"Little" Upgrade Before and After

[SnakeyesTx]

My brakes were wearing a bit thin and the rotors weren't looking to good so I unbolted my wallet and decided to do a little upgrade while I was in there.

I ended up paying 157 dollars for all 4 after shipping and another 60 for my front pads (rears were replaced a few months ago).

One Rear (left) / One Front (Right) ...

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l273/Tenki-Kun/XDrill/IM000249.jpg


Front Pre-install - note the lip on the edge, the contact area was really thin

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l273/Tenki-Kun/XDrill/IM000251.jpg


Front Post-Install - Used Black ceramic caliper paint after cleaning up the caliper and mount.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l273/Tenki-Kun/XDrill/IM000252.jpg


Mother nature opened up on me so I wasn't able to do the rears today, but if its dry, I'll try to get those done tomorrow. I drove around the block and it makes a little roar when I brake but you can notice a difference in bite. Overall spent about 40-50 bucks extra over stock replacements in my area, so I think I came out on top. :D


On a side note : Did you know the caliper mounting bracket is actually SILVER in color once you get all the brake dust and grime off?

[Milkboot]

What he is not showing is how much of a lip he had on his rotors! We noticed it a few weeks ago when he got some new tires put on ;)



Oh yeah, I am next in line for doing the same thing soon, Once we get her back up and running. Which i think is our next doing monday or tomorrow Shawn :P

[Sam-Son]

Oooh what brand Bavauto?

[etcetera]

Are those the Ebay rotors? I'm about to pull the trigger on a set myself.

Eric

[SnakeyesTx]

I believe they started out as Brembo OEM ones that a machine-shop modifies with the slots and chamfered holes. The quality was good and the cross-drilled holes were plotted in a fashion so they weren't cutting into the cooling vanes (meaning they didn't use a hole pattern from a different model that may have cut into the vanes).

I shopped for about a month before I landed on these. The "painted center" ones were kinda cheesy since they were X-drilled only but not ventilated.

[Sam-Son]

once you get the rear ones on I'm curious as to how they stop. I was looking into upgrading my brakes

[winfred]

the noise will lessen a little once they break in but there will always be a little buzz with drilled's

[Bin_jammin]

Where did you get them, exactly? I'd really like to know, if they're even halfway decent I'll cryo-treat them and see how hard they hold a beating.

[SnakeyesTx]

I got them from Performance Brakes in California.

You can sometimes find them on e-bay

[Milkboot]

For a second there I thought you had my jack! but I forgot yours is the ghetto one with the wheel missing :P

[pmlmotorsports]

Guys, there's a company in Mass., Design Rotor Technologies, that does drilling, slotting, etc... to OEM rotors. I have used their BMW applications for years without any issues, always using Brembo or ATE or Balo rotors only. Personally, performance gains under normal driving conditions are modest at best, but asthetically speaking, they are the shiznitzzzzz.

[Tiger]

That mini airplane landing braking sound will always be there... depends on how hard you step on the brake. I like that sound... that way I really know how hard I am stopping the car. I had all three... crossed only... slotted only and plain vanilla... Cross is really great... Slotted is just as great without too much noise. Plain vanilla sucks.

[SnakeyesTx]

Okay... forgot to update... Rears went on Sunday a whole lot faster than the fronts. Note to others, the alan head bolt that holds the rotor on is a 5mm where as the front one's are 6mm. That was interesting to find out when it starts raining on you outside while you're holding a 6 and wondering where the heck you're gonna find a 5!

I kinda like the hum when you hit the brakes, but it sounds EXACTLY like when you have a spindle bearing going bad.

Anyway, went to get gas as soon as I was finished and cleaned up. The drive is about .9 miles from my house and there's a few lights and stop signs. As I was topping the tank I walked around the car looking at the wear/break-in pattern on the rotors. It was a little bizarre to see that only about 1" of the outer face was getting contacted and about 1/2" of the rears. Decided to take a longer trip and so far I've got about 20 miles on them. They appear to be widening the contact marks the longer I drive and it brakes very smooth. As for the bite, I didn't think I felt a difference until I bothered looking at the speedo as I was coming to red lights and noticing that I was actually coming into the lights at a little higher speed than before. Felt very controlled and misleadingly smooth.

I've been told pads will wear faster with these rotors, but I'm already used to changing pads about every 8-12 months from my Jeep days so I doubt it'll feel any different when it comes to change intervals.

[winfred]

i've never figured out where the thing about slotted rotors will chew through pads in no time, i got over 50k miles (could of been 60k or better, can't remember when i installed them) from a set of pbr organics on my e30 on ate power discs before i changes the whole suspension, 40k on my 760 turbo volvo on pbr's also before i got rid of the car, still had plenty of meat on them, maybe these people are being sold track pads that are soft as ****