Cool Carbon Brake Pads
 

Check Brake Lining message just came up, I will be going with the Cool Carbon Ceramic S/T pads front and rear.

Searched everywhere and the best deal is just under $200 on BavAuto, with their 20% off special (retail is $230 everywhere else I looked). When I repaced the pads on my E46 330i Perf Pkg 4 yrs ago the pads were $130. WTF??? A $100 increase in price over 4 yrs during a down economy???? :confused: FYI, Cool Carbon prices their pads at $117.50 fronts and $112.50 rears regardless of model application.

I guess the word got out just how good these pads are and I may have helped that. :(

Anyone here seen any deals on these pads I may have missed during my search?

I'm using Akebono ceramic pads all around. The pedal feel is not nearly as nice as stock, but the near invisibility of the brake dust makes it worthwhile.

I got mine at tirerack.com

BTW: at first I only used them on the fronts and I had "weird" braking feel. Really weird. It dawned on my the stock rear pads had a higher initial 'bite' and different 'release' characteristics. Switching to the same compound all around made a world of difference.

Had the Akebono pads on the E46 prior to the Cool Carbons and found I could get the Akebono to fade in around 7 or 8 hard stops back to back from around 80 mph in 90deg heat. The Cool Carbons use a hollow caramic formula that reduces fade (better heat dissapation), after 12 hard back to back stops from 80 mph without fade on the Cool Carbon, I knew what I would continue to install on fast and/or heavy vehicles. The Cool Carbon pads actually performed better on rotors that where thinned down while wearing out the Akebono pads. With the reduced heat sinking effect of thinner rotor I expected the Cool Carbon pads to fade sooner.

I've read E46, E90, E39, M5....... owners have post similar findings in other BMW forums too, so it's not just me.

Might be why BMW uses Cool Carbon pads in all their big brake upgrade pkgs too.

Interesting! :thumbup:

Linky to the last bit about the big brake upgrade using cool carbon pads.

I have to vote for the Akebono pads. My last set of four was about $155 from FCP Groton. They put together a good package for me with Brembo rotors first time around and I got over 130,000 miles on those pads. I've got 39,000 miles on this set, with still no measurable wear on the rotors at all.

As others have noted, the initial grab is not as tight as OEM, but total stopping power is just as good. I've never experienced any fade problems towing a PWC in Texas heat.

2002 X5 3.0 241,000 miles
2004 325i 107,000 miles

In speaking with a Sr tech at Bert Smith BMW in St Pete about pad I was informed that BMW is using 2 pad suppliers for their big brake kits, Brembo and Cool Carbon.

Will see if I can find a link.

The question being where you can buy want at a lesser price than you have found rather than what you should buy--- I just purchased new rear pads and rotors. Along the way I took note of Cool carbon prices even though I was searching for best price on another brand I have on the front. I don't recall a price as good as you have found.

Check to see if AutoAnything carries the pads you want. I have a 15% of discount certificate I can PM you the code.

Thanks Brian. They don't carry the Cool Carbon pads at AutoAnything. Doubt they would sell many sets seeing that Cool Carbon only produces pads for BMW, Porsche and Stoptech from reading the application data on their website.......

Cool Carbon Performance Brake Pads

Best deal currently out there is BavAuto, 15% off full F/R set with free shipping (and no tax). $195.45 for the pads and $15.95 for rear wear sensor. Ordered today.

I put the CC's on my 4.4 along with Centric rotors and would not do it again. Was very happy with the rotors, but disappointed with the pads. Only slightly less dust than factory pads which was a disappointment.

Less fade than OE which was nice but not worth the cost, especially since they didn't cut down on the dust. Could not get them to stop making noise when I was backing up....odd. I've done 20+ brake jobs in 35 years and this was the first that I couldn't solve a noise problem which I attribute to the pads. They were quiet in forward.

I've used posi quiets on other trucks and was happy with those for stopping and low dust and they'd be my next pad on the X.

My 2 cents

I feel brake pads have gone up in price.

For my other car, I spent $100 on pads (Stoptech Street) and only $50 on rotors (Centric/OEM). Really shocking how expensive pads were on that car, but I didn't want to get $20 Pepboys specials.

For the X5, I have put PosiQuiet pads on. The initial bite is horrible, but it eventually gets the car stopped. Good thing the X5 is no speed racer. The low dust is amazing though. After 2 months and 2k miles, the wheels are still pretty clean and I haven't washed the X5 yet.

I actually found the Akebono Euro pads would squeak in reverse.

The Cool Carbon pads dusted less then the A'bonos but had better feel and actually needed slightly LESS pedal pressure when really pushed and heated up (never used a street compound pad that needed less pedal pressure when driven hard). No pads I've ever tracked (VIPER and ZR1 included) have been as linear as the Cool Carbons, 1 to 1 in regard to pedal pressure vs brake force (a must for efficent modulation), if ABS engages at 15lbs of pedal pressure, then 5lbs is 1/3 brake force, 10lbs is 2/3 brake force, never driven a pad as linear in response both hot and cold.

Also like that they're designed/tested/produce in Germany and ALL their effort is exclusivly directed toward BMW/Porsche/StopTech, they don't try to be a "if it uses brake pads, we make them for your application" producer. Not sure if their E53 application is similar to their E46 pads, if it is, they will contact the entire friction surface of the rotor. Pads that leave a 1/16" to 1/8" ring of unswept area of the rotor at the inner and outer edges of the friction surface are poorly designed in my book!

Ordered 4 of these to install with the pads.

good info. I have used Akebonos for all my cars for about 5years now. For about $50 more I get OEM grip I will get these next time

It's funny you should mention this....I've been using Akebono ceramics from the time the first set of OEM's were done on the X (like 7ish years ago now), and for the first time, were doing exactly what you mentioned backing out of the driveway this morning. It was subtle, but still noticeable.

While I've never found myself to waver from the Akebonos, this last set has me questioning my next set of pads. While I was expecting my pads to wear faster given that I moved to the centric/stoptech drilled rotors... this last set of Akebonos hasn't held up NEARLY as well as the previous sets.

I may just give these a whirl next time round!

I'm with you. If the Akebono's wear out anytime soon, I'll give the cool carbons a try.

Just my opinion, I wouldn't have ordered cross drilled and slotted rotors as you are taking away some pad contact surface in my eyes as opposed to a fully solid braking surface, but I am all about the zinc plating on the rotors for corrosion protection.

They do look nice though, looking forward to the impressions of the cool carbon pads! The PO did all new Pagid OEM pads and rotors on all 4 corners before I bought the X so I probably won't be replacing for a while, but nice to know what works when I do have to replace someday.

I thought about pad contact surface when I chose that drill/slot configuration, not too much void as some severe drill/slot patterns (7 rows of holes/slots), I avoided the overdrilled/slotted rotors.

Was sold on Cool Carbon on my Perf Pkg E46 330i 6spd, could not overdrive them even hot lapping Sebring, could consistently outbrake all the non ///M E46. Will post results/pics post install/break in.

Looking forward to seeing it, I've also been eyeing these as replacement rotors sometimes, I like the fact that they do "dimples" as opposed to cross drills, still keeps structural integrity but has the look and cooling characteristic of cross drilled:

www.adamsrotors.com

As long as the pads and rotors chosen activate ABS when you slam on the brakes it doesn't matter what they are. The only potential loss of braking capability would be the time it takes to reach that point with one combination or another.

As you well know, the potential advantage of slotted/drilled rotors would be when dragging the brakes for an extended period of time as I might have to do on the downhill side of mountain road or multiple hard braking that I would have fun doing on a high speed winding road. In either situation solid rotors would hold more heat and cause brake fade sooner.

I like the look of slotted and drilled rotors, have had them on the front for some time and have the rears on the bench to do this weekend. I have not found that the loss of contact surface has made any difference. I did go to pads that are claimed to increase stopping power. I do notice the significant reduction of brake dust.

I've always been of the opinion rotors should be either drilled OR slotted, but not both (it's an aesthetics thing I suppose). As for stopping power, there was litte change in pedal feel/pressure required between the solid discs and the centric/stop tech ones I have now....they just look miles nicer.
http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps1b6a8483.jpg

It helps when towing at highway speeds too. A few yrs ago the wife and I were traveling to the TX home from the FL home with a 6200 trailer behind the loaded X, every 15 mins or so I would have to tell her to slow down because the GPS was showing over 90 MPH, pulled out the HP 11C, ran the kinetic energy formula and came up with almost 5 million joules! :wow: That's more energy then 2 sticks of dynamite if memory serves me correctly. The thought of transferring all that kinetic energy into thermal energy via rotors/pads made my butthole pucker. :yikes:

HP 12c. Ruined me for every other calculator ever made. Fell in love with it as a kid when my dad showed me the DAYS formula and i could figure out how many days old i was!

