Beware! EBC Red Box experience

[Teutonaddict]

This thread is specifically about 4.6/4.8 applications, but may have relevance to all X5 owners considering EBC products.

I'll start off by saying that I have no fiscal interest in any mentioned manufacturers or vendors, other than as a paying customer. I've been replacing factory pads with low-dust aftermarket alternatives for the last eight years, on two E39's (540i/6 and M5) and an E38 740i Sport (ALL the same pads as 3.0 and 4.4 X5's, by the way!). Previously, I've used both Mintex Red Box and Axxis Deluxe Plus with great satisfaction.

My particular issue is with EBC's product for the unique '920' pad shape for the E53 4.6/4.8is fronts. It is manufactured with a casting on the fixed-side pad backer that is different from stock, which I missed when I removed the factory originals and compared them to the new EBC's. As such, this design defect causes the pad to face the rotor at an angle and suboptimizes braking performance. In my case, the pads melted/disintegrated in one week's time...

The other thing of grave concern to me is the conditions of the friction material after a typical bedding procedure and relatively normal around-town use since install. For a high performance compound, these pads look worse than any pad I EVER used on my M5--even for heavy track use! Now I know that poor alignment with the rotor must lead to differential thermal loads, but these puppies look like they've been nuked!

I followed the EBC instructions for 'bedding' from 40 MPH. Not being satisfied with the feel, I stepped their conservative process up to a more typical 65-->10 MPH series of applications, as described by DaveZ on zeckhausen.com. While inital bite felt a bit better, it never resumed a stock-like feel. I noticed uneven deposition radially on the rotor, so I removed the pads today to investigate.

Here's what I found: