F80 Brakes Judder - not good under hard braking OEM

[m3elmo]

Hello All,

I'm new to the F80 M3 but have owned/own many other high performance vehicles and I'm a bit shocked at the braking on my M3. Since buying the car I experience what I can describe as judder or strange frictional vibration from hard braking. So high speed say 70mph to 30mph stops or when in the hills and going downhill hard on highway 9 etc. I would NOT experience this in normal daily driving techniques.

Car has CS wheels, dinan HAS, 12mm apex spacers, dinan rear links. Al Brakes are OEM pads/rotors with <1000 miles on them. Car has 20K miles and thrust bushings were replaced ~5K miles ago.

Photo attached showing the wear on my front rotors.

I've searching and from my reading will chalk it up to bad brake pads or improper bedding.

So my question is in simple terms. Are the OEM brakes and especially the pads just simply bad for high performance driving? The previous owner had the brakes/rotors changed a few times under warranty but kept on re-using OEM because of warranty.

Thanks for any input:

[weytie]

Clean the perforation holes and check the condition of your pads. Also clear the rear holes of the disc. My back of the disc were completly filled with pad excess and also had a judder.
After cleaning all gone ....

[m3elmo]

Originally Posted by weytie

Clean the perforation holes and check the condition of your pads. Also clear the rear holes of the disc. My back of the disc were completly filled with pad excess and also had a judder.
After cleaning all gone ....

I appreciate the advice and will try it. just seems odd that a high performance car needs this done every few hundred miles - something isn't right.

[Racer20]

Test without the spacers as well. Not saying they are the cause, but removing a variable could help, and a spacer that's not machines or seated properly can cause vibrations and judder.

[ABenLauda]

Originally Posted by m3elmo

Are the OEM brakes and especially the pads just simply bad for high performance driving?

Rotors are fine for track duty, but OEM pads are quite inadequate. I used OEM pads for 1 track day and warped both the front rotors (that's what the dealership said and they replaced it under warranty, so I didn't ask more questions).

Swap out the OEM pads for track pads, have fresh Castrol SRF and you should be just fine.

I use high pressure water to wash off the pad material/brake dust from the clogged rotor holes early morning right before I head to the track.

[Keebin]

i did one track day on oem pads and rotors and it juddered alot after that track day. i tossed them and went bbk for track and 9 runs. Best to follow what aben said and run better pads and new fluid. bmw fluid is trash it was pretty much done after one track day super dirty.

[m3elmo]

Originally Posted by Keebin

i did one track day on oem pads and rotors and it juddered alot after that track day. i tossed them and went bbk for track and 9 runs. Best to follow what aben said and run better pads and new fluid. bmw fluid is trash it was pretty much done after one track day super dirty.

thanks. I have new street pads on the way and will flush with new fluid. disappointing that these oem pads are so bad for an M car especially considering their cost.

[maddmatth]

Originally Posted by m3elmo

thanks. I have new street pads on the way and will flush with new fluid. disappointing that these oem pads are so bad for an M car especially considering their cost.

The OEM pads are fine. There is an issue with yours somewhere, that is not normal. I've thrashed mine in hills and slammed on brakes from 200kph with no vibrations/judder or anything.

They're not suited for the track because there are no perfect pads for both track and street use, and this is made to be a usable street car. Just swap the pads if you want something for the track.

[EricVR4]

This seems to be a random and recurring issue with these cars, and as far as I can tell, has happened since day 1.

See this thread: Rotors Keep Warping!!! HELP!!

Given that the previous owner of your car had the rotors replaced multiple times, I hate to say it, but welcome to the club. I'm on my 4th set of rotors and still have a judder between 40-50mph, but below or above that the car is fine. I've swapped the pads for some ceramics and it helped, but didn't get rid of the issue entirely. BMW also replaced the front wheel hubs with the current set of rotors.

All of the replacements have lasted between 500-1,500 miles with zero track days or hard braking so I know the rotors aren't warped.

[m3elmo]

Originally Posted by EricVR4

This seems to be a random and recurring issue with these cars, and as far as I can tell, has happened since day 1.

See this thread: Rotors Keep Warping!!! HELP!!

Given that the previous owner of your car had the rotors replaced multiple times, I hate to say it, but welcome to the club.

thanks for the link - I've searched a bit and see people talk about the thrust arm bushings as well. It's hard to describe what's going on, but it's not really a vibration but a judder/shudder type of thing, and you can see the deposits on the front rotors. I have a set of aftermarket pads on order and will see if that solves the problem, otherwise I'll go look at the thrust arm bushings.

[EricVR4]

Originally Posted by m3elmo

thanks for the link - I've searched a bit and see people talk about the thrust arm bushings as well. It's hard to describe what's going on, but it's not really a vibration but a judder/shudder type of thing, and you can see the deposits on the front rotors. I have a set of aftermarket pads on order and will see if that solves the problem, otherwise I'll go look at the thrust arm bushings.

Were you able to swap the pads out? If so, any noticeable improvement?

[m3elmo]

Originally Posted by EricVR4

Were you able to swap the pads out? If so, any noticeable improvement?

I switched to hawk hps pads and bedded them in and drove the car into the twistes. it's much much better. still a slight vibe between 30-40mph but I hope it goes away with more hard braking