Started using HPs in the early '80s while in college. All I use now are HP and Curta (the swiss watch of calculators, pure mechanical porn).

Might sound silly, but I had drilled rotors on a Mazda MPV. That vehicle had heavy front brake bias and seemed to warp rotors all the time. Cross drilling eliminated the heat warpage, but easily knocked the brake pad life down 30%. Still though, pads were a lot cheaper than rotors, and not having your foot bounce on the brake pedal was nice.

2002 X5 3.0 242,000 miles
2004 325i 107,000 miles

I'm fine with the shorter pad life, the Cool Carbon pads on my E46 outlasted the OE pads.

I would call BavAuto for details on your application. The 15% discount and free shipping ends Nov 1st.

Here's the bedding info from Cool Carbon........

Cool Carbon Performance Brake Pads

I would not recommend the first "several hundred mile" bedding process. If you were to have a situation needing hard braking to a stop and/or ABS activation, the result will be uneven pad transfer on the rotors. Rotor resurfacing would be required.

Accelerated bedding is the way to go.

Be aware that light/moderate street usage will require a pad material transfer cycle every few thousand miles.

Rotors arrived today, L/R directional.....

I think a discussion about pad stopping performance, fade and longevity should at least include the rotors and what improvements you have experienced.

As an example, if your concern is brake fade because of heavy towing, your goal may be a combination that someone has experienced less brake fade such as TiAGX5 posted.

Another example, I currently have crossed drilled and slotted rotors on the front only. I wanted the look, less dust and didn't want to lose stopping distance. I did only the front as they provide the greater percentage of stopping power. I chose Baer Decela slotted and drilled rotors and EBC red stuff pads. I am not positive stopping power increased but I feel confident it has not decreased. I had previous experience with EBC pads with non crossed drilled/slotted rotors on both ends that I really liked. The stopping power improved and there was far less brake dust. This week I will be installing the Baer/EBC on the rear and see what happens. I think the end result will be better than what I currently have.

I would be very interested in a combination of a drilled/slotted rotor and pads that improve what I have. If there is a downside to this combination, I think the stopping distance is better but it seems it is weighted to the backend of the stop. My logic is a combination that didn't do that would be even better.

I think a discussion about pad stopping performance, fade and longevity should at least include the rotors and what improvements you have experienced.

As an example, if your concern is brake fade because of heavy towing, your goal may be a combination that someone has experienced less brake fade such as TiAGX5 posted.

Another example, I currently have crossed drilled and slotted rotors on the front only. I wanted the look, less dust and didn't want to lose stopping distance. I did only the front as they provide the greater percentage of stopping power. I knew that goes against the grain of many. I chose Baer Decela slotted and drilled rotors and EBC red stuff pads. I am not positive stopping power increased but I feel confident it has not decreased. I had previous experience with EBC pads with non crossed drilled/slotted rotors on both ends that I really liked. The stopping power improved and there was far less brake dust.

This week I will be installing the Baer/EBC on the rear and see what happens. I think the end result will be better than what I currently have.

I would be very interested in a combination of a drilled/slotted rotor and pads that improve what I have. If there is a downside to this combination, I think the stopping distance is better but it seems it is weighted to the backend of the stop. My logic is a combination that didn't do that would be even better.

Pads and wear sensor came today too. These are well suited to drilled/slotted rotors, hollow ceramic with high grade brass. Semi-metallic pads overtemp at around 550deg F and tear rotors/cheesegrate. The Cool Carbons major materials have greater thermal stability, allowing for pad contact temps of over 1100 deg F while not tearing up rotors/cheesegrating.

Gotta love parts that come with QS Certs showing insp stamps/sign offs/production and inspection dates all in German. Never seen pads with full QS certs.

