Performance brake pads for a W210? Suggestions...
 

It's time to replace the pads on my E300. Any ideas for something low dust with respectable stopping power? I checked tirerack.com and they have Akebono pads but I've never heard of them. In fact, I've never heard of ANY of the current pads out there.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

I have the Akebono ceramics on my 210 I am real hard on brakes, they seem to have a good initial bite, I have never had them fade (on the street) even after some hard triple digit stops on the abs. They put off almost no dust at all. I have about 20k on the pads and they look like they will go another 30k

Another suggestion is the all metal pads from PBR. These were originally called Repco Metal masters, then Axis Metal Masters. I've used them on three Mercedes with increased rotor life, pad life, and low dusting.

I did not like PBR's ceramic pads. They worked well, but no better than the metal masters. They also generated more dust than the metal masters and cost more.

I'm a Huge fan of Porterfield R4S's.. (their R4's for the Really hardcore..).. I'm running them in my 91 coupe and my SEL AMG and thus far they work Far better then any stock or ceramic pad I've played with.

The R4's I use on my track car and that's what first Really turned me on to these pads...145+ down to 40 whilst stopping w/ E36 M3's gives not only me but those around me quite the thrill!

Jonathan

Second recommendation for the Porterfield R4-S pads (make sure you get the -S, the standard R4 pad is for race use only... noisy, dirty, short-lived, etc). The -S compound is quiet, low dust, long lasting (for street use), and has great feel. I have them on two of my cars. They're not cheap, but they're worth it. TopBrakes.com has the lowest prices I know of on the Porterfields.

:euro:

Thanks for the replies. I haven't bought the pads yet because the car has been off the road for a month... :o

Another happy Porterfield Customer...I Have used them for Years!
Less Dust..NO Squeak NO Fade

I've read good things about the Porters and I still like my Zimmerman x-drilled rotors (front & back). Just in case :D

I'll probably get some upgraded rotors eventually... (To counter the upcoming massive power increase... :D)

Well am using SCHNEIDER Slotted Drilled front rotors with BOSCH brake pads, they are not bad at all the bosch pads but am sure and from what i have heard the Porterfield R4-S pads are better.

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Think twice before using Topbrakes. He won't exchange the product he sold you after 30 days even if he sent you the wrong part. Thankfully Porterfield stands behind their product and corrected the problem. While Porterfield pads provide excellent braking performance, I wouldn't do business with Topbrakes again even if he is the the cheapest.

It helps to find out the exact Porterfield part number (i.e., AP-541, etc) for your car prior to ordering. Put that in the comments section if possible. TopBrakes just has the pads drop-shipped from Porterfield anyway, so yes it would be best to deal with Porterfield for any exchanges.

AFAIK, TopBrakes uses the Porterfield catalog, which is not always correct, so it's really Porterfield's fault anyway. Unfortunatley I have not been able to locate any other vendor which will even match the price from TopBrakes...

:nuke:

GSXR, you are correct the brakes were drop shipped from Porterfield and came mis-packaged (right part # wrong brake pads). However my problem is when I emailed TopBrakes regarding the problem, and their attitude was pretty much "Tough luck you should have checked the brakes before 30 days." Remember all I wanted was an exchange for the correct part. And while TopBrakes didn't make the error, they are who I paid. So while it was attractive for me to buy the product at the cheapest rate, there was no excuse for such poor customer service. So I repeat, buyer beware.

I agree - there is no excuse for such poor customer service. And thank you for the warning, I will make sure to double-check the pads next time I order a set! In the meantime, if anyone finds a vendor who will match their overall price, please post the info here. I would buy elsewhere if we had an option.

:euro:

I finally bought the Porterfields a few months ago but I can't remember for the life of me where I bought them.

I do remember however, that I had to do quite a bit of hunting because many sites had the 2 pin pads but only a few/one had the single pin pads that I needed.