Alcon replacement brake discs fitted

[Tengocity]

Visited Litchfield this morning and had Alcon 2 piece brake discs fitted, along with Ferodo DS2500 pads, and some upgraded Motul Dot 5.1 fluid.

Great service from Litchfield, pleasure to deal with, and a very interesting car park!

[jamiesecker]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Visited Litchfield this morning and had Alcon 2 piece brake discs fitted, along with Ferodo DS2500 pads, and some upgraded Motul Dot 5.1 fluid.

Great service from Litchfield, pleasure to deal with, and a very interesting car park!

They look great and am toying with doing mine. why are the bells a different colour front to rear? Or is it just the photo or heat in the fronts?
I have looked on the Litchfield site but no prices.

either way look the nuts

[Tengocity]

They are a different colour but not sure why. The rears are actually more expensive than fronts, despite being smaller, because of the complexity to house the parking brake apparently, so maybe the colour is something to do with that.

There are prices on their website. Just snapped this:

[stefan4]

is this with a bit more track work in mind?

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by stefan4

is this with a bit more track work in mind?

Oh yes!

First time on track on Friday there. It was frickin awesome. Spa in a few weeks time too.

[stefan4]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Oh yes!

First time on track on Friday there. It was frickin awesome. Spa in a few weeks time too.

after my little escapade with the north Yorkshire constabulary I'm very much looking at doing a few track days, I've not been before and starting to look at where to start. I'm thinking at first just upgrading the pads and fluids and having a go at some beginner events.

I've just been looking at a novice only track day at Oultonpark

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by stefan4

after my little escapade with the north Yorkshire constabulary I'm very much looking at doing a few track days, I've not been before and starting to look at where to start. I'm thinking at first just upgrading the pads and fluids and having a go at some beginner events.

I've just been looking at a novice only track day at Oultonpark

Sounds a good approach. Make sure you book instruction too.

[GP87]

Originally Posted by stefan4

after my little escapade with the north Yorkshire constabulary I'm very much looking at doing a few track days, I've not been before and starting to look at where to start. I'm thinking at first just upgrading the pads and fluids and having a go at some beginner events.

I've just been looking at a novice only track day at Oultonpark

Just one note- Oulton Park is not the widest of tracks, thus I would be concerned about driving a £50k machine without track day insurance etc. It's a real shame as it is literally 10 mins from me. However they do offer the M4 experience days as a taster, where you use one of their cars instead of your own. Drawback is that it is limited to two 15 min sessions from what I understand.

[stefan4]

Originally Posted by GP87

Just one note- Oulton Park is not the widest of tracks, thus I would be concerned about driving a £50k machine without track day insurance etc. It's a real shame as it is literally 10 mins from me. However they do offer the M4 experience days as a taster, where you use one of their cars instead of your own. Drawback is that it is limited to two 15 min sessions from what I understand.

I would always go with track day insurance anyway but thanks for the heads up.

the m driving day might be a very good idea even if a little short

[GP87]

Originally Posted by stefan4

I would always go with track day insurance anyway but thanks for the heads up.

the m driving day might be a very good idea even if a little short

On a side note, i'd highly recommend Donington. A blast up the M1 for yourself and such a fun track!

[spidermack]

Originally Posted by stefan4

I would always go with track day insurance anyway but thanks for the heads up.

the m driving day might be a very good idea even if a little short

Originally Posted by stefan4

I would always go with track day insurance anyway but thanks for the heads up.

the m driving day might be a very good idea even if a little short

I'm wondering just how much is track day insurance? I've done M driving days using someone else car & often wondered about taking your own

[Tengocity]

I was quoted £700 to cover my M4 at Spa in a few weeks. That was with a £5500 excess!

[M4_CaptFlashheart]

go to a properly managed track day (Franks Charity Track Day Club has one coming up at Blyton Park on 26th) and you won't find any morons driving scrap saxo's with zero brain cells.
The day is relaxed. I took track day insurance out once when I first started track days back in 2009, then decided to just drive 8/10ths and be vigilant for idiots. M4 insurance is £600+ for a day, which is crazy. Its safer on a track than a road.

[RalphyBMW]

Love those brakes - v v envious!

[AD18]

Originally Posted by stefan4

after my little escapade with the north Yorkshire constabulary I'm very much looking at doing a few track days, I've not been before and starting to look at where to start. I'm thinking at first just upgrading the pads and fluids and having a go at some beginner events.

I've just been looking at a novice only track day at Oultonpark

I did the novice day 3 or 4 times last year at Oulton in my 335i, all of them were great days. They are well managed and the number of cars on track are also limited which I like ( a few snarky MSV employees there though which is why I'll go with Javelin for future ones from now on). Think I did about 100miles of track driving on my first novice day there.

Prior to that I also did the M4 Master experience there which another member stated was 2X15mins. It doesn't use the whole track but the instructor I had was great and got the bug for the subsequent novice track days. I used his tips for the other times I went later. You'll enjoy it but yes, better fluid and pads needed for sure...as I found out the first time, doh!