The install is on hold because of high humidty, The silver DupliColor Ceramic caliper paint rattle can says only apply in low humidity.:(

I did, no application fit for the fronts from Cool Carbon for any 4.8is. The front pads are unique to this model so low demand. Bummer!

I would input the caliper/rotor PNs at RealOEM to see if those items were used on another model BMW.

Installed and heat cycled/burnished, got a good layer of pad transfer on the rotor. Refinished the pad carriers and calipers while it was apart.

Had these on the E46 and forgot how good they feel.:thumbup:

Before/after.

they look awesome, i really like the rotors too, nice quiet pads i assume? would def look into the cool carbons on my 3.0 when my pagids wear out!

Even assembled without anti-squeak they are silent (Cool Carbon has built in dimpled pad shims to control rattle/squeal, see pic a few posts back), just a drop of syn hi-temp brake grease on the slide points where the pads contact the carriers. This combo really pushes the caliper max open limit, with pistons fully seated, the pads fit over the rotors with about 1/16" clearance. Guess the rotors and pads are pushing engineered material max conditions.

Talk about the caliper refinishing. Looks brand new! :wow:

Thanks, the results blew me away too. 2 neighbors stopped in and saw them being removed nasty, came back over during final assembly and could not believe they were not new.

The refinishing turned a 2 hr job into a 6 hr job (dry time not included). Used the 5 pc wire wheel set for cordless drill (Harbor Freight). Removed everything. Depressed the brake pedal 1" (little trick, this keeps gravity from draining the res fluid down to the calipers), Plugged the caliper ports with 10x1 cap screws with 3/8 rubber grommets (to seal the fluid inside and keep crud/paint out), slipped rubber 3/8 vacuum caps over the threaded ends of the brake lines.

DupliColor has rattle can ceramic brake paint, only $7. one can did them all. Went with the silver/aluminium because it's close to the OE color.

Cool! Thanks for the very complete info! Your results look fantastic!

No problem. Wanted to detail the job out for others who might want to undertake the project. With open spoke pattern wheels it really freshens up the look of the X.

This DIY had me considering the Harbor Freight benchtop sandblasting cabinet. It's only around $130 (+ compressor cost, for those who don't have one in their garage).

Looks great!

If I had to start my entire 'car enthusiast career' over again, the FIRST thing I would probably buy is a nice, big compressor and air system and a blast cabinet.

My problem is, once I get started refinishing/cleaning stuff, I end up cleaning everything I can get my hands on. I'm yellin at my kid to bring me her Razr and corroded electronics etc. Got. To. Stay. Focused. But blasting and wire wheeling are the bomb diggity.

I'm the same way. While the X was on jackstands with the wheels/rotors removed I touched up the black finish on the sheet metal behind the rear wheels (just below the plastic wheelwell insert), wirewheeled/cleaned/anti-seized hubs, cleaned springs, cleaned/conditioned the plastic undertray and brake lines, cleaned/conditioned airride bags and lubed EVERY bolt/nut/fastener/link in sight (shot the hub axle nuts with rust penetrant) while on a creeper. Used the floorjack under the hub carriers to unload the airbags for rear balljoint/control arm play inspection.

Got a chance to drive these for over 1 hr on the Hwy last night, heavy rain/cool weather. The instant bite when wet brakes are applied is one of the things I was hoping for and they don't dissappoint. The 1 or 2 seconds of pad hydroplane/no braking force is totally gone (BMW operation manual states drivers should lightly depress brake pedal regularly to keep rotors warm/dry while driving in rain, who does that?). Inital bite/pedal pressure/modulation are identical hot or cold.

2 cycles of 12 near ABS activation back to back stops from 50 and 60mph down to 10mph resulted in ZERO fade or required additional pedal pressure to keep near ABS intervention (actually saw smoke from the pad binder mat'l burning off). No OE BMW system I've driven has been able to do that.

where on earth do you find a place to do this without getting arrested? do you have abandoned airport tarmac nearby? this is a challenge for me every time i get new brakes!!

x2, I would say find an open country road (if there is one nearby) and do this with your hazard's on lol!

I did the 2 12 stop cycles Fri 12pm and Sat 11pm. There are many large industrial parks in the Lewisville, TX area. ;)

Also a section of road that's parallel RR tracks near a landfill and L'ville RR park. This road is empty late hrs and over 1 mile long.

