New brake Discs - Page 2 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

I recently bought a 2005 987 Boxster 2.7 - front Discs and Pads need changing and was looking at Design911 who sell 'Brand equivalent' as well as 'Official Porsche' ones - can anybody tell me the difference ? I would naturally go Official Porsche but if I can save alot of money I might as well ! I did also look at Sebro discs - alot seem to use them but I know absolutely nothing about them. Any advice is appreciated.

I recently paid the local OPC £550 to change discs pads etc on my 2008 987. Indie's were only marginally cheaper so I stuck to the main dealer and had a new Cayman to play with.

Just buy Serbo disks

Porsche don't make discs. Most people agree that Sebro are made in the same foundry. Research from a dedicated owner: Dedicated owner said: OK, I spoke to a man at Sebro in Germany today. He confirmed that Sebro discs are NOT original equipment for Porsche and are only produced for aftermarket fitment, However, he stated that the discs are cast in the same foundry as the OE discs and was adamant you would not notice any difference in performance. The above is exactly what the Zimmerman Engineer stated about their discs a while back. My next port of call is ATE. I'll report back when I have made contact. Dedicated owner said: Zimmerman don't make the OE discs for the 993 although they do make them for some other Porsche models. I spoke with an Engineer at Zimmerman in Germany and he confirmed that this was the case. The Zimmerman aftermarket discs are made with material from the same foundry as the OE parts and are machined to the same specs. The early Zimmerman discs were prone to corrosion on the hub. The later ones have a more corrosion resistant paint in this area. Irrespective of which discs you fit it's worth spraying the hub area with a calliper paint before fitting. This just keeps them looking good. Personally, I would be happy fitting discs from any of the well known manufacturers like Zimmerman, ATE, Textar or sebro. Just look out for the ones being offered at the best price. I also spoke with an Engineer at Textar. He confirmed that Textar make the OE pads. The only difference bewteen the OE and aftermarket Textar pads is the box.

Thanks for that. I did read that the ones that our branded as being 'Porsche' (Not made by them I totally understand) have their hubs painted to avoid corrosion. Seems the Sebro ones dont. Anybody know if this matters really and if it does which ones are painted ? Sorry if this a is a daft question - with all my other cars I have always just bought the recommended ones and fitted them - this time there seems too many options !!!!

I have bought the Design911 package before and it comprised of Pagid discs and Textar pads. Perfectly good and capable. If you are looking simply for standard brakes and braking perfomance then you can't really go wrong with this.

Thanks for that. I will be tracking the car but not desperately often or that hard - I am assuming standard brakes will do the job. But did wonder if slightly better pads may be worth it ? But if the package comes with Textar that is what I was looking at anyway !

dtriggs said: Thanks for that. I did read that the ones that our branded as being 'Porsche' (Not made by them I totally understand) have their hubs painted to avoid corrosion. Seems the Sebro ones dont. Anybody know if this matters really and if it does which ones are painted ? Sorry if this a is a daft question - with all my other cars I have always just bought the recommended ones and fitted them - this time there seems too many options !!!! Sebro hubs are painted grey just like the Porsche originals.

dtriggs said: Thanks for that. I did read that the ones that our branded as being 'Porsche' (Not made by them I totally understand) have their hubs painted to avoid corrosion. Seems the Sebro ones dont. Anybody know if this matters really and if it does which ones are painted ? AFAIK all Sebro now have painted hats. You'd best check with whoever you choose to supply. I fitted some a few years back, and they work very well (with Textars not in a Porsche box) at the end of the back straight at Goodwood.

"at the end of the back straight at Goodwood" - Exactly where I will need it !!

boxsey said: dtriggs said: Thanks for that. I did read that the ones that our branded as being 'Porsche' (Not made by them I totally understand) have their hubs painted to avoid corrosion. Seems the Sebro ones dont. Anybody know if this matters really and if it does which ones are painted ? Sorry if this a is a daft question - with all my other cars I have always just bought the recommended ones and fitted them - this time there seems too many options !!!! Sebro hubs are painted grey just like the Porsche originals. Failing that just blast them with this, Some genuine Merc discs come covered in this stuff rather than just the hats and the pads just clear the contact area. Definitely worth using discs with painted hats though whatever you decide otherwise they will grow an orange fur coat within a week and look crap.

Just got round to installing the discs and pads. The pagid pads they sent didn't have the holes for wear sensors. I prefer not to just get rid so could I drill small holes in the pads for the sensor or would that damage the integrity of the pad ? (Appreciate they can be tucked out the way but my OCD doesn't feel happy with that !!)

