Brake pads TRW or OEM BMW

Job got done in about three evenings Biggest time sinks were figuring out how to use the caliper piston compression tool and getting my overtorqued/rusted lug nuts off. Drove up from Maryland to NYC with no problems so I think I did the job right.

I have the TRW TPC1633 ceramic pads installed, perfect fit (OEM) and brake as good as stock...actually smoother. Dust is reduced maybe by half.

M3 stock brakes are better, the GTI gets a little tail-happy under hard braking above 110-130mph.

TRW Ceramic pads, look identical to OEM, since TRW makes the OEM pads. Feel same as stock, way down on dust.

Seems like there would be room in the market for a slightly detuned S55 base model without the fancy seats, brakes and wheels for about $5-8k less like the M3/M4: M3/M4 Competition.

I really love driving it though, particularly the brakes and the handling.

Finally got around to getting my brakes installed. I've barely put 10 miles on the setup, and the improvement is quite noticeable. Initial bite is improved, and much less effort is required for the same braking force.

Have yet to find a better street pad than BMW's OE compound. Ceramics dust less but feel terrible.

The way the brakes begin to grumble during heavy braking is less impressive, but they work well enough.

the steering lacks the consistent weighting and tactile communication that a Porsche offers. For a car this rapid, it's not as talkative as it should be. We've also got reservations about the brakes. Our test car was fitted with competition-grade brake pads to cope with track use, but they still faded badly after a handful of hard laps.