BMW E90 Ceramic Brake pads?

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Oct 6, 2020
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Anybody switch their cars from semi metallic to ceramic brake pads? How much of a difference in terms of performance and dust?

My front wheels get so dirty from braking, and I was wondering what the best way to keep them clean is. Should I just clean them every few days? My pads have a lot of meat on them, but the car says due in 1600 miles.

What do the break experts say 😀?
 
I want to keep them stock, even though I don't push my car to its capabilities. Yes dusting is pretty bad, but the pads bite into the rotors more with originals as well. My rotors are FCP but may take 10 more years to wear out lol
 
On the Evo, slightly less dust going from a semi-metallic to a ceramic but I would say the lesser amount of brake dust was not a good trade off for the loss of brake performance. Not that ceramic is bad at all - I think they're fine for nearly, if not all, cars on the street but I didn't like the feel so I went back to a semi-metallic.
 
switched to ceramic on my accord, didn't notice any difference in braking but there sure is a lot less dust
 
I put Akebonos on my 328i. At first I was happy there was less dust, but the brakes did not have the initial bite of the stock pads. They also developed an audible clunk every time I applied the brakes after driving for a bit, which I pulled them apart several times to double check my work, only to find it is a common issue with Akebono pads on E90s that don't have the 335i brake setup. Akebono supposedly fixed the issue, so they sent me new pads. Nope, same problem. Went back to Textar OEM from FCP Euro and the brakes were great again, and have been for ~30k miles so far. Just checked them last week and they have plenty of pad left. Since then I have replaced the pads/rotors on a few E9x and E46 cars, and the Textar pad + Zimmerman rotor combo seems to be the best.
 
Unless it came with ceramic I have kept my brakes semi-metallic after trying ceramic and going back. Yes dust is more but I have felt better braking, longer lasting brakes and less rotor warpage with semi-metallic. I don't mind the dust
 
What are your driving conditions? :unsure:
About 15 miles of heavy traffic a day. They look good when they’re clean. I can’t wait for winter. Yes, I need to fix curb rash from previous owner
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I put Akebonos on my 328i. At first I was happy there was less dust, but the brakes did not have the initial bite of the stock pads. They also developed an audible clunk every time I applied the brakes after driving for a bit, which I pulled them apart several times to double check my work, only to find it is a common issue with Akebono pads on E90s that don't have the 335i brake setup. Akebono supposedly fixed the issue, so they sent me new pads. Nope, same problem. Went back to Textar OEM from FCP Euro and the brakes were great again, and have been for ~30k miles so far. Just checked them last week and they have plenty of pad left. Since then I have replaced the pads/rotors on a few E9x and E46 cars, and the Textar pad + Zimmerman rotor combo seems to be the best.
Thanks for the info. It seems like some people either love or hate the Akebonos. I guess I can live with the dust.

Do you happen to know how accurate the brake pad wear sensor is? It says 1200 on rear and 1600 on front. I check and seems like a lot of pad left. I guess worse scenario, the red BRAKE light would come on, and I would just order parts. I'm trying to get to next summer. The front outer pads have about half an inch of pad left. The rears maybe 3/8 inch left.

On a side note, what do you think about these pads?
 
The brake pad sensors are accurate sometimes. My replacement hasn't been very accurate, although the originals were accurate.
 
The reviews on FCP seem to be positive for those TRW Ultra Ceramic pads. I messaged with them a while back, and they stated the pads have 80-90% of the cold bite compared to the OE or OEM pads and that customers have liked the pads better than Akebono.

I will also note the standard Jurid replacement pads seem to dust less than the OE BMW pads (Jurid made on front, Textar on rear).

If the dust bothers you, give them a try.
 
In my experience, with a lighter E36…

Going from Axxis Ultimates, a street performance pad, to Textar ePads, resulted in a world's difference in dusting (much less, and lighter in color), and noticeable loss in bite. In fact, that car was left with the odd situation where the rear wheels, which still had Ultimates, would darken faster and more than the fronts.

Both were to be expected, and the latter took some time to adjust to, but once that accilimation had been achived I didn't feel braking power was insufficient, nor did they exhibit any temperature sensitivity (cough, Metal Masters).

A pad that meets R90 spec will theoretically be within 15% of the performance offered by the OE spec parts.

That spec, or specs in general, like friction ratings, only tell part of the story, but at least they are quantifiable, and arrived at through empirical testing.

