Brake Rotor - Meyle or Zimmerman
 

Just curious, has anyone used Meyle rotors?

FCP Euro has them for $50 a piece (front) compared with $110+ for Zimmerman at other places.

My thinking is that rotors from most major manufacturers that are used for normal daily driving are very similar with minimal difference to justify a 100% price jump. In the end, it's only $100+ difference but $100 is a $100.

Wouldn't be surprised if both come from the same Chinese plant.

In general, brakes are a crummy place to save money.

If they run true and don't cause a vibration when you install them, then they will likely last as long as the next rotor. The differences apart from cost will be in surface rust, and in cooling, due to the design of the internal fins. That last one impacts brake fade, and is the biggest reason to go OE.

Haven't used Mayle rotors. I have used lots of aftermarket rotors. Given the quality and price, I would use OE.

I'm rolling the dice on a set of drilled/slotted rotors from Brakelabs, Manufactured/machined in the USA to OE specs and have a 1 yr warranty against warpage. Zinc plated to prevent rust. The '03 E53 4.4 set cost $212 with free shipping. I have a granite surface plate/surface gauge/.0005" Interapid indicator/3 point stands/.0001 micrometers and access to a dynamic balancer to verify balance. These will be inspected 100% for hub dia/flatness/parallelism/runout and balance prior to install.

They have E70 rotors too.

Using Brembo rotors, in the last iteration of my search for a perfect aftermarket braking combo. Works better than OE, in my book (and dust is not an issue for me - I have black rims :))

IMO they are hunks of metal...for a DD SUV that just carts around loved ones safely an rotor will do.

Track us, other performance goals, I'd reconsider.

Oh that 'drilled/slotted' rotor is a joke...any car guy that knows brakes will look at them and say 'poseur'. Someone said "hey if drilling is cool and slotting is cool, then lets do both and get the ricer boi crowd'...

Ricer boi? Drilled rotors have been around for over 50 years, long before the '90s import drilled rotor craze.

As for the slotting, I use the X to tow a large trailer from time to time (in severe FL rain). The slots prevent vitrification of the pad surface caused by hauling 12,000 lbs down from 80 MPH. Water dissapation from between the rotor/pad surface is also reassuring. Nothing like hitting the brakes at hwy speed during a downpour and nothing happens for a second or two.

If you choose not to use them, DON'T. Just don't dismiss everyone who does as "poseur".

You have 7000 pounds of trailer and cargo, and you are towing at 80 mph without trailer brakes? Your trailer brakes should be stopping your trailer, not your vehicle brakes. Otherwise you can find the trailer overtaking you and jackknifing. That is dangerous at the best of times, let alone in heavy rain.

I have trailer brakes on the cargo trailer I run between FL and TX. I've towed a few 3k trailers without brakes.

I think that the primary benefit of drilling rotors decades ago was in reducing unsprung weight. There was a secondary issue related to pads outgassing, but we don't use those pad compositions any more, so that is moot.

You may want to look into SAE technical paper 2006-01-0691 "The Effect of Rotor Cross Drilling on Brake Performance". Some good info. While there was a benefit in cooling, the same test results showed the rotors can run hotter (due to less thermal mass), no impact of outgassing, no difference in wet weather performance, 25-30% more pad wear, and up to a 50% reduction in thermal fatigue life.

For the rotors you show, the anti-rust coating can be good (but it will quickly wear off the friction surface). I would be most interested in the thermal performance, and the vane design. OE rotors weren't designed to be drilled, so it is intriguing that they mention OE specs. Maybe they aren't using the OE vane design.