Is WW's BBQ still open in Lewisville? Best BBQ ever, though the last time I had it was in the late 80's (used to work for TI there and in Plano).

Not sure. I live about 2 mins from Hard 8 BBQ, we go there about once a month. Coppell Deli for burgers, 1 block from Hard 8.

Figured I would post a pic of items installed.

Looking gorgeous TiAg! If I must, however, I will say although its unique, since our pre-facelifts do not have xDrive that I don't like the emblems for it.

Thanks. Yeah, they were on it when I picked it up almost 4 yrs ago. I'm actually glad its NV125 TC, with over 170k miles I would bet it would've needed work were it X Drive.

:thumbup:

Looks Great!

Thanks Brian.

You need to post some pics of yours. With all your added go, you sure need extra whoa.

Bumped for CrazyOneToo.

I'm bumping this thread because I want need new pads, am considering Cool Carbons but am concerned about the need to re-bed every few thousand miles. I only drive short distances daily but drive 'fairly aggressively'. Have you had to re-bed recently?

The only reason I am getting new brakes (after 10k miles) is because my Stoptech Street pads never bedded quite right and there is a big lump of material on one of my rotors. Drives me crazy at 60mph braking. Trying like hell to avoid this happening again.

TiaAgX5 is the best one to ask about cool carbon pads. He is very happy with them.

Russianblue it's my understanding that you shouldn't have to re bed pads unless they weren't bedded properly in the first place, I don't think Cool Carbon is any different than any pads I've ever used.

You could try a re bedding procedure on your current pads to heat up the rotors and burn off those deposits, you'll need to do a few warm up stop/go sessions, then do about 15-20 hard braking sessions successively from 65-5 mph, the brakes will fade some. When that is done then drive without using the brakes to breeze them out for approx 15 mins or so, and then hopefully you'll have all that deposit material burned off

What RB said, hit it right on the head

I will prob try re-bedding but I've had little luck with re-bedding in the past. once they've gotten lumpy, that's all she wrote.

these stop-techs are okay. the dusting characteristics are fantastic. hardly ever have to clean em. it's a 'blonde' dust. they work perfectly on the rear brakes. the fronts were just wrong from the beginning. i drove them for about a week, VERY VERY lightly before I had a chance to bed them in properly. on about the 5th day, i heard this big noise from my front right in unison with the wheel rotation. it was as of a big chunk of pad had smeared onto the rotor. i immediately set to bedding them properly. it helped some. got rid of the noise. but they have never been right at 65mph. again, in the past when this has happened on my my e28, the solution was new rotors and pads. period.

i don't have time to deal with experimenting and fudging around and i am not particularly price sensitive. i just want a rock solid set of brakes and rotors with ZERO squealing, moderate to low dust and slightly above average street performance - that I can install and i KNOW will meet me needs. i'll probably just get OEM pads this time.

I don't tow anything and never will. I drive a lot of short trips with a lot of 35 and 45 mph streets and associated stop and go. I don't drive like a nanny but I don't drive like Mario either and appreciate excellent performance.

of all my brake combos, the best ones i've had were brembo blanks and metalmaster pads on my e36 328is. I know this is an entirely different beast though. those things put some serious grooves in those rotors but stayed true.

fwiw, i put those cheapo meyle coated rotors and stoptechs on the rear and they have been flawless.

Might try the cool carbons when it comes brake time

I always replace rotors when I do pads. I have had a problem only once and the only thing I did that was different from the past was I didn't bed the brakes right away. One side turned out OK after I went through the process but the other side never was right even after I repeated the process. For those interested in how the it should be done, the following is a helpful reference: Instructions for bedding in your brakes

I've found that the transfer layer applied to the rotors during bedding will wear off in a few k miles of LIGHT driving. When the rotors loose the transfer layer of pad material, increased rotor wear will result.

The transfer layer does exactly as the word implies, pad materials on the pad surface and in the rotor transfer layer actually swap back and forth between the two surfaces.

In the 6 months of use, I've re-establishes the rotor transfer layer twice. There's a visible brass color layer on the rotors when re-applied.

