I bought my 4.8is about a week and a half ago. One major point of contention is that the brakes and brake system were so terrible and unsafe that I made a point to address this issue soon. As you can see by the photos provided, the rear rotors and pads were shot. Deep gouging along the surface, strange pad wear near the outer circumference, tons of rust. The front rotors were warped enough to cause pulsation under heavy or prolonged braking. In addition to pads and rotors, I also did an entire brake fluid flush as the pedal feel was also off to me. Low and behold, the fluid was turning brown and I had air in the lines on both the passenger rear and front. Passenger rear fluid had particulate in it.

The parts I used were from ebay seller brake_overstock. I didn’t feel it necessary to go OEM or something from Pelican. There are tons of reviews regarding the QC of this brand so I’ll spare the details and internet arguments. Fluid was ATE super blue (which I prefer to use in all my BMW’s). Price including shipping for four rotors, four sets of pads and 1L of ATE was $250. I reused the wear sensors without issue. Just pop them off the old pads and pop them into the new ones. Total installation time with one-person bleeding was about 2.5 hrs. Bedding took about five minutes following the manufacturer recommendation. Driving this afternoon, everything works nicely. My preference tends to be blanks, but for the price decided to give this setup a try.

Rear assembly


Close-up of rear rotor


New rear rotor and ceramic brake pads


New front rotor and pads


Front pass wheel