I got a quote for my dealer, BMW of Peabody in MA, rear pads, rotors and sensor for $544. Indy wanted $530. I'd go with the dealer for the extra $14. How do my numbers stack up? Should I keep shopping?

That's crazy that dealers and indy's can be so close or so far apart. The 2 indy's I called here (both of which I have used) quoted me in the $400 range for the front pads and rotors and the dealer was $900.

Not all indies are good, some of them know that you try to stay away from expensive dealer then they charge you alot of $$$, not much less than dealer.
There are two indies in my area, they both honest and good guys one in S. Jersey called MD Motorwerk and another in S. Philadelphia VAC BMW. MD Motorwerk are nice people (Matt) and honest but they don't open shop on saturday even it's closed to where i live. VAC Bmw don't service on Saturday but they open and you can come to tell them your problem, and they take a look but not finish until Monday next week. Plus they open late until 7PM that i can stop by right after work.

Be honest with them, they will be honest to you in return. I have been doing that for years.

Search your local indy shop to check whether they open on saturday.

Thanks for the recommendation, but unfortunately, like you, it'll be a bit of a drive for me as well. All the shops that I can find in OC are only open M-F :(

OEM pads and rotors in europe are manufactured by Ate , i buy replacements from Euro Car Parts UK - European Car Parts , packaging says Ate originals . full set pads and rotors cost around £300 ,plus fitting at indy .

I used ATE rotors from a jobber for the fronts on the X5. While they were good quality, and stopped fine, they had more corrosion issues than the originals, or the replacement rear rotors. I used OEM on the rears after that. Proof once again that OEM may have different quality than the same apparent part from a BMW supplier.

Just picked up Hawk HPS pads; Brembo Rotors; and a rear pad sensor on audtopartswarehouse.com for just above $300 delivered (free shipping).

They offer a $15 coupon when you type the phrase Ready4Summer in the enter coupon code area.

Thought you'd all like to know :D

Brembo Rotors... Rusty???
 

I had ordered and installed the rotors and pads, actually got Akebono pads instead of Hawk HPS. The pads are good and silent, and so far no real brake dust issue, but the rotors are real rusty! The part of the rotor that sticks out and attaches to my wheel is where the problem is, not the part the pads rub. It is a really orange looking rust. What should I do? The rotors are OE replacement, not Brembo crossed drilled or anything. I always thought Brembo had a good name, but I guess they rust :dunno:. Anyone had a similiar issue?

Lots of cheap rotors will rust. Are you sure that they are Brembos and not just claiming to be? Even if they are Brembo rotors, that is no guarantee of quality. If they were a floating design with a separate hat then that is a different thing, but anything that is made to match the OEM style is likely just outsourced to the cheapest foreign factory.

You can clean them up and paint them, but it is a temporary solution.

I bought them from autopartswarehouse.com, so I would think they are genuine Brembo and not just claiming to be, and they came in Brembo boxes. It is very frustrating, because they cost about as much as the OEM BMW rotors maybe about $20-$30 less. I should have just got rotors from BMW, I'm going to look into Brembo customer service to see if there is any sort of guarantee for quality, because they look awful!