At 25K miles, brakes started to squeak....ah well, time to DIY! Brakes on JCW are a little different from what the standard "S" appears to be based on research I did before trying this job. The bolts other DIY articles referred as 7mm allen heads are 13mm (standard bolt not allen head) bolts on the JCW brake kit. Also required an open end wrench of same size (I think...) to hold a secondary nut that must be stabilized or the mounting bolt will not back out. Also, if you tighten the 13mm bolt all the down with the open end wrench FULLY on this secondary nut, you can't (I couldn't at least) remove it. What worked for me was to leave a good bit of slack (don't "bottom out") on the open end wrench, then you can remove it from this secondary nut that must be held to remove and tighten the bolt. Replacement bolts were supplied with the kit, but only 2 instead of 4 I expected. Replaced only the one bolt that had a significant portion of the blue (loctite?) removed when installed. Will be sending old pads to Carbotech most likely for a different coating. 156 dollars for OEM pads seems steep to me........

 

might want to contact Ken at minibrakes.com - he and I have had a running conversation about this. The pads are very close to the 325i's brakes (slightly different shape), but it might work. He's been looking for someone to try them out.

 

Thanks for the info, just may do that. The slightly different shape could be an issue with the clips the tabs ("ears") on each pad have to slide into. But any option is better than no option.....

 

I am hopeing that some of the aftermarket brake pad manufactures will soon be coming out with replacements. I believe these are the same units that are now on '07 "S" models. Are they listening?
Steve

 

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