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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > Suspension | Brakes | Chassis > Due for rotors. Drilled, slotted, or both???



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      02-06-2013, 11:05 AM   #1
dhanni848
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Due for rotors. Drilled, slotted, or both???

Hello all,

As the title says, I am going to be replacing my rotors and want to upgrade a little bit. I have drilled and slotted rotors on my truck an have been pretty happy, but I was wondering what are your experiences. I am looking at some drilled only and slotted only, what would you go with based on your experiences.

Thank you!
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      02-06-2013, 11:37 AM   #2
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those rotors are only a visual upgrade. if you want a performance upgrade, get a more aggressive brake pad.

but for street driving, it really doesn't matter what kind of rotor you get. If you track the car, I'd get OEM (or equivelent) blanks.
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      02-06-2013, 12:00 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dhanni848 View Post
Hello all,

As the title says, I am going to be replacing my rotors and want to upgrade a little bit. I have drilled and slotted rotors on my truck an have been pretty happy, but I was wondering what are your experiences. I am looking at some drilled only and slotted only, what would you go with based on your experiences.

Thank you!
i would just get slotted and dimpled for aesthetic appeal.

as the other guy said, you won't notice any difference.
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      02-06-2013, 12:28 PM   #4
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Thank you that's all I needed to know. I don't track and am not that hard on my brakes but just figured I'd add a little better look.

I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the drilled only.
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      02-06-2013, 03:48 PM   #5
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Get the Z4 35is rotors with the aluminum hats. Technically a two piece rotor.
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      02-07-2013, 07:13 AM   #6
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get slots, the slots will "shave" off a layer of pad so every time u use ur brakes theres a new layer of clean pad to make contact with the rotor surface, down side is increased pad wear n noise
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      02-07-2013, 08:07 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dhanni848 View Post
I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the drilled only.
I would avoid drilled rotors. First off the drilling weakens the structural integrity of the rotor and in most cases the rotors will develop small cracks where they are drilled from the heating and cooling of the rotor. Also cross drilled rotors have less contact area because of the holes. The reason for the creation of cross drilled rotors initially was to remove the "gasses" from the brake pads. However, most modern brake pads do not produce gasses when heating.

I know you said you were going for aesthetics, but rather than drilled rotors I would get dimpled and slotted. To be honest unless you are up close to rotor you can’t tell the difference between drilled versus dimpled. Just my $.02
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      02-07-2013, 01:11 PM   #8
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I want to stay away from noise as much as possible. I had never heard dimpled rotors before.
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      02-07-2013, 01:18 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dhanni848 View Post
I want to stay away from noise as much as possible. I had never heard dimpled rotors before.

It exists and it look like it drilled half way through ....
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      02-07-2013, 01:18 PM   #10
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I have drilled and had no issues. You want a serious brand for drilled, not random ebay crap (not that you should get random crap for blank rotors anyway, but even less so). In particular, you don't want a good brand (blank) rotor that has been drilled by some random jackass on his man-cave drill press, like some ebay deals feature.

I have the stoptech, they look great and have been solid performers so far. The braking performance is very similar, I noticed that brake fading has been improved, but I compared with worn out OE rotors, many parameters beside drills could explain the improvement (first, the new rotors being thicker have more thermal inertia).

They have not cracked in the 8k miles I enjoyed them, and I am heavy on both pedals. Not recommended for track/autox use, as drilled rotors have been reported many times to fail in that context.

It is generally admitted that drilled rotors offer no performance benefit for street driving, and are unreliable for track, so that makes them cosmetic upgrade only.

Last edited by Meeni; 02-07-2013 at 01:28 PM..
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      02-07-2013, 01:47 PM   #11
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go with blanks or slotted
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      02-08-2013, 06:49 PM   #12
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I almost did drilled and slotted, using the DBA 4000XS rotors, they look awesome. Ended up going with the DBA 4000T3 rotors, which have a pretty cool looking slotted design which should be a little nicer on the pads in terms of wear. They are in the trunk right now, gonna install on monday when the pads get here

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      02-08-2013, 08:11 PM   #13
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+1 for dba rotors, they r really good stuff
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      02-08-2013, 08:49 PM   #14
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I also live close to the FrozenRotors facility in Minnesota, about a 30min detour on my way to work, so I had them cryo treated as well, $60 per rotor. I do not expect to replace these for a VERY LONG time, unless I get enough money to track the car, then I will pick up a 5000 series just for use with racing pads.
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      02-09-2013, 04:55 PM   #15
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Those look sick! Unfortunately I would assume those are pretty pricey? I had to buy rotors for my car and the wife's MKX as well so definitely had to sacrifice a little.

I ordered drilled a few days ago before everyone said don't do it. I've never had trouble out of my others and I got the same brand so hopefully my luck will be just as good.
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      02-10-2013, 02:16 AM   #16
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I got the front pair for $330 before cryo treating, $50 over stock. I would not consider that expensive for the quality and performance involved, due to my luck with the stock rotors.

I may replace my rears with cross drilled when the time comes, but will almost certainly go with the DBA rotors again, the gold ones.

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      02-14-2013, 08:21 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BoostedE90 View Post
I would avoid drilled rotors. First off the drilling weakens the structural integrity of the rotor and in most cases the rotors will develop small cracks where they are drilled from the heating and cooling of the rotor. Also cross drilled rotors have less contact area because of the holes. The reason for the creation of cross drilled rotors initially was to remove the "gasses" from the brake pads. However, most modern brake pads do not produce gasses when heating.

I know you said you were going for aesthetics, but rather than drilled rotors I would get dimpled and slotted. To be honest unless you are up close to rotor you can’t tell the difference between drilled versus dimpled. Just my $.02
+1
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      02-17-2013, 01:22 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dhanni848 View Post
Hello all,

As the title says, I am going to be replacing my rotors and want to upgrade a little bit. I have drilled and slotted rotors on my truck an have been pretty happy, but I was wondering what are your experiences. I am looking at some drilled only and slotted only, what would you go with based on your experiences.

Thank you!
Slotted for best performance and longevity.
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      02-17-2013, 11:24 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BillionPa View Post
I almost did drilled and slotted, using the DBA 4000XS rotors, they look awesome. Ended up going with the DBA 4000T3 rotors, which have a pretty cool looking slotted design which should be a little nicer on the pads in terms of wear. They are in the trunk right now, gonna install on monday when the pads get here

These look awesome, do you have any pics of them mounted?
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      02-22-2013, 01:41 AM   #20
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why yes, yes i do
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      02-23-2013, 05:19 PM   #21
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Installed my drilled rotors today and I am very happy so far. There is no noise and stopping is smooth. And not to mention they look great.

Any of you guys that use blanks for racing, do you turn your used rotors and use then for racing again? Asking because I would like to sell my blanks. The rears look great, fronts could be turned I believe. I know this is the wrong section but I just wanted some input because I don't track and don't need them.
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      02-23-2013, 05:31 PM   #22
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what brand did you end up getting?

I assume people who are racing their cars are NOT using OEM rotors, at least there is no way in hell I would (for the fronts anyway)
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