Carbotech Bobcat 1521 brake pads review-4.8is

[four.8is]

As promised, here is a short review of these pads.The best word to describe them is -awesome-.

First thing you need to do is bed them in good...for me that took over 10 stops from 60-20MPH til I started to smell the brakes...Only after you bed them in you'll start experiencing what these pads are all about..

These pads have been a really nice update over the factory textars.
In terms of brake dust, they are crazy good.Just to give you guys a real world comparison, after 800 miles of driving on the carbotech's, I get the same amount of dust as I would have gotten after 100 miles of driving with the textars so that is a big advantage for me...not to be understood wrong...they still dust but no where near the amount the stockers do.
But the biggest advantage is the brake modulation...I am not tracking the car but even on the street the feel is way improved over stock..you can get just the right amount of braking power without activating the ABS.

As for the cold bite,honestly I haven't noticed a really big difference between these and the stock ones.I don't feel like I need to warm them up to get the best out of them...they just work well the first time.

The Bobcats are a combination of Carbon/Kevlar/Ceramic (not fully ceramic) so probably that is why they still dust a little and have better cold bite than Akebonos.
But to me, they are worth every penny of the 400$ price tag.(4.6/4.8)..3.0-4.4 are cheaper.

There you have it people...one more option beside the other pads for our X's..

One last thing that I really liked about them is the fact that the backing plate came pre-painted in red.Since I am planning to paint my calipers red, it was all good; it will give the caliper a fuller look

If you decide to order a set, and don't want the red, make sure you specify that...also you need to tell them to do the cut-outs for the brake sensors as well..

A few pictures are in order so here you have them:






Now if you excuse me, I have to go wash my car.

[Ricky Bobby]

They look awesome. I like the Stoptech rotors (planning on getting some anyway and perhaps cool carbon pads)

[four.8is]

Thanks RB.i think you can't go wrong with the Cool Carbons either(I wanted to get them but they don't make the fronts for the 4.8.)

The rotors look quite nice.get them

[Clockwork]

Four.8iS, thanks for all your contribtions lately. I've been wondering about the Rotors/pads the last year and always wanted to know more about aftermarket Nav/stereo options for our e53's so I'm glad you did write ups on both!! cheers man

[four.8is]

Originally Posted by Clockwork

Four.8iS, thanks for all your contribtions lately. I've been wondering about the Rotors/pads the last year and always wanted to know more about aftermarket Nav/stereo options for our e53's so I'm glad you did write ups on both!! cheers man

My pleasure.I found a ton of info on this forum, it wouldn't be fair not giving something back

[Ricky Bobby]

I have newer rotors and pads anyway lol but they are Pagid pads and they dust a lot, plus I hate the rotors rusting.

So even if my parts are good in looking for excuse to upgrad lol

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by four.8is

As promised, here is a short review of these pads.The best word to describe them is -awesome-.

First thing you need to do is bed them in good...for me that took over 10 stops from 60-20MPH til I started to smell the brakes...Only after you bed them in you'll start experiencing what these pads are all about..

These pads have been a really nice update over the factory textars.
In terms of brake dust, they are crazy good.Just to give you guys a real world comparison, after 800 miles of driving on the carbotech's, I get the same amount of dust as I would have gotten after 100 miles of driving with the textars so that is a big advantage for me...not to be understood wrong...they still dust but no where near the amount the stockers do.
But the biggest advantage is the brake modulation...I am not tracking the car but even on the street the feel is way improved over stock..you can get just the right amount of braking power without activating the ABS.

As for the cold bite,honestly I haven't noticed a really big difference between these and the stock ones.I don't feel like I need to warm them up to get the best out of them...they just work well the first time.

The Bobcats are a combination of Carbon/Kevlar/Ceramic (not fully ceramic) so probably that is why they still dust a little and have better cold bite than Akebonos.
But to me, they are worth every penny of the 400$ price tag.(4.6/4.8)..3.0-4.4 are cheaper.

There you have it people...one more option beside the other pads for our X's..

One last thing that I really liked about them is the fact that the backing plate came pre-painted in red.Since I am planning to paint my calipers red, it was all good; it will give the caliper a fuller look

If you decide to order a set, and don't want the red, make sure you specify that...also you need to tell them to do the cut-outs for the brake sensors as well..

A few pictures are in order so here you have them:






Now if you excuse me, I have to go wash my car.

Yeah I run these on my E39 M5 and they are awesome. Well worth the price and very low generation of dust. I will be putting a set of these on my X5 4.6is.

[jcorreanyc]

Please don't paint your calipers red. That is the number one worst rookie mistake I see on the street, that or the fake fender vents that people stick on their cars.

If you have big brake kit on your car, great. If you don't, don't fake it. Your 4.8is garners enough respect straight out of the factory. Don't molest it with low level mods.

[crystalworks]

^I disagree partially. I am not a big fan of painting the stock calipers red... but powdercoating on the other hand, I can totally get behind.

Good writeup on the pads. Those be expensive... too rich for my blood. Wish I could snag some for the new 4.8is but I'll have to go with a cheaper (lol much cheaper) option that I've been using on my street cars for years. Pads + rotors + sensors are less than just those pads ($320.26)... but they are a super cheap option. lol Callahan rotors & ceramic pads.