[Cammy5]

My stock 328i M Sport always felt underbraked or at least suffering from a very soft bite and immediate fade on the track. I have a 2 day HPDE at VIR this weekend so I definitely wanted to get some better pads on the car.

Part of my brake upgrade pad saga has been due to the myriad of caliper/rotor/pad sizes that BMW has offered on the F30 and changing them from time to time. For the record, my car doesn't have the optional $650 M Sport brakes but does have the 4 piston front Brembos with 340mm rotors and the 1 piston rears with 330mm rotors. Almost every website I visited gave me different part numbers for the pads I needed. In ordering the Hawks from Tire Rack, even after my shop (BPC) sent the original pair they shipped back because it was the wrong size, the sent out the incorrect rears on the second try. Thus, my comments only pertain to the fronts until Friday when the correct (I pray) rears arrive.

After installation of the fronts I pulled out of the shop and started the bedding in process per the instructions on the box - 6 moderate stops from 30-35mph then 2 hard stops from 45-50mph. Right away I could tell that the initial bite was DRASTICALLY improved. In the first moderate bed in stops I did trigger moderate ABS pulsing. On the last two hard stops I got a lot of ABS pulsing. I assume this is normal. I have Michelin PSS tires so my street tires aren't a weak link.

I've attached a picture of my stock pads as my car has just over 10k miles. I'm not a very aggressive street driver but did do a one day HPDE at VIR with them when I first got the car. I'm sure the folks that really know brakes and can analyze a pad will chime in and provide some feedback. [IMG][/IMG]

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by Cammy5

My stock 328i M Sport always felt underbraked or at least suffering from a very soft bite and immediate fade on the track. I have a 2 day HPDE at VIR this weekend so I definitely wanted to get some better pads on the car.

Part of my brake upgrade pad saga has been due to the myriad of caliper/rotor/pad sizes that BMW has offered on the F30 and changing them from time to time. For the record, my car doesn't have the optional $650 M Sport brakes but does have the 4 piston front Brembos with 340mm rotors and the 1 piston rears with 330mm rotors. Almost every website I visited gave me different part numbers for the pads I needed. In ordering the Hawks from Tire Rack, even after my shop (BPC) sent the original pair they shipped back because it was the wrong size, the sent out the incorrect rears on the second try. Thus, my comments only pertain to the fronts until Friday when the correct (I pray) rears arrive.

After installation of the fronts I pulled out of the shop and started the bedding in process per the instructions on the box - 6 moderate stops from 30-35mph then 2 hard stops from 45-50mph. Right away I could tell that the initial bite was DRASTICALLY improved. In the first moderate bed in stops I did trigger moderate ABS pulsing. On the last two hard stops I got a lot of ABS pulsing. I assume this is normal. I have Michelin PSS tires so my street tires aren't a weak link.

I've attached a picture of my stock pads as my car has just over 10k miles. I'm not a very aggressive street driver but did do a one day HPDE at VIR with them when I first got the car. I'm sure the folks that really know brakes and can analyze a pad will chime in and provide some feedback. [IMG][/IMG]

It's definitely possible to overheat the Hawk 5.0s at an HPDE.

Here's a chart of brake pads from Hawk:
http://www.hawkperformance.com/stree...nd-application

I think the Street Race compound pads are more appropriate for a light duty track pad that you can still DD.

Tirerack link for your car

[Cammy5]

I'm sure it is possible to overheat the 5.0s, but not within the first lap like the oem pads. I poured over tons of reviews and tests on the 5.0s and am confident they'll suit my demands. This is really a 2-3 month stop gap until I upgrade to the full M Perf BBK.

[MickAv8r]

For daily use the 5.0's are best. If you are a novice-ish driver and only doing a track day here or there the 5.0s will be fine. If you are upper intermediate or more you will be running a full race pad. The Street/Race pads are a waste of time, too noisy and dirty for daily driving and not enough if you need a real pad.

[Cammy5]

Originally Posted by MickAv8r

For daily use the 5.0's are best. If you are a novice-ish driver and only doing a track day here or there the 5.0s will be fine. If you are upper intermediate or more you will be running a full race pad. The Street/Race pads are a waste of time, too noisy and dirty for daily driving and not enough if you need a real pad.

I agree. I'm not out to break an under 2 min record at VIR, just to learn my car's limits a bit. These 5.0s feel infinitely better than the stock pads.