[elite.]

Rears were squeaking on my e93 and I didn't know if it was just a sensor, warped rotor, bad pads, etc. So I replaced the rears with Zimmerman rotors and Akebono pads. I don't track and am not that sensitive so I think they feel very similar to stock even though people say the bite is less on ceramic pads. Squeak is gone, feel is even, and best of all the dust is sooooo much better. Now my computer is telling me I need fronts. So, in the coming weeks I'll do the fronts too. Wheels will be really happy, and car wash time will be a lot less!;-). Thanks for all the forum advice from jacks to pad selection. Love the boards! Mounting my style 313s soon too which will hopefully look great.

BTW the pic is 2 weeks after my last wash ..... Not bad!

[AceOnShake]

You might not feel the less bite due to rear cermaic pads but trust me you will with the front pads with ceramic. I had them trust me went back to OEM ASAP. Yes brake dust is 10x more but two things that matter the most is brakes and tires. I never compromise them and not saying ceramic pads are bad or anything but the initial bite is definitely gone.

[elite.]

I've read it takes several 100 mikes before they are at their full potential. Not true? Like does it not stop the car? I don't want to kill myself lol.

[AceOnShake]

Originally Posted by elite.

I've read it takes several 100 mikes before they are at their full potential. Not true? Like does it not stop the car? I don't want to kill myself lol.

Yeah has a break in period. No it stops the car just fine no problems with that. The initial breaking power is very very useful in case of a possible accident. It bites so much faster the oem pads. Plus those pads you have squeak at times which is a common problem.

[elite.]

Making me second guess lol. I'll try it I guess. Just to match fronts. If I notice a significant diff and I'm concerned ill change pads again. Thanks for the input.

[ferocity02]

My OEM pads made more dust in 20 miles than the Akebono pads did in 1000 miles. Let bite than OEM but I like that, easier to brake smoothly. And they don't stick as bad at stops.

[mlifxs]

I had akebonos up front. They do reduce dust by an amazing amount. I decided to go back to something more aggressive in terms of bite, however, the akebonos will brake fine for daily driving, once broken in.

[elite.]

Is there a recommendation between the two? Hawk maybe? Still gonna use Zimmerman rotors but not absolutely tied to Akebono. Glad you do think they are ok for casual daily driver mlifxs.

[mlifxs]

I wanted to try something more aggressive for street / autocross. I have PF Z up front now. They dust less than oem but my guess is they brake as well or better than oem. That said the dust is noticeably more than akebono...and they may be making noise when cold, I've been procrastinating diagnosing which axle is to blame (I have Hawk perf ceramic in the back).

When I had the akebonos broken in, i did have a panic stop situation and they were more than sufficient.

[335xs2dinan]

Originally Posted by AceOnShake

Yeah has a break in period. No it stops the car just fine no problems with that. The initial breaking power is very very useful in case of a possible accident. It bites so much faster the oem pads. Plus those pads you have squeak at times which is a common problem.

I agree. I drive fairly aggressive and did not like the Akebono s for the reasons above. Went with Meyle rotors (coated like Zimmermans but half the price and free shipping from bmaparts.com) and cheapest OEM like brand among Textar/Pagid/Jurid for padss. Great initial stopping bite, no squeaking but lots of dust. Akebono pretty much had none. Doesnt take me more then 10-15 minutes to wash my wheels on the weekends though.

[elite.]

Did the fronts last weekend. Honestly the car stops great. I can't tell the difference. I haven't had to lock em up......but overall result seems good. I don't track it and I'm probably also not as particular. Just wanted to post my results for anyone considering doing the same brake job.

[Stucks]

akebono euroceramics are prob the number one choice people upgrade to from the oem pads to get away from all the brake dust lol. they are unbeatable as a pad that dusts the least.

[Fundguy1]

Can anyone compare the different ceramics out there for dust and stopping power? Akebono, Hawk, cool carbon? I was looking at the Cool Carbon seriously.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by 335xs2dinan

I agree. I drive fairly aggressive and did not like the Akebono s for the reasons above. Went with Meyle rotors (coated like Zimmermans but half the price and free shipping from bmaparts.com) and cheapest OEM like brand among Textar/Pagid/Jurid for padss. Great initial stopping bite, no squeaking but lots of dust. Akebono pretty much had none. Doesnt take me more then 10-15 minutes to wash my wheels on the weekends though.

I have went with Akenbono Euro pads on my wife's X5 both front and back as well as using Brembo UV rotors. It does take about 1000 miles for them to fully break in. I had no issues with the stopping power. Keep in mind the X5 is a heavier vehicle too. Biggest thing is burnishing them after you install. Drive the car up to 60mph and break hard down to 15mph but not hard enough to trigger the ABS. You do this about 8x in a row. The you have to be careful not to trigger the ABS by breaking really hard, in the first 500 miles after install. After that your smooth sailing.

I absolutely would buy them again. I have Akenbono pads with Brembo rotors on the rear of my 07' 335i. On the front, I have a 2nd set of OEM original pads and original rotors on the front. The cpu says I have 30k left on the front pads. I plan on installing Brembo rotors and Akebono on the front once I get to that point. My car has 112,000 on it. So, I will get about 142,000 on an original set of Rotors !!!!!