I have a new to me 2003 MCS with white top, mirrors and wheels. The car has 7500 miles on it and the brake pads leave GOBS of brake dust. If I wanted to keep the wheels even reasonably clean, I'd have to clean them everyday.

So, what are some good recommendations on brake pads. I want something that is reasonable for street, but I don't have to swap them out for lapping sessions and don't squeal a whole bunch.

My BMW K75S is my daily driver, so I don't put a lot of miles on my car, so they don't have to be long wearing, or even particularly easy on the rotors.

recommendations?

 

Try ceramic pads. I am partial to Hawk, but there are other manufacturers of ceramic pads out there.

 

I ditched my pads right after i bought my Cooper and bought EBC Green Stuff pads. While I still get some dusting, it is NOTHING like I was getting with the OEM and I am quite happy. I've done 2 two-day driving schools and 3 trips to the Dragon with them and they are not wearing much at all.

Jeff

 

I have had a outstanding results with Mintex red pads.Have used them for years on my other cars.Q

 

I think you are going to find that almost any pad is better for dusting that the stock pads.

I believe that the general consensus (for most but not all people) is that the EBC Greenstuff and Hawk Ceramic pads are the lower dusting of the readily available aftermarket pads. I chose the Hawk HPS pads because they gave a bit more grip than the ceramics and a little less fade, but dust a bit more dust than the first two (but still way less than stock).

Has anyone tried the EBC Yellowstuff pads? Dusting? Bite? Fade?

 

EBC Redstuff works great for me!

No brake dust and better braking...

 

yellow and red are generally better for track events as they will take more heat to come into their proper operating temps. i've read mixed reviews when searching on this and other boards on the Hawks with some people saying they dust terribly and others saying they are OK. I guess it somewhat depends on the owner's subjective impressions

i've also read some posts recommending Axxis pads which seem like a reasonable street pad. Had them on my BMW and they worked well with less dust than stock.

 

Crud... it sounds like I need to go with two sets of pads....

Really the axxis deluxe plusses are what I want for street, but it says on stoptechs website to not use them on the track (but doesn't say why).

on the ultimates, it says it will leave deposits on your rotors under track conditions and cause vibration.

But, I need another set up pads to swap in for lapping sessions.

How hard are pad swaps? On my 914, it was pull 2 cotter pins and pull the pads out, without removing the calipers...

 

There are some brake kits that don't necessitate the removal of the calipers on MINIs but I can't see a way you could do it on the stock setup without removing them.

 

I installed the Hawk ceramics about two months ago. I have light grey silver wheels. The dust went to next to nill. What dust there is is grey in color and doesn't show as much. I can now drive the car two weeks and the calipers and wheels still look clean. Even if it rains, which used to make the heavy black dust worse or at least look worse. The rest of the car now needs a bath before the wheels do.

How much / how serious track usage will you see? I found stock did pretty well with no fading on my track 'school' day. We did heavy brake excersise work for a while and I had no fade with stock pads. Another MINI with me was smoking heavily after only half the session. Perhaps 'cause my wheels are light and very open? I also had NO fade on the Dragon last summer. Including two full length runs back to back and at a very spirited level. I did SMELL them, but never quite got to fealing any fade or increased pedal effort.

The ceramics 'feel' like the oem, I don't notice a difference in bite or anything. I hear they're a little less prone to fade. But since I've never noticed fade with even the OEM's all I can say is that I haven't with these either. Oh, and they've been quiet as can be. I DID lube the backs with anti squeal as I do on any pad install. I've heard the greens seem to squeal a bit near stopping from a few folks, but some of them neglected to put in the lube so...

Pad swaps are as easy as most disk brake cars I've had. See the DIY brake pad installs stuff on NAM. If you've done pads on another car you'll find it quick. If not it might take you a wheel or two to become fast at it. Oh, and if you are new to doing pads I offer three pieces of advice.

1. Have the right tools, Torx socket for brakes, cheap Harbor Frieght caliper tool, etc.
2. USE anti squeal on the back of the pads.
3. Bed the pads per the instructions that come with them.

 

I've done a lot of brake work on my cars, so I'm not concerned, I was just wondering if they made it really easy on me, my assumption was that I'd have to remove the calipers.

I'm thinking that I'll do lapping sessions a couple of times/year, so I don't need a real aggressive pad, but would like less stinkin' brake dust...

 

I'd call the Hawks amazingly low in dust. But like I said what dust there is, is more of a light grey. So it might be that people with grey / silver / white wheels think they ultra low dust, but perhaps those with black wheels it shows a bit more?

 

This is funny, here's a comment from the tire rack site on dusting with hawk ceramics...

Called Tirerack to order Akebono ceramic pads and they talked me into more expensive Hawk Pro Ceramics which are advertised to have "ultra-low" dusting. Brake performance relative to OEM pads is clearly superior except for dusting. Wheels where black after 1000 miles. ....

1000 miles! I'm worried about having black wheels after 50 miles!

 

that's a decent price...

how do I order them from you?

 

I bought the ebc green pads and I like them you will always have dust