3 brake discs turned down a few mm to the correct diameter....
when the warrenty is up i may go full hog for big brake AP Racing kit. (i'm also using 5.1 fluid).

[kriszty]

Just wondering about your experience with the brake upgrade ( EBC )

i,m also considering a brake upgrade, but not sure if i would do it

so, please some feedback

thanks in advance

[AlwynMike]

I did a similar upgrade on my 530d - EBC Slotted discs (not drilled) and Yellowstuff pads.

You MUST run these pads in to EBC's instructions.
They do catch fire if you are very heavy on them during run-in. Don't ask me how I know that - you can guess!).

Bearing in mind that I am not a racer, and I don't do trackdays - I just wanted an upgrade "just in case" plus I tow a caravan which means more braking effort.

I got Yellowstuff because they are less dusty - which they are - I hardly ever have to clean the front wheels these days.

The downside is the discs are very noisy, particularly under normal braking. I am going to sell my car soon, and will be putting s set of standard discs on because I don't want prospective buyers to be put off by the noise. This may not be as much an issue on a 3 as they are a noisier car than the 5er.

Mike

[kriszty]

Hi Mike,

Is the braking noticable better then the Oem Brakes, or just a slight improvement ?

thx

[reidtastic]

Going from 1 piece oem rotors to any aftermarket one piece rotor is not going to make much of a differance if any, not really worth doing IMO unless you are getting them for the same price or cheaper than standard discs! The only thing that is worth doing to an OEM set up is using a good DOT 4 fluid with a high wet boiling point eg castrol RBF or Motul SRF and upgraging the pads. the brake hoses are worth doing too.

[AlwynMike]

Originally Posted by kriszty

Hi Mike,

Is the braking noticable better then the Oem Brakes, or just a slight improvement ?

thx

No noticeable difference whatsoever.

As I said, I am not a racer - I just like the occasional blast, someone more demanding may notice the difference.

Looking again, I have the REDSTUFF pads, not Yellow. I'd have these again because they are almost dust free, but i wouldn't bother with high performance discs.

Cost-wise, these pads and discs were the same price as I could get a standard set from a $tealer - around £230 IIRC (fronts only).
My car had only done 40-odd thousand miles, and whilst the pads were worn out, the front discs were just below the allowable limit, although they looked perfectly OK. The micrometer doesn't lie!

As for the flames - I was at the end of the running in mileage, and I had one of the aforementioned blasts. As I stopped at a main road T-junction, I'd used the brakes very hard indeed, and I could see smoke coming from the wheels as I was waiting for a gap in the traffic so I could pull out. Gesticulations from left turners alerted me that something was perhaps not quite right. Solution, blow out and cool off the discs by applying right foot to throttle and get car moving at a decent rate. Seemed to do the trick! Disc surfaces were not discoloured, but the black coating round the edge of the disc was!

So: For REALLY hard driving on the road (you should be locked up) and for Track Days, then yes, get some slotted or drilled, otherwise, don't bother.

Mike

[dxb335d]

Have never been impressed with them. I'd say stock stuff is better. Let us know how you get on.


What are the yellow ones again, track variant? They may be ok.

[parapaul]

They keepo changing their minds - Yellow used to be their track pad, but now they say Blue for Track, Yellow is for fast road on heavier, high powered cars.

[m1bjr]

Get rid of that naff BREMBO sticker though.