Brake pads Raybestos or Hawk Performance

At ~94k on ours now...we've replaced all brake pads (hawk 5.0)...

One of the best upgrades is knowing my brakes will stop when I need them to, the Brembos are overkill but I got them for a great price. The brake pads alone would've made a huge difference.

Hawk HPS 5.0 brake pads

Pedal feel, modulation, and stopping is much improved over stock and pads are quiet so far. Modulation is much more progressive with less "initial bite" as it should be.

Overall, the brakes feel pretty solid just from rolling it around in my driveway, but the car hasn't been on the road yet as it's not registered/inspected.

I'm running Hawk Ceramic 5.0 brakes up front. They screech on the street but held up just fine on track.

I'd just buy any of the old line good quality aftermarket that are aiming at OEM. Raybestos, Bendix, Wagner. Or just buy BMW OEM.

I did install Hawk HP+ pads w/Centric high carbon blank rotors and flushed the system with Motul 600 brake fluid. That setup has worked well on my girlfriend's Cooper S while it did double duty on track weekends. So, it should work for this car.

Driving the Golf R made me not buy it. I have a 2009 MKV TSI base model 6mt with APR Stg 2 (intake, chip, downpipe) upgraded stock brakes (hawk HPS, ss lines, dot 4 fluid), KW V3 coilovers (both rebound and compression adjustable) and it was faster, handled better and braked similarly to the Golf R.

I am always happy using the cheapest ceramic pads I can find and the cheapest rotors I can find, no matter what car its going on. I have expensive Hawk Performance Ceramic on my STI and they're actually worse than the cheap stuff. Tons of dust and even some noise.