I've got new brakes!
 

Hey, I just wanted to pass this along for anyone who might be able to take advantage of it...

I've got only 60k on my 03, had it since new. When new, brakes were real "touchy" at low speeds. I understand it's a common problem. I've had it to the dealer 3x for brake replacements, and they always end up the same. So this time, I decided to do them myself (Easter Sunday). (front only)

Received awesome help from the local O'Reilly store employees. Showed me 4 different sets of pads to help me choose. I ended up going with Performance Friction Carbon Metallic at $64 for the set. New rotors (store brand), plus something that was recommended by the guys at O'Reilly, to pump the fluid out of the front calipers. Makes sense that the fluid never really circulates, so it's just old, heated and reheated fluid down there.

I then "bedded them in" as was recommended in several places here on the web. Something that should be done on any car, new brakes, new car, etc.

The result is that I've never had such a good-feeling brake pedal. Not even when new. Not when the dealer replaced them. Thanks to the guys at O'Reilly and some good folks here in the web. Definitely look up that "bedding in" thing if you're doing new brakes.

One last thing... last time I had them done at the dealer, it was $550. This cost me under $200. I figure I saved somewhere around $500. Sweet.

That is awesome! All that money saved you can spend some on your self

Now throw the $500 you saved into doing the back brakes and keep the ball rollin'.

I thought I'm the only one with an '03 with the least miles. Guess not. I'm at 69K miles.

I thought I was average and have about 78K miles, just finished replacing pads and rotors with an EBC setup, and like the OP these brakes feel nothing like the factory ones that were on there.

You might have a different experience from what I've had but let me tell you that you might as well be throwing the money away that you spent on the rotors. Twice I've gotten rotors from Autozone and Kragen/O'Reilly and both times they have warped within a short amount of time. The first time I thought it was because the Hawk pads were a little aggressive, so I switched to a less aggressive pad and new front rotors. I had the same problem. I just ordered centric premium rotors on Amazon and from what I've heard you can't go wrong with centric.

You're right. I do expect to have to replace them, and maybe even before the pads. As long as the pads wear evenly, they say I won't have to buy another set - lifetime warranty. We'll see. But yeah, I have no doubt that those $50 each rotors will wear out pretty quick. I didn't want to spend $100 each or more on something harder, and end up with a lot of noise. So for that, I'll eat a few rotors. Not a big deal.

And yeah, I'll get to the backs next.

Oh, and someone in another thread spoke of having to "beat" the rotors off with a hammer (no wise cracks) :5091: But there's a threaded hole in each rotor that allows for a bolt to be inserted and have it push the rotor off the hub. I didn't need to do it, but it's there. Not sure if it's on the new one...

Anyway, great experience with O'Reilly (no, I don't work there), and it felt good to make sure it was done well. Happy G35 owner here...

I'm at 44,175 miles on my '03 8-)

you guys don't drive your car enough.

Nice!

Rotors don't really warp, per se. When you stop hard your rotors heat up. If you keep the pedal down, with hot rotors, some pad material gets deposited on the rotors and causes the pulsating you feel. This is what people call warping.

Any link online on how to get these pads ?

+1

I've read that before. Pad material gets deposited unevenly which will in turn cause vibrations during braking.

Great SAVE!!! I did the same just had a friend change my pads for me watched him do one side I did the other so in the future I can do them myself...

I have a set of Non-Brembo Project Mu front brake pads if anyone interested? Ordered the wrong set...