E36 non M3 brakes up front is probably your easiest and cheapest way to go, dirt cheap and readily available everywhere, the 286mm rotors and calipers leave just enough room for 15inch wheels and they are provide plenty of power and heat disappation for a street E30.
FCP Euro Zimmer + Akebono kit replace if you want less dust and prefer more linear (ceramic) braking.
Zimmerman rotors are a good replacement for oem. Get your choice of pads. I like oem style so something like Textar or Pagid are good choices.
All Zimmerman rotors 2 w/ brake pads aswell
I run ATE Powerdisc and ceramic pads too! The discs look amazing and the lack of dust is lovely.
Full ATE PowerDisc and Ceramic pad brake overhaul done today - I’ve run these discs & pads a few times now on previous E39s inc. both my Jap import E39s and they’re superb.
Excellent bite from the off / cold and little to no dust.
I did drilled Zimmerman with EBC red break pads up front and regular Zimmerman with the same pads in the rear.
Get the Zimmerman rotors (I got the drilled) and Akebono pads. They are awesome!!
ATE rotors. Check the callipers, they don' t work properly.
My front brake discs keep getting warped after 500-1000km. Same issue with 3 sets of new, quality (Zimmermann) discs. The vibration that returns after said 500-1000km is always exactly the same.
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Brake discs Zimmermann or POWER STOP
Brake discs Brembo or Zimmermann
Brake discs Brembo or POWER STOP
Brake discs Zimmermann or Centric
Brake discs Zimmermann or STOPTECH
Brake discs Zimmermann or OEM Volkswagen
Brake discs Zimmermann or EBC
Brake discs Zimmermann or Raybestos
If choosing brake discs across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.
We compare brake discs across these categories:
In March 2026 on PartReview, brake discs Zimmermann were overall better than ATE.
In March 2026 on PartReview, brake discs Zimmermann were overall more popular than ATE.
By vote balance, brake discs Zimmermann surpassed ATE:
By number of reviews, brake discs Zimmermann surpassed ATE:
In March 2026, according to PartReview, these manufacturers led the same number of car-specific ratings:
ATE are chosen by owners of cars such as: Volvo V50, Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Passat, and others.
Zimmermann are chosen by owners of cars such as: Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Corrado, Volkswagen Tiguan, and others.
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of brake discs ATE with: POWER STOP, Brembo, Centric, STOPTECH, OEM Volkswagen, EBC, Raybestos, R1 Concepts, Bosch, DBA.
Also available: comparisons of brake discs Zimmermann with: POWER STOP, Brembo, Centric, STOPTECH, OEM Volkswagen, EBC, Raybestos, R1 Concepts, Bosch, DBA.
You can also see who is better among other brake discs manufacturers: Zimmermann or POWER STOP, Brembo or Zimmermann, Brembo or POWER STOP, Zimmermann or Centric, Zimmermann or STOPTECH.
