Axxis pads bedding complete...

[X5Jay]

So I completed the bedding-in process for my new Axxis Deluxe Plus brake pads. I got up at 4:45am on Friday morning and for those of you who may know the area, I headed up north on Rt. 128 to Gloucester, MA. I went all the way up to the first rotary where I know the traffic is usually light, but there were a few more people on the road than I had expected. I still got the job done though - warmed up the breaks with a few mild 60 - 45 slow-downs and then I proceeded to go through the 8 very hard slow-downs from 60 -10. I didn't want to glide for a while when a couple of cars were coming up on my tail because I didn't want the breaks to cool at all between stops, so the last couple of slow-downs had to be done in the breakdown lane. Yes, I'm sure they thought I was driving like a lunatic, or perhaps they thought I had something seriously wrong with my X. Oh well - couldn't really stop at that point. I made sure I was as safe as I could be. During the procedure, the breaks modulated quite well and I could easily feel how close I was to activating the ABS with each run - I could feel the tires just barely starting to lose grip. During the 8th run, I could definitely feel the brakes beginning to fade a bit - more so near the end of the run than at the beginning. After that I drove the car a full 20 minutes without touching the breaks again to allow them to cool sufficiently. The procedure went off exactly as spelled out on Dave Z.'s instructions and there were no surprises or ill effects - just quiet, straight, and very strong braking. The rotor faces turned a bit blue and I could see the gray color that Dave noted as well - seems to have worked exactly as planned. Overall I'd say the Axxis pads feel just a bit better than stock, definitely noticeable but nothing dramatic. No noise at all so far and the brakes don't seem to grab as much during that last second when I come to a complete stop - you know, when they grab just a bit too tight right at the end and make that brief "grunt" - no more of that - a nice plus for sure. I put my "cleaned all winter" style 132's back on as soon as I got home and I've barely driven the car since then, so I still don't have a good feel for how much less dusting they are. I'll let you know what I see after I get a few more miles on them.

After a year of hanging out w/you guys, here's a couple of pics of my X5 - including a shot of a rear rotor after bedding in the pads... Sorry it took me so long!