Just measured the DF rotor, was 1.2 when installed, after 10k miles (one 1k mile road trip, 9 k miles city/local hwy) rotor measures 1.185. These Cool Carbon pads have only worn .0075" off each rotor surface. Got away from the OE compound because it eats rotors up.

okay so I ended up 'gambling' with the cool carbons. And I was/am a bit of a skeptic.

but here is my verdict: excellent

i paired them with centric high carbon plain rotors from China...I mean...TireRack.

i did a textbook bedding although i can't ever really tell if i have done it EXACTLY right given that I am constantly on the lookout for cops and avoiding stares from cows that can't understand why i am standing on the brakes from 60 in the middle of a country road.

anyway, the first 2 weeks they were noisy. lots of squealing. i was worried. that has subsided almost completely and i am comfortable it will go away totally.

this setup replaced StopTech street performance pads and balo rotors. i like the action of this setup better. linear (as has been described) is a good way to say it. little initial bite, but it doesn't seem to matter. i am not big on initial bite anyway. dusting color/volume rating is superb. i hardly even notice it at all between washes. warm up time is virtually unnoticeable. i think they work just fine on the first stop of the day. my old metal masters would put me into the intersection if i wasn't careful.

if they hold up and don't make deposits, i will declare a winner and will put these on the rear as well in due time. again - so far, with about 750 miles...i rate them excellent.

Thanks for the update.

Good to hear Russianblue.

Wait until you see how they perform when the temps get into the 90s. A few back to back hard stops from near triple digit speeds will show how linear and fade free these CC pads are.

FWIW, my set squeaked a few times in the first week of use.

I've never liked brake pads with inital bite that seems to be based on pedal travel, pedal pressure modulation of inital bit feels more responsive. With OE pads the inital bite makes the brake pedal feel like an on/off switch, CC pads make it feel like a flow control valve.

i concur with the flow control valve analogy. maybe i can see bite being a bigger deal with a racer if you are able to use it to steer and shift weight but in an SUV with kids in the back? not much use for it.

maybe the reason I have 'warmed up' to them even more in the past couple of weeks....because the weather is warming up. I still haven't gotten them nice and hot but I look forward to it!

i will post back in a few months if i am able to avoid brake shudder. I seem to be stricken with that ailment, LOL! but this time, my ENTIRE suspension, brakes and tires are NEW, so it should NOT happen.

Have you gotten a chance to drive the CC pads hot yet?

yep. well...you know...on some decent mountain roads. i can tell when they heat up a bit but honestly they aren't a TON different than on a day of city driving.

they are just super consistent (almost as consistent as door handle carrier failure...almost) which i appreciate in this case. this has honestly been one of my favorite brake setups yet. it's very 'civilized'. I paired them with Centric Hi-Carbon rotors from TireRack.

Like I said, the combo has been great. I get the very occasional squeak or two...but I didn't put much grease or antisqueal on the pads when installing.

I will get the same setup when the time comes for the rears to be changed.

Good to hear.

I like the CC pads so much, I'm considering a StopTech BBK kit for the Viper, just so I can run CC pads on it (CC doesn't produce pads that fit the OE Brembo Viper setup)!

Figured I would post pics of how the BrakeLabs zinc plating has held up on the rotor hats. 10 months/10k miles of use and still look new.

When you replacing those anti rattle (rusted) clips? :)

Yeah, I should have replaced them when I refinished the calipers.

I'm picking up a new set of clips on my next trip to Classic BMW, need to pick up an oil filter next week. :thumbup:

Did your rotors rust already?or do they just rust after a wash?

The friction surfaces get a light film of rust after each wash, the first drive deposits the rust in the slots/holes and on the outer diameter.

Hit them with a wire wheel and paint them, will be better than new.

Will give that a shot.

Kevinkay has seen scoring and signs of overheating running Akebono pads.

Posting pics so he can see what mine look like with over 1.5 yrs and 20k miles of use, HARD use a few weeks ago (hot lapping Sebring track with 5 people in the X & a few hard stops from over 130 mph to 50 mph).....

Kevinkay got to the bottom of the issue, calipers sticking.

Pic Kevinkay PMed me.......

Figured I would update wear numbers after over 2 years and 35k miles.

Rotors new were 1.2, now measure 1.17 (.03 thinner), that's only .015 per rotor side.

To say Cool Carbon pads are rotor friendly is a MASSIVE understatement!!!

