I'm liking my CoolCarbon pads. Better initial bite than Hawk HPS, and better overall
performance than stock. Dust is about halfway between stock and HPS.

 

you can give ebc green stuff a shot. i think they grab pretty good. my only problem right now is brake fade from heat. need to cool my rotors some how. other wise i have plain face stock brembo rotors SS lines the stiffeners and ate superblue fluid. im thinking to upgrade to the ebc slotted rotors all around.

they look cool and should keep the rotors cool as well,they wont rust either. I need to make brake ducts to help out.

front
http://www.minicarparts.net/Parts/USR1007.cfm

rear
http://www.minicarparts.net/Parts/USR1490.cfm

 

EBC Redstuff will fade if you drive agressively on mountain roads. Just sayin . . .

 

the greens will fade too... i can feel it and i can smell it.

 

I think I have EBC Yellow stuff on the front now. Not positive what previous owner put on, but they're indeed yellow in color. They're "just okay" when dead cold, a little better as they get a little warmer. Only once (well maybe a few occasions) did I think they were Great, like when I was following my local mini club down a twisty mountain side -it surprised me at first how well they grabbed once they got into their range.

I think I'll go ahead and try RedStuff pretty soon. Hoping they'll have more cold bite than yellow, and not fade as much as green.

Really appreciate the input, thanks again.

 

Hey Greek,

I'm about to change out rotors and pads, is there any risk in leaving the brake fluid alone?

 

none. i only changed fluid cuz i put in SS brake lines and wanted something that could handle some more heat.

 

Careful w/ EBC. Mine lost a pad a few weeks back:

 

Sorry to hop in...
But I STRONGLY suggest you do a flush, or even a partial bleed to "freshen" it...
Dot 4 fluid used on the mini has a useful life of about 2-3 years...it holds less moisture that the older dot3 stuff....
Net result us if you do a pad change, and skip the fuilds, it can be a very $$ descession....if the caliper corodes, or the o-rings get gummy and leak...you are out a caliper, and the setvof pads....best case....worst case...the DSC/asc+t/abs unit fails and it costs a THOUSAND plus to fix....
Penny wise, pound foolish IMO not to attatch a hose to the bleed nipple, and pump a few pumps of fluid, then top of the resiviour at the very least.
Just me, but I would rather spend $15 and 15 minutes more to save a few hundred or thousand dollars down the road....and a full dot4 FLUSH is part of a 24-36 month (from date of production) mataince item that continues FOREVER...just like coolant flushes...

 

I had my pads replaced with EBC Red Stuff earlier in the year, along with new fluid and braided hoses. Don't know about fade (have pushed them super hard...yet), but they take a little bit to warm up. Once they're warm they're very good and keep getting better.

 

Hey OP,

There is a guy on the 2nd Gen Marketplace who just upgraded his R56S to the big Brembo JCW brake kit and he has the complete set of Calipers, Brackets, Cross Drilled Rotors, EBC Red pads as take offs for sale. He's asking for more than their worth but I would look into that before I did anything on your R53. That's the equivalent of the JCW upgrade kit for your car, just have to paint the calipers red!.

 

+1

I have often needed to change pads in intervals of less than a year in my previous cars. Just doing a partial bleed after the new pads were in seemed to result in a slightly firmer pedal, even if it was just a placebo type perception on my part.

I completely changed my brake fluid (didnt change pads yet) shortly after I got my car "just because", and I didn't know when/if the previous owner changed it.

Though I agree that so long as you don't "open" the system when replacing the pads it may not be technically "necessary" to bleed it if the fluid is less than 2 years old, I'd probably do it anyway.

BTW, you may already know, but you're likely to have your brake fluid reservoir overflow when you push the pistons back to accommodate the new pads in the caliper. I usually remove some fluid from the reservoir first with a turkey baster or bulb syringe, then before the job is done, refill from a NEW -UN OPENED bottle of brake fluid and do at least a partial bleed.

 

ALWAYS SO MUCH HELP
XOXOXO