What pads and fluid for e46

[mat205125]

Went out over the weekend to have a play around the local lanes and pedal went soft far too quickly. Brakes stink too.

[mat205125]

Sorry for the lack of detail ... Was posting from my phone.

Anyway, I'm off to the ring at the end of july and would be interested to hear from anyone's personal experience regarding which pads and fluid work well with the standard discs. I'm not impressed with how quickly they started grumbling and fading with the standard kit.

[Schermerhorn]

Dot 4 brake fluid and any decent manufacturer will provide good brake pads; Yellowstuff, Mintex etc.

The E46 M3 has the exact same pad as the E34 5 series.

[TheEnd]

Well, since i'm pushing Performance Friction a bit lately, take a look through this.
http://www.b1a.co.uk/andy/PF.html

[Paul_M3]

I've just had this lot arrive today:



CSL Front discs,
CSL Caliper carriers,
Performance Friction pads,
Goodridge braided hoses,
Castrol Super Dot 4 Brake fluid.

I'm hoping it will be a reasonable upgrade for a lot less than the price of a big brake kit.

The PF pads come highly recommended, and after some research I thought the Castrol Response SUPER Dot 4 fluid was good value for money. (There is a normal Castrol Response Dot 4, which has a lower boiling point, that's not the one to get)

[Chessers]

Did a similar upgrade on mine:

CSL discs and calipers
Braided hoses
ATE Super Blue Fluid


Seems to be fine now for fast road use, not had any fade at all since.

[Paul_M3]

Chessers said:

Did a similar upgrade on mine:

CSL discs and calipers
Braided hoses
ATE Super Blue Fluid


Seems to be fine now for fast road use, not had any fade at all since.

Thats good to know.

Did you notice any improvement in braking power using the CSL discs over stock?

[Chessers]

TBH couldn't tell you as I upgraded the fluid and hoses at the same time.

But overall they feel much firmer and I have not experienced any fade at all with fast road use so mucg better than before.

[bennyboysvuk]

Incidentally, I found that the air feed tubes that go from beside the fog lights on my E46 M3 to the inner wheel arch area are blanked off by the inner arch. This never used to be the case on the E36 M3. I wonder if it might help cool the brakes to cut that through if it's being used for track work. I also wonder if it's blanked off for aerodynamic reasons.

[RatBoy M3CS]

These blanking plates just pop out.. and it does help keep them a little cooler..
I run them like this all the time.. road and track..

But its not like a direct face feed to the hub / disc...

[rossbraithwaite]

Does anyone have any specific feedback on the EBC red, yellow or blue pads on an otherwise standard E46 M3?? Have had red stuff fitted to a previous car and thought they were good but have heard negative comments about them on an E46 M3 Planning a trip through some mountain passes so a bit concerened about heat build up.

[david_h]

I've just done goodridge braided hoses, ATE super blue fluid and performance friction z-rated pads.

All I can say is these are stunning, light years ahead of the OEM setup, no fade at all on b-roads, perfect brake feel, well worth the money.

[rossbraithwaite]

David, that is similar to what I am considering. I take it you have standard discs and calipers? Why did you go for Performance friction over EBC, Pagid, Ferrodo etc? is that fluid dot 4? Are the brakes noticeably more fade resistant than before?

[david_h]

rossbraithwaite said:

David, that is similar to what I am considering. I take it you have standard discs and calipers? Why did you go for Performance friction over EBC, Pagid, Ferrodo etc? is that fluid dot 4? Are the brakes noticeably more fade resistant than before?

I fitted standard brand new disks as they were worn out. The calipers are original.

I went for Performance Friction on recommendations from other M3 owners, I'm over the moon with them.

I did 150miles of really hard b-road driving on Sunday and they were like night and day compared to the OEM pads. The new disks my have helped, but there's definitiely almost zero fade.

On a track day you may need Brembo Porsche conversion, but these are enough for me.

I would also highly recommend goodridge braided hoses as this markedly improves pedal feel.

Not sure what the fluid rating is, CPC in Amersham fitted everything (v.highly recommended).

[rossbraithwaite]

Thanks for the response David, I'm in Berkhamsted so will look CPC in Amersham up.

[david_h]

rossbraithwaite said:

Thanks for the response David, I'm in Berkhamsted so will look CPC in Amersham up.

I just had the car completely overhauled by CPC and checked for subframe cracks.

Full inspection 2 and a load of other stuff.

They even undersealed the entire underneath of the car having cleaned it for subframe inspection.

They did an amazing job, car now drives 110% and is so much better.