I've read a great deal on this forum re rotors and pads. My brake wear light came on last week and I assume this is from the front brakes. Although the pads on the rear look low also. Here's the questions:

1. The Ate PremiumOne Slotted Rotors are reasonably priced has anyone had any experience with them? Are they actually any good?

2. I drive street use only but I do have a more aggressive driving style. Any advice on pads? Again the Ate Pads look reasonably priced.

3. Final question. I am reasonably handy and the guide by Octane on this forum looks good. Should I do this myself or am I heading for a headache if I take this on?

Any advice appreciated.

 

My guess is that if Tire Rack is selling these parts they are fine.
However you should get ceramic pads over OEM type replacements. The Hawks are great, good stopping power and little dust.
The slight cost increase is worth it.

You should be fine with the write up on doing brakes. I did not even read it and had no problems. If you have done other brakes the MINI's are easy.

 

I just got a rest set of these through Promini. Have not put them on yet though. Great price on the rears if you go to their Ebay store.

 

I'll check out the ProMini eBay store and will change out the pads / rotors myself.

 

Checked out eBay and the Hawk pads. On TireRack the store states for the Hawk Pads:

Rear fitment
Material: Ceramic
Note: Rear brake pads. **Backing plate does not have a groove for models with an electronic wear sensor. The pad will fit but the sensor can not be used.**

I'd like to be able to keep the sensor. Also found endless generic drilled and slotted rotors on eBay but no ProMini store. Do you have a link to the store where you got the ATE rotors?

Thanks
Brian

 

I believe he is refering to www.promini.com

 

a) EBC greenstuff pads have slots for the sensor

b) if the sensor came on, then you need to replace the sensor as it works by having the rotor wear a wire loop so as to break a circuit. If you don't want to use the sensor in the future you can simply splice the ends together but a new sensor lead is about $12.

 

Now that's funny. Clicked on your link and was told I could not connect to promini.com:thumbsup / ! Had to stare at it a while before I realized your smiley had become part of the link... (www.promini.com worked just fine!)

 

If you are still under warranty, the dealer covers brake replacement as part of the maintenance program.

I'm waiting for my brakes to wear out so we can get the dealer to replace pads and rotors and then I'm buying Hawk Ceramics out of my own pocket.

 

No, they have a store on Ebay where they sell certain items for a lot less than on their regular website. I just put the Ate's on tonight. Got them from their Ebay site for $36 a pair for the rear. Getting the fronts next but they are still $50ish a piece.

 

I've had the Ate Premium One's and Akebono ceramic pads for a couple of Months now. IMO they are a fantastic combination. I don't autocross but I drive pretty hard and I have to say these rotors and pads hold up to the heat much better than stock, and do it with 1/10 of the brake dust.

Ate is a German company that makes OEM brake parts for a lot of German cars. As a matter of fact, when I took my calipers off to change my pads, lo and behold, my stock BMW calipers on my 05 MCS were made by Ate. For the money, I think you can't beat them.

I don't know as much about the Akebono pads, but I just looked at a lot of reviews on Tirerack.com and the akebono pads had consistent high marks on everything from subcompacts to full-size pickups.

 

Oh yeah, and the Akebono pads DO have the slot for the sensor.

 

Actually, i would recommend to stay away from ceramic pads.

Yes, the are very low dust, but they are noisy. Anything less than 10km/h, the squeel very badly. I have even taken then out to chamfer the leading edge as well as adding copper grease to the back of the pads. No luck there.

I have been told that its the pieces of ceramic that is causing the noise. Being the harder material, it takes longer to wear down, thus also leaving lines on your rotors.

My rotors actually required replacements before the pads!

 

Sounds reasonable. More here if you are considering cross-drilled as well.

I have run Zimmermann cross-drilled rotors without the micro-fractures others have reported.

 

Don't assume it's the front sensor. I had the same assumption and it was the rear. The rear has a longer connecting cable than the front. I really like Hawk ceramics, absolutely no noise issues and it's amazing the dust difference from stock.

 

I've been trough one set of Hawk ceramics . No noise from them. I did have squeaks from my stock pads.

 

I don't know where you got your info, but you are misinformed. I'm running PBR Ultimates (ceramic compound) and get no squealing. On one car, I did spray the rear with the Permatex disc brake quiet. On another car I didn't. I occasionally get a squeal on the car w/o the Permatex but it isn't very often.

fwiw, I have had non-ceramic pads squeal also on past cars. Sprayed some disc brake quiet on the backside of the pads and it went away. brake systems are different from manufacturer to manufacturer...

 

Man, what brand of of pads were they so I know to never buy them? My ceramics don't sqeal at all, and they bite like all get-out, even cold!

Plus after about 5,000 hard-driven miles my Ate rotors still look like mirrors.

 

I had the ATE slotted rotors from Tire rack, in terms of stoping performance not too noticible difference. They are a good deal though and they keep that silver color. Delay brake fade somewhat, but they still fade? IMO I would suggest these if you had to replace rotors anyway, not as upgrade or mod, cause ya won't be impressed. same goes for the ss lines, metal bushings. Pads was a very noticable difference. ATE Super Blue was noticable in terms later brake fade.