I have 2006 r52 mini cooper s and front brake & rotors need to be replaced soon.
I just checked amazon and one seller is selling front & rear set at $137 with good reviews.
https://www.amazon.com/2003-2006-Coo.../dp/B016E1XG4U

is there anyone has tried this item before? please advise.

 

When you do the brake job, be careful with the pad sensor. Its on the driver side front and pretty sure on the passenger side rear.

 

Brembo makes rotors and pads. Factory OEM now with out buying a big brake kit. Usually $150. Get Ceramic Pads. Drilled and slotted rotors are over kill for a car this small so you know. Not really needed.

 

Yup. Buy it just in case. They break too easily.

 

Another good combo is Zimmerman Rotors and Akebono Pads. Although I want with Brembo stock option. Ceramic Pads and the UV coated disc. $150 off Amazon. Solid brand and different since they are usually a big brake upgrade. Either way they will last twice as long that way with no dust. The factory option is crap unless you got a JCW with Brembo Big Brake.

 

Wow, great price, Cheap for the bling factor and pretty good price just for the rotors alone if you need new brakes. Ceramic pads are great for cutting down on visible brake dust and slotted/drilled rotors look great. Hopefully they were mfr'ed well and there are no issues. Heck, for that price I might buy a set and sit on them.


But don't kid yourself, "IMHO" and many others who have done empirical performance studies.
1. Its not gonna brake any better than stock.
2. Slotted/drilled rotors will wear pads faster.
3. Ceramic pads(including akebonos and yes I have had them) are NOT going to perform as good or better at braking than plane jane Autozone semi-metallic.
4. Slotted and drilled rotors are not going to "noticeably" improve your braking performance unless you are a track junkie. Its not that they break better but they are more resistant to fade. They cool faster but if you are a track junkie you probably run cooling ducting to them, and increasing airflow is even more effective.


Couple mostly opinion based links - that agree with me and I could find in less than 10 seconds. There are much more definitive/better studies that show:
Ceramics are about cosmetics not braking.
Slotted/Drilled are applicable to track cars, but other than cosmetic don't do much for DD cars.
http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/view...text=auto_pres


http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/...er-test-2.html


That being said, I think they are fine for normal driving. Also IMHO - I have used Autozone ceramic pads and they do just as good as the akebonos at about 3/4 to 1/2 the price. Some of my BMW buddies cringe at AZ ceramic pads, but 10 years ago Akebono was unknown and priced about 1/4 to 1/3 less. That's when I bought them. It was not a braking performance improvement. So I see no need to pay for the hype.


Soapbox over
Good Luck

 

Just an FYI, no racing series runs drilled rotors. Maybe F1. They are very unreliable under race conditions. The drilling severely weakens the rotors. The drilled carbon ceramic rotors that are found on the high end supercars do show a performance gain from lower weight and faster cooling. Most race series run slotted rotors to prevent outgassing of the race pads. This outgassing doesn't happen on regular or even high performance/limited track pads so even the slotted rotors do not offer any better performance over blanks.

Now, for the cool factor, run the rotors that you like. I have slotted on my two track cars and I do have a set of slotted rotors for my mini, but I only ordered them because I am due for a brake job and these were quality rotors on clearance for cheaper than blanks.

On a budget, I prefer Autozone rotors and Advance pads. Great quality parts at 1/2 price of name brand stuff. That's what goes on all my other vehicles and my friends vehicles and I've never had an issue.

 

Bingo! 100% True. Especially on our Mini's the drilled rotor isn't worth it. The surface area on the brake rotor isn't even enough to support the idea of a drilled rotor. But yeah that is 100% correct track cars don't use drilled. Ceramic is the only material worth looking for especially on the pad. Zimmerman has drilled and slotted but again. It's purely cool factor.

 

I have them on my car for about 2 weeks, surprisingly, they came with sensors. If you're not racing, I see no reason not to go with this set. For the price, it doesn't get any better than this.
Brake dust is very minimal.

http://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nort...316685c96a.jpg

http://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nort...710ac22402.jpg

http://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nort...02b7955558.jpg

http://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nort...8ea0af39c9.jpg

http://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nort...7e684de8ba.jpg

http://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nort...316685c96a.jpg

 

omg! it does come with sensors?... I already ordered sensors from other seller on ebay.. dang it!!

 

I installed them on my 06/R53, painted the calipers.IMO, they stopped better than the stock I had on there, certainly look alot better. This is my DL, not going to the track

http://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nort...316685c96a.jpg

http://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nort...710ac22402.jpg

 

I didn't need to use the new sensors, the ones that were on there came off fine. I'll just use them for spares. Let me know how you like them once you get them installed.

 

Not needed,but they look nice

 

As car as expensive carbon vs. cheap organic pads .......for a daily driver street car, I've always found that the cheaper organic pads seem to grab better when they are cold, and seem to have a better more even feel.

The carbon pads never seem to stop well until they get heated up, and on a daily driver when you are not on the brakes all the time, this is an issue. And when you get on the brakes hard, at first they don't grab good because they are cold, but then after a second or two they start heating up and grab harder, all without pressing down on the pedal any harder. Very hard to modulate.

I've tried the expensive carbon pads, and I like the cheap organic ones much better for a daily driver.

Anyone else think the same way, or am I just weird?