[e90ext]

Wondering whether its mine or its common for Bimmers. I clean my rims 2 days ago and 3 days after brake dust starts collecting on my rims ????? any solutions

Brake pads changed with original bmw brakes but no change

[Nitrousbird]

OEM pads dust like crazy.

I switched my to Akebono pads. Much, much better.

[1QuikWS6]

Another vote for Akebono Ceramics, literally no dust, and the dust that does occur is light tan color so not even noticeable...

I was cleaning my wheels every 3 days with the OEM pads now it's 1X/month if that. Don't really notice any change in braking characteristics either for a DD

[John 070]

I like OEM because they are semi metallic. Switching to Akebonos imho is taking it down a notch. I get it, people who switched feel the trade-off is worth it. The ProActs are what I use on my wife's SUV and my 1998 Nissan, so I am familiar with them and have been using them more than 10 yrs.

[Antetokounmpo]

Bleh. Akeubono are noticeably worse than OEM in terms of feel. Hawk HPS are my choice, lower dust, and even better performance than OEM.

[Wolf 335]

If you want to stay with OEM clean your wheels to perfection and then seal them with a product such as Optimum Opti-Seal or CarPro HydrO2.

When one of these two products is on the wheel, it will actually repel the brake dust and also make it a breeze to clean up.

[1QuikWS6]

Originally Posted by John 070

I like OEM because they are semi metallic. Switching to Akebonos imho is taking it down a notch. I get it, people who switched feel the trade-off is worth it. The ProActs are what I use on my wife's SUV and my 1998 Nissan, so I am familiar with them and have been using them more than 10 yrs.

If your experience with Akebono pads is the ProActs, then I can understand why you think they are not close to OEM - they are rated THE lowest by Akebono of any of their pads for Stopping Power

They are however rated the highest for Low Noise and Dusting

You need to use their Euro Ultra Premium Ceramic series

Still highest in Low Noise, but slightly less in Dust category, and most importantly they are higher in Stopping Power over the ProActs

The Euros might not be applicable to the cars you mentioned, but they are the suggested Akebono pads for Euro cars such as BMW and Mercedes...

[1QuikWS6]

Originally Posted by Heel Toe

Bleh. Akeubono are noticeably worse than OEM in terms of feel. Hawk HPS are my choice, lower dust, and even better performance than OEM.

Every set of Hawk HPS pads I have ever owned for either my TransAm (with Baer GT braking system), or my Vette, have made noise, car sounds like ass when you are coming to a stop and they are squealing everytime

I gave them plenty of chances to behave better and it never happened. This is with new calipers, new rotors, used rotors, and proper bedding technique. Even had them bedded in by pro on my T/A and they still squealed

Won't ever use them again

[max_330i]

I use stock pads and the brake dust is manageable. All the posts above me reference changing your brake pads, but I think it's worth mentioning that brake dust will not be visible on black/dark colored rims. If it bothers you that much and you want to keep the OEM pads, consider changing the wheels, or maybe powdercoating the ones you have

Max

[cybermgm23]

Originally Posted by Nitrousbird

OEM pads dust like crazy.

I switched my to Akebono pads. Much, much better.

You do realize that ceramic pads are a step DOWN from the OEM semi-metallic pads, right?

[John 070]

Originally Posted by cybermgm23

You do realize that ceramic pads are a step DOWN from the OEM semi-metallic pads, right?

That's my opinion...

[Dark_Knight_335]

Welcome to BMW brakes...

[justalilbit]

Yep they get roasted pretty quickly, but washing the car is enjoyable Hell if I was a 19 year old cheerleader I'd open a car wash and watch the $$$ roll in

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

Welcome to BMW brakes...

This

[mlifxs]

Originally Posted by 1QuikWS6

Every set of Hawk HPS pads I have ever owned for either my TransAm (with Baer GT braking system), or my Vette, have made noise, car sounds like ass when you are coming to a stop and they are squealing everytime

I gave them plenty of chances to behave better and it never happened. This is with new calipers, new rotors, used rotors, and proper bedding technique. Even had them bedded in by pro on my T/A and they still squealed

Won't ever use them again

my rear Hawk perf ceramics clunk a bit. Won't buy again.

[Seattlesquash]

Originally Posted by Heel Toe

Bleh. Akeubono are noticeably worse than OEM in terms of feel. Hawk HPS are my choice, lower dust, and even better performance than OEM.

Agree on this, and find HPS great as well. The HPS take some warming up, but only apparent in rain while you have been staying off the brakes for a long time.

[Mr. Tasty]

change your driving habits. Stop slamming on the brakes.

[stashtrey]

My Hawk HPS pads have been outstanding for 2+ years. No noise. Very little dust. Still got a ton of pad left. I put them on my dad's e36 M3 and they're perfect!

Oem pads were horrific.

[VTECaddict]

OEM pads that came with 2010 and newer are very low dust. They don't have the super strong initial bite as the older dusty ones though.

[Nitrousbird]

Originally Posted by cybermgm23

You do realize that ceramic pads are a step DOWN from the OEM semi-metallic pads, right?

I have noticed no difference in brake feel or performance with these pads. None. If anything they feel slightly better...but I was replacing a worn out pads so I won't say they perform better than OEM.

This is a street car. If I were tracking it, I would run these pads OR OEM pads, so that's not a valid point. I would likely be running a Hawk or EBC pad.

These are great pads for street use, along with Auto-x and drag racing (none of which need any special for pads). These cars aren't exactly a great platform for road course work anyway.

[Cory S]

Originally Posted by Mr. Tasty

change your driving habits. Stop slamming on the brakes.

Believe it or not, he is speaking truth here. This will decrease excessive brake dust by around 60%.

Give your car plenty of time to stop (Also will put you at less of a chance of rear ending someone/something etc)

Leave more room in front of you to prepare for braking situations. (You will only need light pressure VS. heavier brake pedal pressures)

Coast to stop lights and traffic stops etc.

Avoid jack rabbit starts for no reason.

I very rarely need to apply much braking force, and even after a week or two, I have hardly even a noticeable amount of dust on mine.

These are habits that some people learn with age however.

[John 070]

On my next car, I want to have fixed calipers, just for the heck of it.

My wife's SUV has 2 piston floating calipers.

Sure, they do the job, but one can see from having done many brake pad replacements, the idea of floating calipers just has the potential to not work that well after wear, dirt, blah blah blah.

Not that I have serious braking requirements from my driving habits.

But give me 15"+ rotors and fixed calipers on my next car!

And again, I just like OEM meaning I like to have at minimum what came with the car, not something lesser, although I get it, many feel the 60% less dust is a worthwhile tradeoff...

[Miller335]

There's no free lunch in life.
If you switch to pads that put out less dust you probably just lost something in braking peformance.