Got a 2k ES daily driver. My pads are shot, my rotors probably need to be replaced, my drums squeal a touch and it's all ugly as sin. I'm going to at least paint the calipers/drums, and replace the front rotors and all the pads.

Got a few questions for those of you who've used aftermarket bits.

1) On a daily driver, is there any real reason to not use the cheap rotors / pads, other than looks?

2) If the cross-drilled are really worth it for me are these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Drill...spagenameZWDVW

as good as any or do I need the more expensive ones. Any suggestions for good quality low price rotors/pads?

3) How much of a bitch is it to swap my ugly *** rear drums for discs, how much is it going to cost me, and again on my daily driver is it worth the money and effort? I hate to admit it, but the main reason I'm considering it is because they're just ugly as ****.

4) If I do swap, can I just buy some OEM, possibly junkyard pieces, for a different year and bolt up or am I in for a LOT of work? I know ES before '99 had 4 wheel discs, and I think maybe that '01-'03 had a version which did too?

 

I've always used EBC when I can, mostly on the front. If your considering cheap stuff on the front you don't wanna know what a rear swap would go for, if you could find one..

 

I'm considering everything, by cheap I mean just whatever the stock parts are from autozone. Really I'm more interested in whether or not there's any real difference for a daily driver in stock and aftermarket rotors/pads. I don't mind shelling out some more cash if I'm going to get some real world performance out of it, but if it's $20 vs $250 and I don't get anything more out of it then why spend the extra cash? Obviously if I were racing it there's reason to upgrade, but I haven't seen anyone do a writeup on brakes for just a daily driver.

 

That said, I would say EBC Greenstuff pads and rotors would be well worth it.

 

protegegarage.com has a neat front brake package which includes 2 EBC rotors, 2 greenstuff pads, and stainless steel brakelines. for day-to-day driving there will be more noticable pedal feel and more confident braking.

word of warning: ebc pads produce a LOT of dust. granted all pads produce some amount of dust, but with ebc your wheels will have that "bmw that hasnt been cleaned" look.