50i Front Brake Pads

[Hanebo]

I just purchased a 2012 X5 50i a few weeks ago and need to change the front brakes and am wondering what everyone is using/recommending. My priority is to minimize the brake dust so I am looking at ceramics. I have owned a 2007 335i for about five years and have Akebono pads that I really like. I was thinking that I would just use Akebono pads on my X5 but after researching I found out that Akebono only makes pads for the rear and not the front. I have narrowed my search to EBC Red Stuff and Hawk Performance Ceramics.

Thanks for your input!

[socale39]

I have tried many many brake pads and I personally like Textar ePads. These are the newer compounds being used on newer BMW models and offer great bite with low brake dust. These won’t have the least amount of dust as some aftermarket pads however I find that the trade off is reduced bite with the other options. I posted a review which should be easily searchable.

[Hanebo]

socale39 - I read your excellent review on the Textar ePads, however Textar does not make front ePads for a 2012 X5 50i.

Looking for opinions on the EBC Red Stuff, Hawk Performance Ceramics and Centric Ceramic.

Thnaks!

[mitch808]

Head over to rockauto. Youll find lots of options to choose from. You def dont want hawk.
I run centric ceramic pads and they do dust, a lot. The weight of the vehicle and the combination of the pad type makes the ceramic pads dust just like a semi-metallic pad does on a car.

[R2X]

Great looking X5 Hanebo. I have pretty much the identical X5 in a 2013. I'll be curious to see which pads end up being the best. My mechanic just finished telling me he didn't have a good ceramic option for the front on my model year for some reason.

[Hanebo]

Just ordered EBC Red Stuff brakes for the front. I will report back later with a review after I have tried them out.

[Ryan5034]

What did you find out with the EBC Red's? Might need pads myself here soon.

[X5 MAN]

I ordered this one and have received it. Not yet installed.

EBC Yellow Stuff

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Hanebo]

Originally Posted by Ryan5034

What did you find out with the EBC Red's? Might need pads myself here soon.

I installed the Red pads on the front and Akebono pads on the rear about five weeks ago and now I have much less dust. The Akebono and Red pass are about the same as far as dust is concerned. The initial bite is not as good as the stock pads, but not horrible either. I have Akebono pads on both front and rear on my 335i and feel like that setups initial bite is softer than the Red pads. So overall the Red pads are really good.

There are some ceramic pads(I think they were StopTech) on Rockauto that I am considering trying out as well. They are much cheaper at about a third of the price and include the retaining clip.

For the rotors, I went with Zimmerman and really like them.

Overall, I am really happy with the Red pads, I would buy them again.

[bmwx5er]

Order brembo pads & rotors from bavauto. They’re awesome.

https://www.bavauto.com/bmw-brake-pads-p06058n