e46 M3 rear brakes

[M3Rod]

Hi All,

It's time to replace the rear discs and pads on my M3 as the existing ones are shot. The discs are going to be replaced with standard genuine BMW items, but I was wondering if anyone can recommend a decent set of pads to compliment them? The car is never tracked, but I do fancy a bit of 'spirited' fast road driving when road and conditions permit... ;-)

The front discs and pads are standard BMW, but I was looking at taking the opportunity to upgrade the rear pads to something a bit more grippy. I've seen Brembo pads at a good price, but does anyone have any experience with them and are they better than standard? Or failing that should I go with the tried and tested route of Pagid or EBC?

Cheers

[Nedz]

The rear brakes on an M3 dont do a great deal of work to be honest,i would just stick with OE.

[M3Driver]

As stated, you're going to notice more difference from the fronts. However, if you've got to replace them anyway, you may as well get good ones!

I replaced discs and pads all round on mine a few months ago. Went for OEM discs, bought a lot cheaper from bmminispares / parts or something (google it). I did a lot of research into brakes for the M3, and it's generally accepted that the OEM discs are best, but Performance Friction pads are a lot better than standard.

I went with this setup and I was amazed. Such strong smooth braking, and no fade or warping, even driving at silly speeds and braking a lot!

Just make sure to bed in the PF pads according to the instructions on the website (this is important). I would thoroughly recommend them.

[Cheburator mk2]

Nedz said:

The rear brakes on an M3 dont do a great deal of work to be honest,i would just stick with OE.

Really??? You are kidding, right?

You would be amazed how much braking is done by the rears in reality...

[Nedz]

Cheburator mk2 said:

Nedz said:

The rear brakes on an M3 dont do a great deal of work to be honest,i would just stick with OE.

Really??? You are kidding, right?

You would be amazed how much braking is done by the rears in reality...

I wouldnt think they do enough to start worrying about upgrading them.The reason i say this is that my rear discs have been on the car now for a good 40k miles and are barely worn at all where as the fronts were shot in less than 30k.
Also the op says he wants to replace the pads for something 'more grippy'.Uprated pads are usually harder to resist fade and therefore usually give less bite than a standard pad.As all of the weight is on the front of the car during braking i wouldn't think the rears are ever going to suffer from fade.The fronts will give in long before you have to worry about the rears going off.

[Cheburator mk2]

Nedz said:

I wouldnt think they do enough to start worrying about upgrading them.The reason i say this is that my rear discs have been on the car now for a good 40k miles and are barely worn at all where as the fronts were shot in less than 30k.
Also the op says he wants to replace the pads for something 'more grippy'.Uprated pads are usually harder to resist fade and therefore usually give less bite than a standard pad.As all of the weight is on the front of the car during braking i wouldn't think the rears are ever going to suffer from fade.The fronts will give in long before you have to worry about the rears going off.

My Z4MC is on 48k and it has gone through a set of fronts at 30k and a set of rears at 40k. I went through 3 sets of front pads and 2 sets of rears. Uprated pads give you more bite than standard pads as they usually have a higher Mu. I would agree that there is no point upgrading the rears without upgrading the fronts, but should you upgrade both, you should notice a good improvement.

[griff7]

Cheburator mk2 said:

My Z4MC is on 48k and it has gone through a set of fronts at 30k and a set of rears at 40k. I went through 3 sets of front pads and 2 sets of rears. Uprated pads give you more bite than standard pads as they usually have a higher Mu. I would agree that there is no point upgrading the rears without upgrading the fronts, but should you upgrade both, you should notice a good improvement.

+1 always upgrade both front and rear together.

The only time i tried to upgrade the rears to a more agressive pad on the rear was in hillclimbing where you could not use brake bias in some classes.You could not go much more agressive though as cheburater said in the earlier post,the rears do do a lot of work.

[griff7]

Cheburator mk2 said:

My Z4MC is on 48k and it has gone through a set of fronts at 30k and a set of rears at 40k. I went through 3 sets of front pads and 2 sets of rears. Uprated pads give you more bite than standard pads as they usually have a higher Mu. I would agree that there is no point upgrading the rears without upgrading the fronts, but should you upgrade both, you should notice a good improvement.

+1 always upgrade both front and rear together.

The only time i tried to upgrade the rears to a more agressive pad on the rear was in hillclimbing where you could not use brake bias in some classes.You could not go much more agressive though as cheburater said in the earlier post,the rears do do a lot of work.