[Paul SR]

If you change fluid and pads for track day use do you need to change the brake fluid again after track use?

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Paul SR

If you change fluid and pads for track day use do you need to change the brake fluid again after track use?

No, the upgraded fluid is perfectly suited to everyday road use.
The track Pagids were incredible. No fade whatsoever despite long 6/7 lap stints at Spa last week. It's the tyres that go off first!

Swapped back to the Ds2500 yesterday, took 15 mins.

[Paul SR]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

No, the upgraded fluid is perfectly suited to everyday road use.
The track Pagids were incredible. No fade whatsoever despite long 6/7 lap stints at Spa last week. It's the tyres that go off first!

Swapped back to the Ds2500 yesterday, took 15 mins.

So the upgraded brake fluid will be fine for both track and road use as higher boiling point? I take it the standard brake fluid is ok for occasional track use?

Are the DS2500 better than standard pads and are they noisy in wet/dry?

Do you use different tyres for your track days?

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Paul SR

So the upgraded brake fluid will be fine for both track and road use as higher boiling point? I take it the standard brake fluid is ok for occasional track use?

Are the DS2500 better than standard pads and are they noisy in wet/dry?

Do you use different tyres for your track days?

Yes it's Motul Dot 5.1, and perfectly suited to year round use in cars with ABS and DSC systems.

It has a significantly higher boiling point than standard BMW fluid, and if you upgrade pads then I'd say upgrade the fluid, as otherwise the fluid wouldn't necessarily be able to handle a high enough temperature to make the use of the better pads.

No need to do that if you're a novice though, and I'd say just go easy, as is likely to be the case if it's all new to you.

The DS2500 are a superb all round upgrade pad. No noise whatsoever in any conditions, and great bite from cold. Perhaps a little more dust than OEM, but capable of handling track use better than standard pads. I use these as my daily pad. For track use I swap to Pagid RSL1 endurance pads. Overkill for a novice perhaps.

I have bought a separate set of wheels for track use, but just running MPSS on them just now, and then will change to a more track oriented tyre when they've worn out.

[Paul SR]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Yes it's Motul Dot 5.1, and perfectly suited to year round use in cars with ABS and DSC systems.

It has a significantly higher boiling point than standard BMW fluid, and if you upgrade pads then I'd say upgrade the fluid, as otherwise the fluid wouldn't necessarily be able to handle a high enough temperature to make the use of the better pads.

No need to do that if you're a novice though, and I'd say just go easy, as is likely to be the case if it's all new to you.

The DS2500 are a superb all round upgrade pad. No noise whatsoever in any conditions, and great bite from cold. Perhaps a little more dust than OEM, but capable of handling track use better than standard pads. I use these as my daily pad. For track use I swap to Pagid RSL1 endurance pads. Overkill for a novice perhaps.

I have bought a separate set of wheels for track use, but just running MPSS on them just now, and then will change to a more track oriented tyre when they've worn out.

Some more daft questions:

Any downsides to using upgraded brake fluid?

How long before changing brake fluid? Every year or 24 months?

Any squealing from DS2500 pads? Any issues in the wet?

Would you suggest upgrading the brake lines eg HEL

Why doesn’t the manufacturer use the higher boiling point brake fluid?

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Paul SR

Some more daft questions:

Any downsides to using upgraded brake fluid?

How long before changing brake fluid? Every year or 24 months?

Any squealing from DS2500 pads? Any issues in the wet?

Would you suggest upgrading the brake lines eg HEL

Why doesn’t the manufacturer use the higher boiling point brake fluid?

If you use something like Motul 5.1 then absolutely none. It's got the same viscosity as the standard BMW fluid so ensure the ABS and DSC systems work exactly as intended, even in really cold temps. Some of the others theoretically may not work quite the same in cold temps, though to be honest I Wouldn't worry about it.

You should change fluid every 2 years max, but I do mine at least once a year, as the fresher the better, especially given my track use.

You can do lines but I haven't. Modern brake lines are not that bad and having used them on track I'm happy with how they feel when harder pads are on.

No noise with DS2500, but my tears have worn substantially with the track use so I'm going to swap pads all round for track days.

[Paul SR]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

If you use something like Motul 5.1 then absolutely none. It's got the same viscosity as the standard BMW fluid so ensure the ABS and DSC systems work exactly as intended, even in really cold temps. Some of the others theoretically may not work quite the same in cold temps, though to be honest I Wouldn't worry about it.

You should change fluid every 2 years max, but I do mine at least once a year, as the fresher the better, especially given my track use.

You can do lines but I haven't. Modern brake lines are not that bad and having used them on track I'm happy with how they feel when harder pads are on.

No noise with DS2500, but my tears have worn substantially with the track use so I'm going to swap pads all round for track days.

Thanks for your reply, most helpful. Is swapping pads really easy?