The pad thickness is over 5/16" (.312). Didn't measure pad t'ness new but would estimate this is around 1/2 pad life.

I have no idea how some have stated excessive dusting, when so little rotor/pad material has worn in 35k miles.

When these had 6 months and around 10k miles, I found the 1.2 rotor thickness was down to 1.185 (.0075 worn per rotor side). That 1.2 new measurement was taken on the soft Zinc plating surface which wore off during initial bedding, so actual rotor wear was lower then .0075 in 10k miles.

I would put this rotor/pad combo up against ANYTHING short of carbon/ceramic pads/rotors for longevity.

To second TiAgX5's sentiments....

Sunday, I just put a new set of CC's on my rears because I like them so much up front. The feel is just fantastic (for me anyway).

I haven't measured the fronts, but I'd wager they have at least 1/3 life left after about 18k miles. I am thinking I'll probably get 30k-30k out of them.

Dusting is such that...well...I just don't notice it. That's the big difference. I have always noticed the brake dust and it drove me nuts.

It requires a LONG absence from the car wash before the CC dust starts yelling at you to wash it off.

The other big thing about these is...I have stopped wanting to shop/try/compare other brake pads. When I get my next set, I won't look for anything else. That's saying a lot.

I used the cool carbons, but i have to keep flushing them to clear the dust otherwise they squeal, i used the disk brake quiet on the pads, might switch back to oem pads.

This is great info getting ready for brake job #2.

:iagree:

I was impressed by the CC pads on the E46 (with track days each year), the E53 results have made pad search a thing of the past!

:iagree: on the cool carbon pads.

My M5 will love them soon.....

wow, what a huge difference I experience with these Cool Carbon's and new Centric rotors.
still LOTS of brake dust, more grey/brown instead of dark grey/black of OE.

And I believe because of temps up here (being cooler than placer closer to Equator), they do NOT stop nearly as well as OE does for me.
I have to ride the brakes to heat them up to get them to be useful.

I also find it a bit foolish that after every 6 months you should do the "break in" procedure again. I never needed that for OE pads.

Just saying my experience with this brake set-up in the Cooler area North of the 49th (yet still a warm city compared to MUCH of Canada).

The process every few thousand miles is to re-establish the transfer layer. I choose to re-establish the transfer layer to keep rotor wear to a minimum and maintain maximum brake performance (per Cool Carbons break-in/use instructions). Those who choose NOT to do it, expect increased rotor wear and less them optimum performance.

The OE pads are abrasive and have more bite cold, the tradeoff is excessive rotor wear and additional dust.

If I lived in a cold climate and/or where roads are treated for ice/snow (with materials that rust friction surfaces of rotors), I would stick with OE, and solid rotors.

From page 4 of this thread...."These are well suited to drilled/slotted rotors, hollow ceramic with high grade brass. Semi-metallic pads overtemp at around 550deg F and tear rotors/cheesegrate. The Cool Carbons major materials have greater thermal stability, allowing for pad contact temps of over 1100 deg F while not tearing up rotors/cheesegrating."

As stated in the first few pages of this thread, this all comes down to climate and usage. These are warm temp/heavy towing/track use pads.

May i ask what brand of the front rotor you have installed? I may try the cool carbon pads for front on my 750LI and wanted to use with Cross-Drilled and Slotted Brake Rotors.

Thanks for info.

I got them on e-bay, the seller is Brakelabs.....

Brake Rotors [FULL KIT] POWERSPORT DRILLED SLOTTED -BMW X5 2000 - 2003 3.0i | eBay

Thank you for that info!
I may try the above set or this option:

Hawk PC Ceramic Pads
http://i67.tinypic.com/25z0387.jpg

with

Centric High Carbon rotors/series 125
http://i67.tinypic.com/2cru5qp.jpg

Do NOT buy the Hawk Ceramics - I had them years ago and they are absolute garbage - absolutely terrible bite - Hawk HPS are fine

If you want something Ceramic try the Centric Posi-Quiet Ceramic or Power Stop Z17 pads

Is there any difference between Hawk High Performance Street 5.0 and Hawk HPS – High Performance Street Compound ? in the quality,etc?

I do not know - I only know the Hawk Ceramics blow

Hawk HPS - is ceramic...