Brakes and pads - uprated vs. OEM insurance

D

dunks

Member
Gents,

Just taken delivery of some Mtec drilled and grooved discs and mintex pads, but after looking around these are classed as a modification.

To save potential hassle with current and future insurance does anyone have any recommendations for some OEM discs and pads? I've found front and rear discs and pads for roughly the same cost as the Mtec kit, ATE discs and Textar pads and these seem to be OEM spec.


The car in question is an 2004 2.5.
 
brembo discs,

pads upto yourself, for me personally ferodo dsc2500, but they can get squeaky from time to time on light braking
 
dunks said:
Mtec drilled and grooved discs
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Well thats a bit silly, you improve your stopping ability and have to pay extra for being a safer road user.

What next, painted calipers being classed as an upgrade.
 
I presume it's because of the drilling/grooving of them that they put the insurance up? Rather than the finish colour?
 
Yeah, it seems pretty silly. I assume because OEM is vented front and solid rear, anything other than that is classed as a 'performance' upgrade and being able to stop faster means you'll drive faster :headbang:
 
I'd just send the discs back if it worries you and get some none grooved/drilled as they're the only thing any insurance assessor will ever actually notice in the event of a claim.
Brake pads wise you should be fine.
If you think about it logically as a typical car owner and you take your car to garage (whether it be a dealer/specialist or indie) for a pad replacement there's a strong likelihood you will come out with a different brand than you went in with. This doesn't invalidate your insurance though.
 
Your insurance company will probably charge you around £20 for the admin. Is it really worth sending them back? :?
 
MACK said:
I'd just send the discs back if it worries you and get some none grooved/drilled as they're the only thing any insurance assessor will ever actually notice in the event of a claim.
Brake pads wise you should be fine.
If you think about it logically as a typical car owner and you take your car to garage (whether it be a dealer/specialist or indie) for a pad replacement there's a strong likelihood you will come out with a different brand than you went in with. This doesn't invalidate your insurance though.
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Yeah, it seems silly, plus I doubt I'd even noticed the 'benefits' drilled and grooved discs give you. I just wanted the bling factor, and ~£160 all in for discs and pads seemed a good deal!

Silverzedtom said:
Your insurance company will probably charge you around £20 for the admin. Is it really worth sending them back? :?
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Awaiting what they'll quote me, my insurer was rubbish on the phone and didn't get what I was after so had to email them.
 
dunks said:
I doubt I'd even noticed the 'benefits' drilled and grooved discs give you.
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Other than the look, there aren't really any benefits from drilled and grooved.

this is worth a watch...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78wbht355R8
 
Still waiting on my insurer to get back to me but ran some quotes on Admiral with uprated brakes and no modifications and the difference in cost was £10-20. Annoying!
 
If you are looking for an upgrade OP id go and fit the OEM E46 330Ci / Z4 3.0Si set up, works great and is cheap too :)
 
I got Pagid discs and pads all round for my coupe from carparts4less. Think it was around £230 with a discount code
 
OE Textar/ATE are great imo.

I just bought new recently, bedded in with hard heat cycles, recent new fluid and recon calipers, and the stopping power and feel is great.

Discs/pads were about £130 with a recent offer at ECP iirc.


No they're not top heavy super bitey stuff but for fast road use and great modulation and H&T they're great.

Main downside though is dust is at the worse end.
 
The assessor and insurance company would have to prove that these performance brakes contributed to the accident to deny a payout. If someone t bones you running a red light then it's not logical cause for the grooved discs to be a factor. If you're skidding out of control then it's plausible.
 
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