The ePad option was arrived at through research that revealed that Akebonos were polarizing, at best, and the impression that the Textars gave an OE-level of feel and performance, albeit without the dust. Some mentioned that they may be even been OE in some applications.

Another characteristic is that they wear the rotors very evenly, like they've been polished, with no grooving or other signs of hard use.

No regrets, and while they weren't the cheapest pads, nor would I expect them to hold up in driving events, they're fine for street duty, and I'd do the same over again.
 
I’m definitely leaning towards those TRW ultra pads or jurid semi metallic. I would change the front pads, but I just don’t want to waste a pad with plenty of life left.

My rears are getting pretty worn, so I think in the summer, I’ll replace them with the TRW ultra ceramic. If everything is good, I’ll replace the fronts shortly after with the same.

What pads do you have?
Thanks
 
I’m definitely leaning towards those TRW ultra pads or jurid semi metallic. I would change the front pads, but I just don’t want to waste a pad with plenty of life left.

My rears are getting pretty worn, so I think in the summer, I’ll replace them with the TRW ultra ceramic. If everything is good, I’ll replace the fronts shortly after with the same.

What pads do you have?
Thanks
The rears on my E90 wore out first as well. I used the standard Jurid pads as replacement and have noticed less dust. There is still dust, just less of it and probably not quite as dark.

Fronts will get either Jurid or OE BMW, have not decided yet. They are getting close, probably 10k more miles. That will put them at over 100k miles, which isn’t bad (and why I am considering the OE pads).
 
The rears on my E90 wore out first as well. I used the standard Jurid pads as replacement and have noticed less dust. There is still dust, just less of it and probably not quite as dark.

Fronts will get either Jurid or OE BMW, have not decided yet. They are getting close, probably 10k more miles. That will put them at over 100k miles, which isn’t bad (and why I am considering the OE pads).
Alright, keep me updated when you do change front break pads. I have no idea how long it would take you to accumulate 10k miles. With BMWs, what the best way to know when to change pads? When the pad wear sensor trips? Thanks
 
Alright, keep me updated when you do change front break pads. I have no idea how long it would take you to accumulate 10k miles. With BMWs, what the best way to know when to change pads? When the pad wear sensor trips? Thanks
The sensors are usually reasonably accurate, but nothing replaces putting your eyes on them.

I rotate my tires every 7500 miles, so I inspect the brake pads at each wheel then.
 
Akebono Euro are not good.

I might consider the TRW ceramic that FCP offers.

That said, I use OE BMW pads and deal with the dust. BMW brakes are excellent, and I want to keep it that way.
I put Akebonos on my 328i. At first I was happy there was less dust, but the brakes did not have the initial bite of the stock pads. They also developed an audible clunk every time I applied the brakes after driving for a bit, which I pulled them apart several times to double check my work, only to find it is a common issue with Akebono pads on E90s that don't have the 335i brake setup. Akebono supposedly fixed the issue, so they sent me new pads. Nope, same problem. Went back to Textar OEM from FCP Euro and the brakes were great again, and have been for ~30k miles so far. Just checked them last week and they have plenty of pad left. Since then I have replaced the pads/rotors on a few E9x and E46 cars, and the Textar pad + Zimmerman rotor combo seems to be the best.

This is surprising to hear. At least for me. Over at the E-Class W212 forum on MBWorld, the Akebono EURO Utra-Premium ceramic pads are, by far, the preferred replacement for the OEM semi-metallic pads. People just rave about them. Every comment I have ever read suggests that the difference in braking is between undetectable to negligible. This is the first time I have read a negative comment regarding these pads.

I can't speak from personal experience. I put a set of Brembo NAO ceramic pads on the front of my E-350. They are more dusty than the OEM pads. Awful! I often wonder if Brembo messed up and put the wrong pads in the box.
 
Akebono are junk. No dust, but performance is Toyota-Honda level.
OE BMW (Jurid): Substantial dust. Aggressive.
Textar: same dust level, similar bite (bit less I would say).
ATE: dust and uber aggressive. My favorite performance pad for street.

Now interesting part, aftermarket Jurid. Much less dust than OE BMW made by them. But bite is similar. I tested them on track this Friday. They hold better than StopTech Sport track pads. Not quite fade resistant as EBC YellowStuff but not wearing out much.

If you want bite but less dust, go Jurid. If you want serious bite, go ATE.

There is ATE and Textar ceramic. I didn’t try them but I would say performance wise, they will be better than Akebono for sure.
Another option is Hawk Ceramic 5.0.
 
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