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is it bad to have 2 different types of brake pads on front vs. rear?

3360 Views 4 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  hbmike
well, it's finally time to replace the rear brake pads/rotors, and it doesn't appear to be any metalmaster rears avail. for the 2000 328i, what are my other options? i already have metalmasters for my front pads....

i was thinking of getting the porterfield r4-s pads for street/light track... up to 90% less dust than stock pads...

would it be bad to mix pad types for front and rear, say i have the metalmasters up front and the porterfields in the rear?

thanks...
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No, it's okay to mix pad compounds front and back, BUT the same axle should ALWAYS have the same compound.

It would actually make more sense to put the porterfields up front because they're better pads and the front wheel does more work in braking.
i thought about that also, but i just put the metal masters in about 2000 miles ago, so, i don't want to replace the fronts yet...

i'm trying to take advantage of the free sched. service.... i've got only 4000 miles left til it expires, so my thinking is to replace the pads after BMW replaces the pads/rotors... that's what i did for my fronts... that way i'm putting new pads on new rotors :)
hbmike said:
i thought about that also, but i just put the metal masters in about 2000 miles ago, so, i don't want to replace the fronts yet...

i'm trying to take advantage of the free sched. service.... i've got only 4000 miles left til it expires, so my thinking is to replace the pads after BMW replaces the pads/rotors... that's what i did for my fronts... that way i'm putting new pads on new rotors :)
By the way, using aftermarket pads with BMW rotors = warped rotors waiting to happen. BMW OEM rotors are notoriously soft and anything like the metalmasters or even the porterfields on the track will most likely end up costing you new rotors.

If you're REALLY serious about upgrading your brakes for some track sessions, might I suggest ATE discs rather than the OEM stuff?
yeah i thought about that too... but new rotors is more money, which i don't have a whole lot right now due to my wedding coming up in June... and i'm not running any track sessions yet... eventually i do want to do some auto-x's...

so, since BMW gives me new rotors with the service, i'll just use those for now.... i figure when i have to pay for the rotors the next time, i'll pay for the upgraded rotors... i'll keep the ATE rotors in mind :) thanks Hack
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