35i Front Disc Upgrade

[mcbutler]

Hi All,

Well, after a recent visit to my indy for DCT work I was told that I had pitting on the inside surfaces of my front discs! As the car only has 30k on it. I had a look and was shocked to say the least.
I called them and asked for their thoughts on why this had happened and the general opinion was lack of use!, which makes sense, kind of I think.
I replaced the discs today with slotted discs and EBC redstuff ceramic pads, only done 6 miles since so no reviews yet but they look pretty good I think.
Photos below of old discs and pitting, I was losing nearly 50% of the friction area on one disc!!!!!
And new replacement with wheel fitted.

 

[Smartbear]

Certainly looks tidier Mark, I’m surprised those discs weren’t picked up on the mot, certainly as an advisory. I think Ronk on here had his car fail the test because of pitted/corroded discs
Rob

 

[mcbutler]

Certainly looks tidier Mark, I’m surprised those discs weren’t picked up on the mot, certainly as an advisory. I think Ronk on here had his car fail the test because of pitted/corroded discs
Rob

Goes to show how easy it is to miss something that is actually really important. If you add up the combined area of the two pitted portions it probably comes close to 25% of total disc area available! Not good on a 385BHP car!!!!!!!

 

[Smartbear]

What happened to the old disc in the last pic? It looks like it’s been removed by a scud missile
Rob

 

[mcbutler]

What happened to the old disc in the last pic? It looks like it’s been removed by a scud missile
Rob

HAH - yeah, well spotted.
I could not remove the disc retaining screw for love nor money, allen key rounded off. Drilled it and tried extractors with no luck so I decided to drill the alloy away around the screw head, After I removed the disc, the bolt would still not move even with pipe grips etc. So I removed the screw head to leave a 'peg'.
The disc screws are only there to hold the disc in place for build, the discs are hub centric and the wheel bolts hold them in place regardless.

 

[R.E92]

In that first pic it looks like you've had a go at painting your wheel well red?

 

[Silverstar]

Is that pitting only on the inside surface of the disc? Your new discs / pads certainly look good behind those wheels, what brand are they?

 

[mcbutler]

In that first pic it looks like you've had a go at painting your wheel well red?

I think thats my red T Shirt (and face after trying to get the fekin allen screw out) reflecting off the shiny new disc..

 

[mcbutler]

Is that pitting only on the inside surface of the disc? Your new discs / pads certainly look good behind those wheels, what brand are they?

The discs are by a company called DBA, highly rated and innovative.
I went for the T2 street series https://www.dbabrakes.co.uk/discbrakes/27241/DBA-2858S, only in the polish warehouse so paid £26 delivery by UPS - 3 days.
I looked at drilled initially but apart from looks (subjective) there is nothing to really recommend them. I was surprised when you consider AMG and M cars come with drilled discs yet track cars always use grooved or plain because drilled discs crack due to heat stress around the holes. These discs also feature a different type of internal 'vent' structure called a kangaroo paw (love those aussies lol). Yhis gives better heat loss while retaining mass in the disc (heat sink)....
I have done ten miles on them with the EBC red ceramic pads, nowhere near bedded in but the stopping power is sensational and completely silent.
And they look fab
Well chuffed

 

[Silverstar]

Is that pitting only on the inside surface of the disc? Your new discs / pads certainly look good behind those wheels, what brand are they?

The discs are by a company called DBA, highly rated and innovative.
I went for the T2 street series https://www.dbabrakes.co.uk/discbrakes/27241/DBA-2858S, only in the polish warehouse so paid £26 delivery by UPS - 3 days.
I looked at drilled initially but apart from looks (subjective) there is nothing to really recommend them. I was surprised when you consider AMG and M cars come with drilled discs yet track cars always use grooved or plain because drilled discs crack due to heat stress around the holes. These discs also feature a different type of internal 'vent' structure called a kangaroo paw (love those aussies lol). Yhis gives better heat loss while retaining mass in the disc (heat sink)....
I have done ten miles on them with the EBC red ceramic pads, nowhere near bedded in but the stopping power is sensational and completely silent.
And they look fab
Well chuffed

I just checked out their website, it certainly looks impressive but they aren't listing any for the 30i, oh well. Do you know what the difference is between EBC green pads and the red pads?

 

[mcbutler]

Is that pitting only on the inside surface of the disc? Your new discs / pads certainly look good behind those wheels, what brand are they?

The discs are by a company called DBA, highly rated and innovative.
I went for the T2 street series https://www.dbabrakes.co.uk/discbrakes/27241/DBA-2858S, only in the polish warehouse so paid £26 delivery by UPS - 3 days.
I looked at drilled initially but apart from looks (subjective) there is nothing to really recommend them. I was surprised when you consider AMG and M cars come with drilled discs yet track cars always use grooved or plain because drilled discs crack due to heat stress around the holes. These discs also feature a different type of internal 'vent' structure called a kangaroo paw (love those aussies lol). Yhis gives better heat loss while retaining mass in the disc (heat sink)....
I have done ten miles on them with the EBC red ceramic pads, nowhere near bedded in but the stopping power is sensational and completely silent.
And they look fab
Well chuffed

I just checked out their website, it certainly looks impressive but they aren't listing any for the 30i, oh well. Do you know what the difference is between EBC green pads and the red pads?

The EBC site is actually very helpful with this question, the main thing with red is they are ceramic based which maked them ultra low dust. In addition the dust adheres to the wheels lessas it contains no iron.
They offer about a 30% improvement in stopping power and being ceramic they don't overheat as easily so more dependable over repeated braking cycles.
Its important to bear in mind that you even if you fitted the brakes off a Boeing A380 passenger jet the car can only decelarate within the available grip from your tyres. As soon as they slip, ABS kicks in and releases your brakes regardless.
So, probably no point fitting top end anchors with med range tyres..

 

[Silverstar]

Mark, how are you getting on with the redstuff pads? Is your opinion still the same and does it really produce a low level of brake dust? Oddly my fronts are now due for renewal, last week the idrive was showing some 20,000Kms left on the fronts and yesterday I got a bong saying they need changing and only 600kms left! How strange!

Anyway I was trying to find the right redstuff pads for my 30i and EBC are listing two different models so I emailed them to find the correct ones. Chap from EBC replied with the correct model that I need but he recommended the yellow stuff over the red stuff saying that the red stuff don't perform so well when cold or on short journeys whereas the yellowstuff he says will perform no matter hot or cold but with slightly more brake dust. Watching a video on YouTube of some guys bedding in his yellowstuff after 5 runs of going 100kph to around 20kph the amount brake dust on the wheels was a fair bit.

Interested to know of your experience of the redstuff pads.