What brake pads are you running?

[NineOneSeven]

I am about to change all the discs. pads and fluid on the E46 328i. I am going for the GSF Brembo discs but which pads?

They list Textar and EBC Green stuff for fast road. I remeber putting some EBC greens on my brothers Passat V6 Syncro but wasn't impressed with them from cold or slow speeds. I was thinking of getting some Pagid Blues but I can't find a supplier.


I need a pad that reacts well from cold too for normal driving as my wife drives the E46 mostly, but I drive it too, which can be rather more spirited at times.

This is a road car... i'd like to get the best pads for road/fast road.

EBC Green, Textar, Pagid, Pagid blue... what do guys run and what are your opinions?

[belleair302]

OEM are Textar, which are relatively soft, create a far amount of dust but do work. EBC pads are NOW pretty good, well worth a look and Pagid's too, but can be noisy and not always great from cold. EBC would be my choice. Am running EBC Reds on my M5, excellent stopping ability.

[taffyracer]

pagid yellow, blues are ok but yellow are the ones to go for

[NineOneSeven]

Thanks for that feedback.. as I seem to be having difficulty obtaining Pagid can anyone else endorse the EBC greens?

[dan101smith]

EBC greens are rubbish IMO.

I'm also running Pagid Yellows, can't recommend them enough!

If you're struggling to find them, try www.performancebraking.co.uk

[NineOneSeven]

Hey thanks for the pointer... Pagid Yellows it is. I may wack a set on my E36 328i before taking it to the 'ring.

[[TW]Fox]

I'm also still trying to decide on pads for my 530i - performance of the OEM pads is just fine but the fact they turn my beautifully pristine alloys to a completely different colour after just 20 miles is really beginning to annoy me.

I want low dust pads with OEM or better performance and OEM noise levels (No squeeling please). Any ideas?

[belleair302]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I would disagree. Ever tried them? If your calipers and pistons are in decent shape EBC Reds and Yellows make for great stopping power. Put the pads on with new disks, bed them in properly and I am certain that you will see no difference when compared to Pagid.

Don't believe all the 'sheep' on here, many who know nothing about brake technology and the science of stopping a car.

[dan101smith]

Can't comment on the reds and yellow EBCs as I've never tried them, but the greens are designed with light, sub 200bhp cars in mind (according to EBC themselves) so not well suited to an E46, and certainly not up to hard use.

By contrast, the Pagid Yellows I'm running (on the second car now) perform really well from cold and don't fade on track. Granted they have drawbacks (as mentioned they create a lot of dust, they're quite noisy and they're not cheap) but I think it's a worthwhile sacrifice for the performance they offer.

Ultimately I'm looking for a pad that will resist fade on track and last - the Pagids seem ideal for this, with the limiting factors being the calipers (standard on mine, so hard to modulate braking force) and the adhesion of the tyre.

[NineOneSeven]

The only really good thing I found with the EBC greens was that they give off such little dust.

Not a big fan of brake dust, but could live with it if the performance was alot better for the E36.

However I'd like to keep as dust free as possible on the E46 (I like my wife driving a clean car)

Just to remind I am considering pads for my E46 and E36 328's.