Over the years I've owned dozens of cars with disc brakes, but have never had one that produces so much brake dust as our '07 MCS. Have any of you switched to after-market pads that produce less brake dust than the factory parts? I've seen some advertised which claim to produce less dust, but am concerned about increased rotor wear. Any comments regarding their braking performance in addition to dusting qualities would be appreciated as well.

 

Oh yes there are a few aftermarket pads that really do have less dust.

EBC Greenstuff
EBC Redstuff little less than the greens
Carbotech Bobcats, less dust but most expensive

I would say the Greens and Reds aren't hard on rotors.

 

Mintex if they are available for your Mini fitment. Incrementally lower dust than EBC Reds when I have used them serially on a car. More like EBC Greens in terms on no performance pretentions (i.e. a straight OEM replacement). I tend to favor EBC these days if I find them as a fitment--a little more progressive than the Mintex, but either are close to OEM feel. Mintex are easy on rotors and cheaper, but EBC is only moderate in price too. EBC reds aren't known as hard on rotors either; my own experience is maybe they wear them a bit more, but certainly no more than OEM ones. Either EBC or Mintex run at least as long as OEM on any car I have used them for.

Any of these are way, way less dust than the typical OEM's from Jurid and the like. Lots and lots of miles and different car and wheel fitments to back that up. So far I've found Jurid and TRW stamped or printed on the Mini OEM pads I have handled to date. Jurid (and TRW in newer ones) were found in many Audi's I handled (a LOT of them) that started with similar OEM dust storms that badly needed taming.

 

I've only had my MCS for about 6 months so I haven't gotten to the point of swapping them yet, but on my last car I used EBC RedStuff pads. As WayMotorWorks posted above, they were not very hard on my rotors at all (even after I used the pads at the track). They perform very well and don't break the bank. Very low dust as they're ceramic.

 

Another is the Hawk Ceramic. Very low dusting & what dust there is is a lighter color.

I just switched over to EBC greens & while I like them for thier nice initial bite, they do dust more than I like.

http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...mic_brake_pads