New Brake Pads Don't Work with Old Spring Clip

I'm trying to replace the brake pads and wear sensors on my 2006 Boxster S with standard iron rotors. I bought EBC Bluestuff pads for the front and rear (from EBC, I verified the part number) along with new wear sensors from Rockauto . The rears were a breeze, but the new front pads are shaped differently than my old ones and the wear sensors are a different shape than the ones that were on there. My issue is that the shape of the new pads do not allow for the spring clip to be installed. I mean, it's not even close. What is interesting is that the new wear sensors fit the new pads just fine, but not the old pads. I have no reason to suspect that my front brake calipers were swapped to a different design, they appear to be originals like the rears. I took some pictures to help explain the situation. What I found funny is that Rockauto lists a bunch of pads for the front of my car, and some look like the old ones and some look like the new ones. All of the spring clips I've found online look pretty much the same as far as I can tell. Does anyone know what is going on here and do I need to get the proper spring clip, wrong pads and sensors, or ?

Wrong pads. Maybe wrong pads in the box? Send them back.

That's what I thought at first. But they have the correct part number printed on them and moreover, when I look at pads for a 2006 Boxster S with iron rotors, some look like the old pads and some look like the new. Could there have been a mid-year change? Even if these were obviously the wrong pads, why do the new wear sensors fit them but not the old pads?

Then there is the question of the shims. Both the old and new pads had shims applied to them at the factory. But there were still the separate shims that fit into the brake pistons as well. Should it have just one, both and why? I don't see any need for the ones that fit into the pistons if there is already a shim from the factory.

Your spring clip looks like that from the 987. You can see both on my post here: https://www.planet-9.com/threads/ak...-non-s-2010-front-wheels-and-or-a-pictorial-on-how-to-just-replace-pads.255829/ I changed TO the older style clip for my change, but yours look like the smaller ones that were originally on my 987... not sure why someone would do that, but the clips are interchangable otherwise, so maybe that's what happened? Or maybe the previous owner swapped to 987-style clips for some reason? I'd say, grab a set of hardware for your 986 from a local shop and see if they are bigger than the ones you have... they may work?

Thank you sir! This is the information that I've been searching for. So I just need longer clips for these pads, wonderful! Thank you again. Now I just have the question about whether I should use both the EBC supplied shims that are bonded to the backs of the pads and the Porsche ones that fit into the pistons or just one.

I just found this thread: (2) New brake pads—toss dampers? | Planet-9 Porsche Forum and have decided to leave the brake pad dampers out. Now I just have to wait for my new pad retainers. clips to come in.

I would probably only use the EBC shims. The Porsche ones with the piston-pucks seem to get stuck in there after a long time, which is a non-starter for me... I don't want to have to deal with that in the future. I have rarely used shims on any brakes on my previous cars, and never had any issues with squeaking or squealing. I also have not used shim-grease either... so if you don't have noise, then I'd leave them off. Less crap to break or get in the way of future brake jobs Others may disagree with me, and that's fine... do what you want and whatever works for you!

Funny you should say that, as one of the dampers or shims or whatever they call them has this issue. The locating part is stuck in hollow of the piston, and it ripped off of the shim part. I am now considering how to proceed. My options are, just leave it, remove the caliper and at least remove the center screw and leave the rest of it, remove the caliper and take it all out, being careful not to pull the piston out, or try some silicone-based penetrant and see if I can get it loose without removing the caliper. The only issue with removing the caliper is that Porsche says to replace the attachment bolts, which I assume means that they are torque-to-yield.

I read some other threads about the locators getting torn like that, and being stuck. I also read that you should be careful with the penetrant you use, as these can damage the piston seals. If it's truly jammed in there, you could just leave it in there... I can't imagine it would hurt anything. I'm not a racer, and I can be somewhat lazy in such regards, so that's why I say it... but removing it is certainly the ideal solution. Yes, Porsche says to replace the caliper bolts when you pull the caliper. Full disclosure, I did not do that