HAs anyone tried these Centric brake pads?

[Xtony]

One week and I've had enough of the brake dust on my wheels. I'm trying to decide between the few front pads available for my 4.8. Has anyone tried these Centric pads?
Zeckhausen Racing

[ABMW]

Originally Posted by Xtony

One week and I've had enough of the brake dust on my wheels. I'm trying to decide between the few front pads available for my 4.8. Has anyone tried these Centric pads?
Zeckhausen Racing

Difficult to escape pad dust if you want these calipers to perform properly.

They're not 8 piston calipers like you'd find on a Ferrari, so the braking material is pretty soft by nature. Hence it tosses off a ton of dust.

Waxing your wheels and cleaning them with proper solutions can do wonders.

Always use a different bucket to wash your wheels, as well as different towels. Remember the brake dust is microscopic pieces of metal that will scratch your coveted clear coat quite easily.

My $2-cents

[Ag4.8]

Originally Posted by ABMW

Difficult to escape pad dust if you want these calipers to perform properly.

They're not 8 piston calipers like you'd find on a Ferrari, so the braking material is pretty soft by nature. Hence it tosses off a ton of dust.

Waxing your wheels and cleaning them with proper solutions can do wonders.

Always use a different bucket to wash your wheels, as well as different towels. Remember the brake dust is microscopic pieces of metal that will scratch your coveted clear coat quite easily.

My $2-cents

I wash my wheels weekly. Waxing them periodically helps.

[Xtony]

Thanks for your opinions, but that's not what I'm asking for. I've had enough experience with aftermarket pads on my other BMWs that I know that you don't need to live with the dust. In fact I ran my M3 on Road Atlanta with the wonderful dusty stock pads and they faded severely by the end of each session. When I went to replace the pads for some Hawk HPS dustless pads, the stock pads cracked and crumbled when I removed them from the calipers. I still use the Hawk HPS on the rear of my track car even though I now use a dedicated track pad (Performance Friction Compound 06) in the front.

I also run aftermarket pads (Akebonos) on my e38 740i Sport and love them.

If either of these pads were available for my X5, I would have installed them by now.

I won't even get into the discussion of what BMW or BMWNA "thinks" is best for our cars. Just look at the battery issues some people are having. I'm sure you guys think that an aftermarket battery would be a big no-no.

[ABMW]

An aftermarket battery is a solution: Optima 12 Volt Performance Battery - Sealed Batteries by Optima

If I have any issues, I'll install one right away.

Replace the pads, with more aggressive materials and you'll wear out the rotors. It's give and take. As to avoiding the dust, on a vehicle with a GVWR of 6,000+ pounds that stops within distances comparable to some sedans?

Sounds to good to be true, no matter what pad compound you're using. I've experimented with all sorts of pad compounds. Brake dust, is par for the course.

You're telling me you're not getting brake dust on your 740i, whereas you previously did?

The X5 has a high performance computerized brake program built into its systems. Those calipers are grabbing those rotors pretty darn hard, even during routine stopping, in order to provide the type of pedal feedback we're all experiencing which is not bad for an SUV/SAV.

I'm not saying you can't escape the pad dust issue, in fact if you can, please let me know, I'll buy a set right away. I'm only saying, I'd be surprise if you see massive results from changing up the pad compound.

I think only a handful of active members on this board know that much about the ins and outs of auto mechanics. Obviously you're on the advanced side of this board's knowledge range.

I'm on your side also, but due to the limited response to your question, I think you're going to be the guinea pig. So, give it a shot and let us all know...

The pad dust is certainly an annoyance.

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by Xtony

One week and I've had enough of the brake dust on my wheels. I'm trying to decide between the few front pads available for my 4.8. Has anyone tried these Centric pads?
Zeckhausen Racing

I don't have any experience with these pads. I do know that many people here looking to cut back on dust have chosen the Axxis Delux pads, but you may already know that. Dust is not a main concern for me, so I run the Axxis XBG's. For what it is worth, Centric makes good quality brake parts IMO and may be worth taking a chance on them if dust bothers you that much. Report back if you decide to go with them and let us know how they turned out. Good luck.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by Xtony

One week and I've had enough of the brake dust on my wheels. I'm trying to decide between the few front pads available for my 4.8. Has anyone tried these Centric pads?
Zeckhausen Racing

I haven't used the Centric pads, but I have dealt with Zeckhausen on three brake jobs and trust Dave's judgement. Great service. I typically used Axxis Deluxe.

As you note above, it is certainly possible to change out pads for ones with equal performance (pedal feel, initial bite), longer pad and rotor life, and virtually no dust. The trade off that I made for those improvements was 10% more noise on cold pads. My calipers on the X5, 535, etc, performed very well with aftermarket pads. The 535 got them within a few hundred km of new, as I had the M-Sport wheels that made cleaning a chore. The X5 got them at 30,000 km, and they still had good life left (as did the rotors) at 72,000 km when I sold it.

BMW's choice of pad material has a lot to do with reducing warranty complaints for brake squeal. A noble goal, but I prefer no dust. It isn't a badge of honour. If they didn't add the carbon black in to the pad mix as a filler, you wouldn't even see the dust.

Try them and let us know how they work.

[Denalio]

For what it's worth I installed Carbotech brake pads two weeks ago and my wheels where still clean after two weeks of driving. Braking is also much better. I sent them blanks and they fused on the bobcat compound. They are working on mass producing them as soon as they can source the blanks. There are a few members waiting for the group buy pads. I will be checking the progress this week.

[ring007]

I have these on both my 4.8i and 3.5d (front only on the diesel as they haven't released a rear pad set yet). I've been running them for about 2 months now. Like you, I felt the obscene amount of brake dust on the 214's from the oem pads was ridiculous. Initial bite of the Centrics is marginally less than oem but not a concern for daily driving. I feel ultimate stopping power is same as oem just takes a short while to adjust when compared to oem. Brake dust is significantly less compared to oem and the Centric pads are a bargain at $152 for a full front and rear set. No more noise than oem as well. Win-Win as far as I'm concerned. Plus dealing with Dave Z. is always a pleasure. He makes it very easy to make the switch.

Originally Posted by Xtony

One week and I've had enough of the brake dust on my wheels. I'm trying to decide between the few front pads available for my 4.8. Has anyone tried these Centric pads?
Zeckhausen Racing

[Xtony]

Originally Posted by Denalio

For what it's worth I installed Carbotech brake pads two weeks ago and my wheels where still clean after two weeks of driving. Braking is also much better. I sent them blanks and they fused on the bobcat compound. They are working on mass producing them as soon as they can source the blanks. There are a few members waiting for the group buy pads. I will be checking the progress this week.

I'm looking into the Carbotechs as a possibility also. Glad to hear you like them so far.