Brake Pads - Yellow Stuff

[Bruski_11]

I need (ok want) to get some yellow stuff pads and was hoping to get some thoughts / recommendations from the forum on what has or hasn't worked for other forum members, also any ideas on where to source.

p.s. I'm replacing the discs too with originals.

Many thanks,
Bruski

[Jonttt]

I had some fitted on Friday.

First impressions (appreciate they are not bedded in yet, done a 200 miles run on Saturday but was mostly motorway / fast A roads and very wet at times) :

- cold performance is much better than I was expecting. Very progressive "bite" with a nice feel to them.

- some loud "groaning" on light application when warmed up a little (eg final braking at lights as about to stop). Pretty embarassing but hopefully this will stop when bedded in.

Not done a fast B road run yet but based on cold performance I have high expectations.

nb I left OEM discs on which are pretty new. If your sensors have not been triggered they will fit the EBC pads so no need to get x2 EBC sensors ;-)

[Dave P]

why are people going for yellow and not redstuff? I have read really good reports on here for the yellows but never a mention of the reds?

[c_w]

Because the Yellow is a better pad! :) They have a higher friction ration and very low dust still too. Exdos ran Reds for a while and switched to Yellow so maybe he could comment as I've only ever run the Yellows.

Jontt; I get no noise and are they're totally smooth on my car. Unless you fitted new discs too it's probably old material on the brake disc that as you say will probably come off. They ave that rough red bedding in material which I think is a great idea to clean up the disc as best it can, though that usually wears off after about 20miles.

I'm now actually running Pagid RS29 which is a better pad but it's like a stronger Yellowstuff pad - also has little dust and seems to be quiet so far.

[Seca Blue]

I thought about this for ages before taking the plunge and getting yellowstuff.

I don't find them very confidence inspiring when cold, but are ok once warmed up. For normal softy road use like I give, I don't see any benefit over standard.

Having said that I've just driven to the alps and back which includes loads of sustained breaking, not to mention some high speed stuff on the autobahns, and they were perfect.

So a conclusive response from me then...

[MGR]

Unless you take the car on track the standard brake pads are probably the best option.

They are totally useless on track though.

[c_w]

I thought about this for ages before taking the plunge and getting yellowstuff.

I don't find them very confidence inspiring when cold, but are ok once warmed up. For normal softy road use like I give, I don't see any benefit over standard.

Having said that I've just driven to the alps and back which includes loads of sustained breaking, not to mention some high speed stuff on the autobahns, and they were perfect.

So a conclusive response from me then...

Had you been running factory pads you would have suffered brake fade so well worth it just for that. For me the factory brakes worked ONCE for a high speed brake, then just grumbled and faded after that. I've found the Yellow cold bite to be fine, it is by no means a "grabby" pad though.

If the performance doesn't convince (for normal road use) I would saw purely the lack of dust over standard which darken the wheels straight away is enough to use them. Even after a trackday with Yellows the dust is minimal whereas with a factory pad it would be black.

[Jonttt]

I must admit I was pretty disappointed with the amount of brake fade experienced on fast road runs with the OEM pads (even pretty short runs and my pads had only done 3k miles when I got the car) to the point were they were practically useless and I really had to ease off and brake far too early for corners. I really overheated them on a yorkshire dales run and I don't think they recovered.

It will be interesting to see how brake dust is compared to OEM.

A bonus was that I got the yellow pads cheaper than I could red's ;-)

[exdos]

Because the Yellow is a better pad! :) They have a higher friction ration and very low dust still too. Exdos ran Reds for a while and switched to Yellow so maybe he could comment as I've only ever run the Yellows.

I've done at total of 9 days at The Ring now with one set of Yellowstuff pads all round with my DIY front brake ducts (costing about £15 in total!) and I can't fault them. The hottest they got at The Ring last week was 234 degs C. There's still loads of pad left yet. Then again I try to spend as little time as possible on the brakes.

I ran RedStuff pads for 4 years and they are fine but Yellowstuff have more stopping power. Both give relatively little brake dust too.

[Dave P]

is it worth trying to do a group buy on the yellowstuffs? whats happened to our site sponsors?

[-Keith-]

I run Yellowstuff + OEM floaters + Goodrich braided lines + dot 5.1

The results are nothing short of incredible, after using redstuff, old fluid and OEM brake lines.

Anyone who hasn't, I'd recommend upgrading to braided and Yellowstuff as soon as you can!

Yellows took about 450 miles before all sounds of squealing and scraping stopped, but bite and dust is the best I would say is available for the money, easily.

[indy]

what is the price for yellow stuff pads, where is best place to buy them from? are they noisy (squeaky/squeals?) and how much dust compared to standard pads?

what are the views of fitting them to used discs? my discs are fine and dont need to be changed, so dont want to buy new discs just because im buying new pads? hope that makes sense

[c_w]

what is the price for yellow stuff pads, where is best place to buy them from? are they noisy (squeaky/squeals?) and how much dust compared to standard pads?

what are the views of fitting them to used discs? my discs are fine and dont need to be changed, so dont want to buy new discs just because im buying new pads? hope that makes sense

Have you not been reading the thread!?

- Dust is practically none existent really compared to OEM.

- There's no noise from them cold or hot once bedded in. Even after hammering them on track they stay smooth and quiet for the journey home.

- They come with a rough red "bedding in" material on the surface of the pad which tries to clean up the disc surface.


The cheapest place to get them is http://www.brakes4u.co.uk/supersearc...&id=2125&won=1 (£69.91 delivered - this is with a 20% discount code (please PM me for it)). You have to select BMW E36 M3 3.2 (Yellowstuff Front) as it's only showing Greens or Reds for Z3M 3.2.

[-Keith-]

Lol at Chris! Open your eyes and read Indy!

You can get them for £69 delivered from a seller on eBay called LK performance without the need for a discount code (search e36 M3 yellowstuff and look for the cheapest ones - circa 65ish before delivery).

For reference, you may be interested to know that EBC tried a tweaked formula for their Yellowstuff around 18months ago, which was not very well received. Generally, those with a bad word about Yellows will have had these pads. They shortly reverted back to the original compound. I had heard about this, so made sure I called up EBC and spoke to their technical guys. They gave me the product number that is stamped onto the pads and cross referenced this with the pads I received from LK Performance off eBay, and can confirm they are the good compound.

On only checked this as I was weary that an eBay seller selling cheap pads would be the old type... But my paranoia was proved wrong!

[c_w]

I've been using Yellows for about 4 years now and not really noticed a bad set (probably 1.5 sets a year)! so may have been a very short production period!

You can get them for £69 delivered from a seller on eBay called LK performance without the need for a discount code (search e36 M3 yellowstuff and look for the cheapest ones - circa 65ish before delivery).

I saw those at £69.99 a few weeks back but think they've gone up now? (£77.99). That's still the cheapest delivered price on ebay though.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Front-EBC-Yell...#ht_3678wt_912