Brakes $1700... - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

aesir · 05-13-2005, 11:31 AM

Where can I get brakes done? Dealer wants $1700.

My pocketboot just said, WTF?!?!

YellowJacket · 05-13-2005, 11:39 AM

Just find a local Porsche mechanic. There should be plenty in any large or high-income city. It can be as much as half the cost of the dealership for anything.

But a brake job is very easy. Your first time, it will probably take you an afternoon, but that's really not that bad considering what you'll be saving by buying discounted parts online. Besides, there's a lot of personal satisfaction that comes from working on one's own car.

Just don't take it to Midas or any of those discount shops.

Brucelee · 05-13-2005, 12:55 PM

Ditto on the Midas deal.

Also, make sure you use quality parts. There is some real crap out their in the aftermarket world.

RandallNeighbour · 05-13-2005, 01:26 PM

I bought some brake pads from ****************************************.com and they were about 200.00 or so. I bought the ones my mechanic told me to buy as they were better than OEM. Can't remember the name, but I know Pagid makes good ones.

My mechanic did a brake job for $175, including bleeding the brake lines completely and refilling the brake lines with new synthetic brake fluid... it was fairly expensive, but I can brake on a dime now.

Replacing brake pads on a Boxster is evidently very, very easy and quick. The problem is the rotors... they cannot be turned, only replaced. So every three or four pad replacements will also require a rotor replacement as well. They aint cheap, and labor is going to be more as well.

I guess we could all drive slower and get more miles out of our brakes. NOT!

KRZTACO · 05-13-2005, 01:48 PM

Hi,

Just called my Mechaninc (Hergesheimer Motorsports, Lake Forest CA) and here's what a brake job will cost me:

2000 Boxster S:

Rear Brakes $325 plus tax, (new OEM pads, turn the rotors and clean up the small cross-drilled holes)

OR $640 with new OEM rotors

Same for the front respectively.

Hope this info helps,

KRZ

aesir · 05-13-2005, 01:53 PM

Why can't the rotors be turned?

MCR429 · 05-13-2005, 02:26 PM

I am going through the same thing right now. I just bought new OEM rotors and pads, front and rear, from ********************************************************************************************. Cost was $542. Porsche dealer wanted to charge me 1200 EUR~ $1600 to do it. I found an awesome site on doing boxster brakes yourself. Here's the link.

http://www.bombaydigital.com/boxster/projects/brakes/

The guy has step-by-step instructions with color-coded pictures. Idiot proof.
I went with the Zimmerman rotors and Textar pads which are both German manufacturers of OEM parts. I was going to get Pagid pads, but their German sales rep said that for legal purposes, he recommended that I didn't buy their pads because laws here would find me liable in the case of an accident if I had "race" equipment on my car. He said the original type should be more than sufficient for autobahn useage. Also I did not go with the cross drilled and slotted rotors because they wear the pads more by having a "cheese grater" effect. Mechanics I have talked to here said that Germans normally don't turn their rotors, and their rotors as a rule are not designed as meaty as those of American manufacturers; so, I didn't bother to guage the thickness of mine, and just bought new ones. However, the tolerances are listed on that link above in case you want to see if your rotors are still good.
Hope that helps,

Matt

KRZTACO · 05-13-2005, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aesir

Why can't the rotors be turned?

After turning the rotors a couple times there may not be enough material (rotor gets too thin) to turn them again, so you must buy new ones.

I have 35000 miles on my car so I should be just having my rotors turned and the holes cleaned up on my Boxster S

Brucelee · 05-13-2005, 03:23 PM

The Eurpeons in particular are using thinner rotors than they used to. Most Porsche dealers do not recommend the turning strategy and that MAY be a money thing. However, my brake guy says not to do it with the Porsche, BMW and MB rotors.

Hmmmm!

KRZTACO · 05-14-2005, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brucelee

The Eurpeons in particular are using thinner rotors than they used to. Most Porsche dealers do not recommend the turning strategy and that MAY be a money thing. However, my brake guy says not to do it with the Porsche, BMW and MB rotors.

Hmmmm!

Well....If I don't have the rotors turned then it leaves the grooves and pits in the rotor.

mmmm....??????

Brucelee · 05-14-2005, 03:22 PM

Well, they want you to replace the rotors each time you do the pads. In their mind, this is the ONLY way to do it properly.

Back in the day, turning them 2-3 times was fine, no?

Intense · 05-15-2005, 09:01 AM

With respect to turning rotors, you can have them turned until they reach the minimum specified thickness set by the manufacturer.

Seriously, the effects of running a rotor past the min thickness are: easier rotor warpage, or if they get too thin, they could break (literally) apart.

I not sure why some mfg recommend changing rotors with each set of pads. But that qould get awfully expensive awfully quickly for me. As I tend to go thru brake pads like water, between track events and auto-x's.

