Bed in or Bedding Pads
 

It is mind boggling how many different procedures there are for bed in of your brake pads/rotors. EBC for example has multiple directions for the pads that are on-line as well as what they pack with the pads. Akebono has some pads that say no bed in required. Tirerack has an article that says all pads must be bed in. It's absolutely crazy the amount of different strategies for the process.

Normally I'd just follow manufacturers recommendations, except when they can't seem to agree on what they are recommending.

What did you do with yours?

Each pad manufacturer will tell you something different because they use slightly different materials and manufacturing process. The bedding procedure is as much for mating the pads and rotors as it is for conditioning the pad material. If you buy EBC pads, follow the EBC procedure. If you buy Akebono pads, follow the Akebono procedure.

That being said, I can't remember ever performing a bedding procedure after replacing brake pads, and I've only had an issue once where the pads and rotors got wonky after a short period of time. I don't race either.

Bedding in your brakes helps transfer an even layer of brake pad material onto the brake rotor which assists in smoother brake operation and improved braking power.

Having a uniform layer of pad material on the brake rotor is essential to minimizing brake squeal and vibration.

Cut and paste of content without attribution isn't what I was looking for.

I was curious what other people do about the process.

the bedding procedure where you go out and brake HARD several times in succession is to rapidly bed the brakes like when you slapped so new pads in the middle of a track day

for normal use, as stated in the owner's manual for a new car, and/or the instructions of most pads I've used and/or brake places who've done mine ... drive conservatively for a couple of hundred miles to allow the pads to 'bed'. You won't hurt anything doing the rapid process put on the other hand do you think they did this at the factory? What would you think if you saw the dealer doing this to your new car as part of "dealer prep"!

similar to the advice when you put on new tires .... New tires will have 'chemicals' on then which were used to help them release from the molds. You will not get best performance from new tires until you put a couple of hundred miles on them and scuff 'em up a bit.

Go out and do HARD stops from 60-10....maybe 4 or 5. DO NOT COME TO COMPLETE STOP at any time. You may start to smell them...good. Do it some more from 45-5ish. You should be smelling them by now. Again do not stop. You do not want your hot brake pads clamping down on the hot rotors. Lastly, cruise around with minimal braking and no stopping until they are cooled down....a couple miles. Done.

Like others said, point is to get a layer of EVEN pad deposits on the rotors. It can be difficult to find roads to accomplish this, especially if you are in a heavily populated area.

^^^ THIS ^^^ is pretty much the way I bedded my new StopTech brakes on my R56. But when I installed the BBK on my F56, on the 80 mile drive home, I hit them hard a couple of times when I had the road to myself and then normal braking the rest of the way. Been working fine since then. I agree with following the manufacturers instructions.

I've tried many ways of bedding brakes, it seems that every manufacturer has their own procedure. I have found that it doesn't make any difference whether you bed them in or not, the car will stop the same.

I just installed new EBC pads and StopTech rotors on my F54 JCW, and did StopTech pads and rotors on my R53 JCW GP a couple of years ago. Followed the same procedure to bed them in both times. I've worked around high-performance cars and car guys my whole career. Ever time I asked about bedding in, I got similar answers.

Drive like normal, being aware that the new pads/rotors aren't at their best for the first 50-150 miles. Avoid prolonged light-medium braking during regular driving and apply medium-firm pressure a few times from higher speed without coming to a complete stop (like the above mentioned 60-10mph). After that 50-150 miles of this kind of driving and applications, drive like normal and brake as you would normally.

Seems to work for me, my new pads and rotors are broken in nicely. New setup is excellent, along with new Castrol SRF fluid and a switch to non-runflat Contis making it even better on high-speed canyon runs.

Just as a follow up here, not related to bed in process. The EBCs dust like mad for me compared to OEM pads or the Akebono's on the Countryman.

They did stop me nicely as I came down a dark road and ran into downed power lines. That was some scary hair raising (if I still had some) chit.

wcpfour has the best advice, braking normally for a hundred or so miles, is better than bedding pads improperly.

A problem is one isn't guaranteed braking will be normal for a hundred or so miles. In one case I washed my VW Golf TDI and didn't bother to drive the car after to dry the brakes. The next time I used the car I used the brakes but very lightly in getting the car out of the driveway onto the road. Then just a mile or two down the road I had to make an emergency stop to void a car that ran a stop sign. I left the pedal pushed and the hot pads in contact with the rotors. The presence of rust dust resulted in some kind of material transfer to the rotors and afterwards the brakes had a slight pulse when used lightly.

By bedding in the brakes one does this under "controlled" conditions and gets it out of the way all at once.

My routine with a new car or a car with new brakes is to always do a bedding in as soon as I can. For example I got new rear pads installed in my JCW yesterday. In just a couple of blocks from the dealer I was on the freeway racing towards the office and when I had a chance I did some hard braking from speed which bedded in the new rear pads.

btw ... EBC mentions that they use a 'break in coating' which will result in higher dusting until this is worn off.

Mine were dusty their whole life.

I am on board with what is described above. I have used that basic procedure for multiple brand/type pads over ~20 years or so and haven't had any 'weird' brake related issues following it. Hardest part is finding an area where you can complete an uninterrupted cycle, luckily I have found a 'loop' where I can get in a good bedding cycle w/o any pucker moments for myself or others around me.