Send them back and get the right ones. Personally, I have shorted the front sensors out as I've fitted ds2500 pads which don't have the slot.

Hi,I'd appreciate advice on this topic. My 987 Cayman S needs discs, pads and sensors all round. The quotes so far are: Opc. £1500 Porsche independent £999 with oe parts. My trusted local fast fit: £750 for oe spec discs and pagid pads or £680 for pagid discs and pads fitted. Or I can buy Mintex for circa £500 and fit them myself. I'm capable of DIY, but I'm also lazy. Does anyone have experience of pagid road discs and pads? Use circa 8000. Miles per year of fast road use....but I don't want anything track orientated that has high wear. I've dismissed the OPC option due to the outrageous mark up for a simple fitting job....and I've hardly found the OE discs to be super durable (worn at 30k miles ). I'm leaning towards Pagid or Mintex but would appreciate a steer from experts here.....

The Pagid discs and Textar pad combo works perfectly well. Get some new dampening pads and new sensors or buy as a whole kit. Get your local trusted garage to fit.

...apologies to state the obvious, but make sure whoever does it ensures that the mating surface between disc and hub is very very clean, so that the discs don't end-up with run-out, leading to uneven pad deposits and the eventual 'warped-disc' myth. ...so do it yourself

Are you sure it needs front AND rears. How many miles has it done? I changed my fronts discs at 50k and the rears will be due at about 90k: generally discs last about the life of 2 sets of pads. Someone will be along shortly to inform you that: 1. They only managed 10k on a set of discs because they drive REALLY fast and go on tracks and everything and they are special. 2. They managed to get 100k on a set of discs because they are an advanced driver and drive with a raw egg taped to each shoe sole.

A lot of the time the discs require changing due to corrosion and not wear. This was the case with mine where all four were replaced at around 28000 miles.

A golden rule to help reduce the corrosion problem is to take the car out and get the brakes properly warmed up to dry them off immediately after washing the car.

DRH986 said: A golden rule to help reduce the corrosion problem is to take the car out and get the brakes properly warmed up to dry them off immediately after washing the car. This helps, but it doesn't alter the fact that Porsche fit crappy discs to start with that appear to rust quicker than a church collection box being passed around.

Easiest brake DIY you'll ever do. Copaslip the hubs, the discs will come off even easier next time they're die...

Thanks for the advice. I'll go for the Pagids, as I'm lazy enough to spend this extra £150 on fitting versus buying them online. I'll get it done next week when I change over to my summer tyres. (To think that this week last year we had snowdrifts, and now it is 16c....) Good advice on avoiding corrosion too. I'm guilty of parking in the garage for a few days after a wet drive, so I'll try and dry off the discs as much as possible. Mine are more corroded than actually worn.

It is an easy job but the first time is always a learning curve as has been said. But what it does do is give you a good understanding of the workings underneath. I like doing these simple things myself. The Pagid pads I fitted didnt have the holes for the sensors - I ended up drilling small holes to take them rather than lose the wires. I also struggled to get the wheel off on the first one - just a little corrosion - took a lump hammer and a piece of wood to solve ! Otherwise pretty simple. First side took about an hour with the problems and 2nd about 25 mins. D

WinstonWolf said: Easiest brake DIY you'll ever do. Copaslip the hubs, the discs will come off even easier next time they're die... No way are they easy in my opinion. Wear indicator leads you have to be careful with, great big allen-headed bolts that hold the calipers in, pad retaining pins that have to be hammered out, split pins, pad dampening discs.... they remind me of my old 1980 Ford Cortina. I paid to have mine done for me in the end. You want easy, try a 2005 fiat Panda, One bolt, pivot up the caliper, pads in / out. I did both sets of front wheel brake pads in less than an hour and that included getting the jack and stands out of the shed.

You just need better tools

I've owned and worked on over 50 of my own cars in 31 years and a few friends too, including 3 x Lotus (rotating the pistons back into the calipers ), 2 x TVRs and 2 Morris Minors. Although I haven't changed brakes on all of them (!), last month was the first time I've ever resorted to paying a mechanic to change my brakes for me. Mind you, £40 to change the discs and pads I provided was OK by me.

Couple of moments dressing the pins with emery tape and they come out very easily

MTEC Brakes, made in the UK with EBC red stuff. See http://www.mtecbrakes.com/brake-discs.html

How much 'Running in' if any, do new discs and pads need?

Depends how you bed them in. Leave a little extra room for your first stop