Good luck with your decision.

Oh, as a sidenote, I would avoid cross-drilled rotors if you could. Unless you like the bling bling factor. I'm not gonna get into a technical discussion here. But as an example, I can't think of one race team or series that uses cross-drilled rotors on their cars.

SRA2005 · 05-15-2005, 01:59 PM

i'd go with the green brake pads. they work exceptionally well

KRZTACO · 05-15-2005, 06:29 PM

I have a boxster S which includes the cross drilled rotors.....I guess instead of turned (placing the rotor on a machine that spins it around with 1 tiny piece that shaves it down) maybe the correct word would be grinded down?

?????????????

I will ask Hergesheimer how they "Turn" the rotor.

KRZ

aesir · 05-16-2005, 08:46 AM

Thanks for all the replies, but I'm still now sure whether or not I should be turning the rotors, leaving them alone or replacing them. Should I take it a certified Porsche mechanic besides the Porsche dealership and ask them how the rotors look?

What are some rotor options besides the crossdrilled rotors if crossdrilled is bad?

Why would Porsche put crossdrilled rotors on their cars if they are bad?

RandallNeighbour · 05-16-2005, 09:33 AM

The rotors on a Boxster are not designed to be turned. They are replaced after 3 pad changes on average according to my mechanic.

If your current shop wants to turn them, they don't know that these rotors don't brake well after being turned. I would say that's a fairly good indication that this shop shouldn't be working on your car—they don't seem to know what they're talking about.

You should replace your rotors with similar ones if possible... you could always upgrade to the cross-drilled if you like. I've investigated them and found that they don't wear down pads any faster than non-drilled ones do, but do stay cooler and allow you to reduce brake fading.

What you want to stay away from are slotted brake rotors. These are designed for racing and shave a bit of the pad off every time the brakes are applied so the rotor is always in contact with fresh pad... they'll wear out a set if pads quickly if you use your brakes in traffic and your car on a daily basis.

I'd say that you should have someone who works on Porsches inspect your rotors to tell you if they can tolerate another set of pads or not. If they'll do the work for you if you supply parts like my mechanic does, that's the way to go. You get the right parts (the mechanic tells you exactly what to buy) and you'll pay bottom dollar for them with no shop markup.

FYI— I will have slotted rotors installed with the next pad change on my 1997. I want that S look and the better braking too... I'll paint my calipers red at that time as well to complete the look.

YellowJacket · 05-16-2005, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

What you want to stay away from are slotted brake rotors.
......
FYI— I will have slotted rotors installed with the next pad change on my 1997.

I assume you mean that you'll install cross-drilled?

By the way, slotted are not meant to remove a layer of the pad; they are actually designed for gas dissipation. As you brake, there is a layer of gas that builds up between the rotor and the pad that the pad "floats" on. The slotted brakes allow gas to escape so that the pad has better contact. A side effect may or may not be that the pad life decreases faster.

aesir · 05-16-2005, 04:19 PM

Hmm, there's a Porsche shop near my work that I hear is pretty good. I'm going to have them inspect my rotors. Thanks!

eslai · 05-16-2005, 05:44 PM

Wow, there's a lot of archaic information contained in this thread. I'll add to the pile.

You don't need slotted or cross-drilled rotors.

Conventional wisdom on cross-drilled rotors is that the holes allow for more heat dissipation at the expense of rotor strength--you'll crack the rotors. oh no!

It takes heat to crack rotors. If you have rotors that are properly-sized for your application, you're not likely to crack them. On the street, you're unlikely to crack a rotor on a Porsche/Boxster--they've given us some extremely beefy rotors, all things considered! Track is another story, which is why you don't see them in use, especially when you get used to seeing rotors glowing red.

Slotted offers similar benefits, but also does scrape the pad surface. On a street car, you'll see little to no benefit as the type of pads used aren't the type that will glaze over that easily. You also don't have rotors that are glowing red.

People like to talk about how both cross-drilled and slotted rotors allow for out-gassing of the pads. That's an anachronism, since the material used in modern brake pads does not gas out like that.

So, my point is, unless you're racing, you really don't have anything to do to the brakes. Get stock rotors, cross-drilled or not, and maybe play with different brake pads, but other than that, it's all just so much internet-speak.

RENNX · 06-23-2005, 11:14 AM

www.diyautoparts.com

Got all 4 OEM pads for about $150 total and getting rotors for $77 each rather than $131! Cross drilled are only $103 each over the standard $220. Free shipping. Even my Porsche mechanic was blown away.

Anyone know where to get brake sensors for less than $13 each?

Also, I am considering doing the job myself for the experience. Can anyone direct
me to a step by step diagram? Any "cautions" or Boxster specific tools needed? I was going to paint my calipers anyway, so why not tackle the whole job right?