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Disc rotor options
- Thread starter Sajk
- Start date
Just ordered some SHW fronts for mine. They’re largely unknown (or at least they were to me) but are the real deal - I have a feeling they are the actual oem. That said, the ATE discs that they will be replacing have stood up to some hard use and have been absolutely faultless. Pads have crumbled and fluid has boiled but the discs never gave up.
They have arrived and look good. The rear ate discs i have are all painted grey, I assume in some sort of anti rust treatment. The SHW appear more like the genuine discs. Machined faces and ring around the disc bell where the thicknesses would normally be etched.
The only downside is the SHW don’t come with screws to secure them. Hopefully my old ones will be serviceable!
Next time I’m at my garage I’ll see if I can get some pics of all the discs, but first impressions are good.
The only downside is the SHW don’t come with screws to secure them. Hopefully my old ones will be serviceable!
Next time I’m at my garage I’ll see if I can get some pics of all the discs, but first impressions are good.
As promised, here are a few pics of the various discs. Excuse the scabby old ones, I’d just finished cleaning it.
These are the front ATE I bought at least ten years ago-strangely istr they came in a Pagid box but I believe I saw an ate marking on them at the time. The bell is a more simplified version but is machined and coated. The finish has held up pretty well and they’ve been to hell and back more than a few times.
These, I believe, are the original BMW rears. I’ve owned it since 32k and I can’t see they’d ever have been changed before that.
SHW fronts. A genuinely lovely finish on these, I’m really impressed. Same/similar section to the bell as the genuine items and a machined face. There’s etching on the machined section for thickness and a snazzy logo!
ATE rears. Bought about a year ago. Whilst I’m sure they’re fine, they look cheap compared to the SHW, if they weren’t so expensive I’d buy some SHW just to balance the looks!
These are the front ATE I bought at least ten years ago-strangely istr they came in a Pagid box but I believe I saw an ate marking on them at the time. The bell is a more simplified version but is machined and coated. The finish has held up pretty well and they’ve been to hell and back more than a few times.
These, I believe, are the original BMW rears. I’ve owned it since 32k and I can’t see they’d ever have been changed before that.
SHW fronts. A genuinely lovely finish on these, I’m really impressed. Same/similar section to the bell as the genuine items and a machined face. There’s etching on the machined section for thickness and a snazzy logo!
ATE rears. Bought about a year ago. Whilst I’m sure they’re fine, they look cheap compared to the SHW, if they weren’t so expensive I’d buy some SHW just to balance the looks!
swanicyouth
Member
Sajk said:
You can directly swap solid USA spec e46 M3 rotors onto Z4 M w/o any other change - it’s a direct fitment. You can swap the fronts for e46 USA spec M3 rotors solid iron rotors if you change to M3 caliper brackets & hubs. The hubs are the same except Z4 M has tabs for the drilled rotors.
Some may see this as a “downgrade”. However, I made this swap after having multiple sets of the semi floating OE drilled Z4 M front rotors corroding at the drilled holes portion of the iron discs causing brake judder after only a few thousand miles. My last set of Z4 M drilled OE style front rotors lasted ~ 5,000 miles before getting brake judder unrelated to run-out, pad imprints, warped hubs, over tightening wheel lugs, etc…
There are a lot of people who have had recurring issues w/ this style semi-floating drilled M style rotor from BMW w/ brake judder on various models. For those who have had recurring issues with these rotors & brake harshness / pulsation / judder the “fix” is always to replace the rotors. However, a lot of times the issue is back after a few thousand miles & to rectify it rotors have to be replaced once again. Other people never have an issue with these rotors.
I suspect those of us that have had recurring issues, the root cause is related to driving style, car storage, environment, or frequency of driving vehicle. BMW actually sent a little booklet with new purchase of Z4 M I recentlly found in my original paperwork describing that allowing the vehicle to sit for long periods between driving may damage the factory drilled Z4 M rotors. Of course, other people have had no issues with these rotors causing brake harshness / judder after a few thousand miles.
I’m posting this hoping to help someone else who has had this issue. Swapping to solid iron M3 rotors is a long term fix.