[teinesina]

Is anybody bleeding their brakes every time they swap pads? I feel like the brake pedal on this car is mushy in general and I can’t tell if it’s mushier now that I have done a few brake pad swaps (with cracking the reservoir each time). Yes I know there’s a brake pad thread, but that seems to be more geared toward what pads to use and couldn’t find much on whether or not people were bleeding the brakes every time they swapped pads. Not to mention it’s a 12 page thread.

[kthor703]

Stock pads definitely feel mushy compared to aftermarket options. I don't necessarily bleed everytime I swap. What brands are all the pads you are using? Do you have a comparison to a good pad set up that you like?

[Sonertial]

I've bled three times, replaced brake fluid with Castrol SRF, twice, and replaced pads with EBC Yellowstuff on all four wheels.

I agree. The brakes on this car feel mushy. After comparing the brake results from a recent Vehicle Inspection of both my M240i and a colleagues M2, I am going to try replacing the lines with stainless steel ones.

[teinesina]

Originally Posted by kthor703

Stock pads definitely feel mushy compared to aftermarket options. I don't necessarily bleed everytime I swap. What brands are all the pads you are using? Do you have a comparison to a good pad set up that you like?

So i have tried oem, PowerStop z26 (hated them, took them off after a couple weeks) and now have hawk hp+. So far I really like the hawks. They feel similar to OEM but with much better cold initial bite and grab much harder much faster with progressive brake pressure. The mushieness drives me crazy but I cant remember if is just normal mushy

[teinesina]

Originally Posted by Sonertial

I've bled three times, replaced brake fluid with Castrol SRF, twice, and replaced pads with EBC Yellowstuff on all four wheels.

I agree. The brakes on this car feel mushy. After comparing the brake results from a recent Vehicle Inspection of both my M240i and a colleagues M2, I am going to try replacing the lines with stainless steel ones.

I would love to go to Stainless lines on this car. But I run stock class at autocross and that’s against the rules. I run stainless lines on the mini and it’s amazing how much better they feel

[teinesina]

Originally Posted by kthor703

Stock pads definitely feel mushy compared to aftermarket options. I don't necessarily bleed everytime I swap. What brands are all the pads you are using? Do you have a comparison to a good pad set up that you like?

Did you notice any difference whether you bled or not? Or was it pretty much the same either way?

[John in VA]

Original brake parts still on our '15 228i with 18k miles - feels like you'll go through the windshield! Fluid has been flushed once.

[kthor703]

Originally Posted by teinesina

Did you notice any difference whether you bled or not? Or was it pretty much the same either way?

It felt the same in general. I frequent the track, so I bleed after each event, since I'm using stock fluid right now. Can't say I noticed a major difference in feel.

A lot of street based pads use more compressible materials (organics, etc...) to limit noise and harshness. When I swap my Hawk DTC pads back to stock pads after the track, it's a big difference. I would say Hawks generally are pretty rigid in comparison. Some of it also come from the frictional coefficient of the material.

[teinesina]

Originally Posted by kthor703

It felt the same in general. I frequent the track, so I bleed after each event, since I'm using stock fluid right now. Can't say I noticed a major difference in feel.

A lot of street based pads use more compressible materials (organics, etc...) to limit noise and harshness. When I swap my Hawk DTC pads back to stock pads after the track, it's a big difference. I would say Hawks generally are pretty rigid in comparison. Some of it also come from the frictional coefficient of the material.

Interesting, that makes sense. The hawks feel pretty good. Still a lot of brake travel till they firm up, to the point where I was catching my foot when going from brake to gas quickly at the auto x (I m not a left foot braker, I know I know). But I’m pretty happy with the bite of the hawk hp +, however i had to be careful because they managed to lock up and smoke the tires briefly before abs could kick in. But once i got the feel for them they were fine and I was staying off the abs (on re71s).

[MerlinMc]

Originally Posted by kthor703

Stock pads definitely feel mushy compared to aftermarket options. I don't necessarily bleed everytime I swap. What brands are all the pads you are using? Do you have a comparison to a good pad set up that you like?

Same approach. I have swapped pads a few times. Sometimes I have bleed, sometimes not. Have not noticed a difference.

Currently using EBC Red Stuff on my M240i. It's not a track pad. Less mushy than stock and much less dust.