I just got back from my dealership, and as I expected, my brakes are very low.

The serviceman offered the $400 front brake job but I clearly declined and continued my search for new aftermarket brakes. The suggestions he had for me buying new brakes was to get rotors as well and try to stick with the same company for both. (I think that's bs, but i'm just speculating)

I've read in different threads that Brembo makes good rotors and to check out Hawk brake pads. If the "same company" thing is true, should I look elsewhere?

MiniMania has a set (click here) that they're offering for brakes and rotors but I've read Greenstuff goes fast and has tendency to squeak.

What should I DO?

PS, I have 17's and not much money to spend on brakes and rotors. Do I need spacers too? I'm hoping to spend less than $400.

 

lots of discussions on this topic

brembo makes oem replacement rotors for our cars, and they are pretty cheap...

otherwise, for rotors, alot of people have used powerslots with good results... avoid the drilled ones especially for track work as they have a potential for microfractures (not well proven, but i avoided that chance)

for brake pads... mintex redbox are the cheapest oem replacement pads at about 40-50 bucks... but are no better than stock

EBC greenstuff are good ceramic low dust pad, hardly high performance, but better than stock... as for squeaks, just add some auto goop and you are good...

upgrade from that will probably be ferodo ds2500s.. i had those before, dust arent bad, brakes are phenomenal stops, only when thrashed hard on the track do they really start to fall apart... but still, ds2500 stops me time after time... and highly recommended... i still am on OEM rotors when i swapped the front ferodos for the wilwood 12.16 kit...

hope this helped

alot of people would also recommend hawk pads

lastly, spacers are only necessary for bbks, i needed a 3mm spacer for my track 16' wheels to clear my wilwood calipers

 

Thanks kyriian, i'm leaning toward the Brembo's but I wanted to update the style. I was willing to make the cost stretch for the drilled once but I haven't heard about the damaging they experience.

I'm still not sure what to do but until then my car is under it's cover.

 

are your rotors bad or just your pads?

If its just pads, i would go no further than just grabbing some Hawks, or Ferodos....and whatever fluid you think best suits you. No need for updated rotors unless they need replacing too...especially if you want to stay under 400

 

I have no pads.

The rotors aren't terrible but they can surely use replacing.

 

The stock MINI rotors are softer than aftermarket ones and are a cause of some of the brake dust on your wheels. I went with the Powerslot's and Hawk HPS pads and love em.

 

that you can read about in the Marketplace.

 

It really comes down to what you want to do with the car. If you want to make athe biggest visual impact then that would be rotors, they will make a slight performance advantage. As a stock size rotor, not much can be done.

If you want better performance (but no visual impact) then a better set of pads will make a huge difference in performance. Now mind you it comes at a price, a better performing pad will have more dust and noise. The DS2500 is a good pad, but I am not impressed with the cold bite and they can be very loud.

 

Brembo drilled rotors are forged that way. Not drilled post-production. At least for their BBK. I think this holds true for the OEM fitment ones. This obviates much of the argument about microfractures and cracking.

Personally I would go Powerslots and Ferodo pads. Just the fronts. Cadmium coating too so you avoid that nasty rust color....