2024 F57 JCW.

Love the car overall, but I'm having a very hard time getting along with the Brembos. Sure, they'll stop me fast, but the speed and abruptness when they first engage is downright dangerous.
They have mellowed ever so slightly now that I have a few hundred miles on the car, but I doubt they're ever going to become soft enough for my taste.

Is there any solution? Either a mechanical adjustment, or maybe a coding thing? (I believe they are electronically controlled, yes? )


And if nothing can be done those ways, might I find some improvement with the high-end aftermarket brake pads a lot of track guys retrofit? Again, I don't need more stopping power, just more control (smoother, less grabby) when you first hit the pedal.

 

I have a 2023 JCW Convertible with Brembo brakes and they are ultra smooth with no abruptness at all. You already have high end brake pads so you should not need to change them. I would go back to the dealer, test drive another JCW F57 and see how it feels. Maybe yours is out of calibration or something.

 

BMW/Mini use brake pads that have high initial bite to make them feel more powerful. I think a change in pad compound would get you the feel you want. Look for a pad that is full ceramic. Ceramic pads tend towards the lower initial bite, longer life, lower dust, too.

 

Thanks, Nik. That sounds promising, but OMG are there a lot of pad choices. (I also thought the Brembos had ceramix pads stock, but I guess not.)

Would anyone know which of these many options might best get me the softer / more controlled attack I want? (Cost is not a factor)


https://www.waymotorworks.com/search...keep_https=yes

 

I'm using these on my GP2 conversion:
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...pt=1684&jsn=21

They grab and stop pretty good, but they don't have that immediate jerk when the pads first contact the rotor, if that makes sense. And I can stand on them pretty hard to get ABS to activate, too.

 

Nice. And only $28 each.

I'm trying hard to imagine what could make the G-Loc GS-1, which is there street-specific pad, worth $380 for the set of four. Hmmm.....

 

My 2023 JCW brakes are not abrupt at all.

Before you change pads take the car out and accelerate up to speed (highway speed) and with traffic permitting apply the brakes moderately hard to slow the car from speed to something less. If you can slow from say 65mph to 45mph. Do not apply the brakes hard enough to trigger ABS. Do not bring the car to a stop. Release the brake pedal and quickly accelerate up to speed again and apply the brakes again. Do this one more time. That will "bed in" the brakes enough that their subsequent behavior is a truer reflection of their normal behavior. Be sure after doing the above you drive the car enough to give the brakes time to cool down before you bring the car to a stop and leave the brake pedal applied.

If the brakes are still abrupt in their engagement there is a possibility the brake hydraulic system needs a flush/bleed. Sure the car is new but my 2018 JCW in about one year and about 15K miles from new needed a brake fluid flush/bleed to deal with an overly sensitive stability control system. And then my 2020 M-B cargo van was manifesting grabby brakes. A brake fluid flush/bleed was the cure.

 

Thanks, Rock.

I think you're right, they simply weren't fully broken in. I did as you say, for about an hour, both from 60 mph and from about 45mph to a slow-roll.
They're still a little abrupt, but noticeably better.

I'll see how they are after another few hundred miles.

 

I have owned two JCWs, a 19 and my current '22. Each time I drove home the brakes seemed very touchy. I think after 24,000 miles my brakes on my '22 are perfect. The only time I notice how good my MINI's brakes are is when I drive my wife's Audi S5. I feel like I actually have to put a little effort in her car to slow down. Bottom line, I think the JCW brakes are awesome and PERFECT.