Ceramic Break Pads - Bad For Calipers???

[Blade69]

Last year buddy of mine had some ceramic pads installed on his 4.6is at the local Midas. The guy told him that it would decrease the brake dust. True enough it did. This year, he got into a fender bender (got rear ended). The dealer was fixing his truck. He went to pick it up and the dealer said they had to replace his calipers because the ceramic pads would get too hot and lock up the calipers. So they replaced the calipers and pads.

Now maybe its just me, but I thought the whole thing behind ceramic pads was that they REDUCED heating up which meant better stopping distances. I admit I don't know everything, but it sounds like the stealership was up to no good.

What say you????

[TiAgX5]

BMW Performance upgrade brake packages use Cool Carbon Ceramic pads, dealer is full of sh!t.

I've used C C Ceramic pads on all my BMWs with OE calipers without issues, even severe track duty in the TX and FL heat.

The Carbon pads have less inital bite when cold and I prefer this over the "grabby" OE/OEM compounds. In low speed situatations where the driver takes up the brake pedal travel quickly (in a parking lot when a vehicle unexpectedly pulls out) the BMW brake assist/overboost along with the sticky low temp pads slams your car to a stop. The lower coefficient of friction of the ceramic pads when cold reduces the "slam stop".

[Blade69]

Thanks. That's what I thought. Because I want to switch to ceramics for my next pad change.

[TiAgX5]

I would bet the frozen calipers were caused by corrosion from the stuff they spread on the frozen roads up there.

[Blade69]

Well....i'm not sure how long he's had his X, but no salt has been spread on the roads yet this year. And not too much last year. We had a really mild winter.

[X5SND]

I've only ran one set of Oem BMW pads since I got my truck back in 05. I couldn't deal with the obscene amounts of dust they create....thats when I switched to akebono ceramics. Haven't had a problem ever. Dealer is full of it.
Once you go to ceramics, you won't go back.

[TiAgX5]

No matter, exposure to road salts for 1 bad winter years ago will cause accelerated corrosion over time, even wet conditions during summer driving will re-activate the corrosion process of the nasty stuff..

[Blade69]

Originally Posted by X5SND

I've only ran one set of Oem BMW pads since I got my truck back in 05. I couldn't deal with the obscene amounts of dust they create....thats when I switched to akebono ceramics. Haven't had a problem ever. Dealer is full of it.
Once you go to ceramics, you won't go back.

My thoughts exactly!!

Originally Posted by TiAgX5

No matter, exposure to road salts for 1 bad winter years ago will cause accelerated corrosion over time, even wet conditions during summer driving will re-activate the corrosion process of the nasty stuff..

Cool. I'll let him know.

[X5SND]

Combine an outer seal that maybe leaking or cracked, moisture and all the wonderful potions they throw down on the roads come winter and you'll have a paperweight in no time. That's where your buddy's seized caliper most likely came from.

[JCL]

Ceramic compounds in the pads means the pads will handle heat better than organic pads, and not glaze as much. That reduces fading. It has nothing to do with calipers. If you brake harder, whatever pad you have, you will produce more heat and the caliper will see that heat at some point. So yes, the calipers will be stressed more with pads that improve stopping distances, because there is more heat to dissipate.

That said, heat doesn't lock up calipers. Caliper problems are usually caused by corrosion in the bore of the caliper cylinder, and that corrosion is usually caused by water in the brake fluid sitting there behind the piston, at the lowest point in the system. There is no impact to the piston or caliper from the de-icing compounds spread on the roads, unless you have corrosion on the sliding pins of the floating caliper.