Hi everyone,

I've just got a phone call from the Lexus garage where my car is having a 60,000 mile service and they have told me that the disc'c and pads need changing at a cost of £600 What I need to know is would I be better off buying the original parts from them and getting my friends to fit them, they work at a tyre & exhaust specialist place, which carry out disc & pad changes

Also pointed out that one of the shock absorbers will need to be changed in the near future, any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers

Typical Lexus pricing,your better off buying original or even aftermarket pads/discs and fitting them yourself
its a straight forward procedure and shouldn't take longer than a couple of hours,or less if you've got a basic
mechanical knowledge,its so eay and well worth doing it yourself.

Shocks are simple to.

Have to agree with Scorpian.. go with aftermarket stuff. cheaper and just as good.. have a look at www.tdi-plc.com.. personally i recommend the DBA kit..

seconded - I have DBA dicsc fitted and I'm relly pleased with them

I'm personally not so keen on the EBC pads any more though - put the stock Lexus ones back on mine and I prefer them

I have been quoted £207.97 for front DBA discs and £173.90 for the rear discs with a £20 delivery charge and 10% discount does this sound right or am I just being tight? Also got quoted £109 for EBC grooved and spotted discs are these worth putting onto the car or should I avoid them altogether
I am also unsure if I should replace to front pads as the dealer told me that 30mm is the minimum and I have 29.72mm remaining and am unsure how much life is left in them. I was planning to change the whole lot to save me the hassle of changing them at a later stage as the rears need doing.


Any advice would be appreciated.

I use EBC's and have no problem with them.......this is where i take cover

Coz others that swore by the EBC's b4 have all now defected to another make,nothing wrong with that !!!!

If discs and pads are bedded in properly you should'nt have any worries with EBC's or any other aftermarket make

It depends on your budget.

what did anyone thing about the Black Diamond (is that right?) discs? They looked good!

From what I hear, EBC are utter rubbish - Sorry Scorps! I did want them ages ago, before knowing better.

As Mat (Supracharged_IS340) says, theres nothing wrong with the standards. He should know, with his mad inventions!!

Dunno how much standard discs are (how much are the fronts). If aftermarket are cheaper then fair enough.

Have you used EBC's..? if you have then its a matter of choice.

If you haven't(which is my guess)then you cant slate them if you've never tried them.

Lots of people complain about them,but it is critical to bed pads/discs in properly and
this is where people go wrong IMO.

I ran motor bikes for years and always used EBC's so i had no hesitation in using them on the car.

You pays your money you takes your choice.

30mm seems quite thick
should there be a decimal point somewhere

I knew I might get a backlash for those comments.

Fair enough Scorpion, as you I haven't tried them so I cannot comment first hand. However sometimes when you are making a choice, you ask for others opinions, and from the general consenus, the EBC discs etc are not as good as they would like to make out.

I am sure thats not that case for everyone, as you contest.

As you say, you pays your money you takes you choice.

(I think the Philips Premium bulbs make a difference, but not everyone agrees!!)

Trouble is some people are akin to Lemmings

I am sure they are, but when you are looking about to change something, you ask others for thier advice and opinions. If you are gonna ignore that, thats fine, but 9 out of 10 cats did prefer the wiskers!!

Some people like em, some don't, each to their own and all that.

Or is it 9 out of 10 OWNERS prefer their cats to eat it.

IMO the EBC discs and pads are extremely good indeed insofar as they stop the car EXTREMELY well and have the added bonus of reducing dust.

I stopped using them because my discs kept warping, probably due to hotspots developing as my car is automatic. I also found the EBC discs a little noisy, but that was no problem to me really.

I'm now using DBA discs (becasue they look nice) and stock Lexus pads. Biggest improvment I noticed on my brakes was when I put steel lines in.

I don't want to cause a bun fight , but if it's any help we did stop using EBC's on the is200 some time back, due to noise issues. The DBA discs are a much better casting and are noise free

I have both Black Diamond Front and Rear disc on my IS200, and they are pretty good, and the best thing is they do the rear to match the front..

here is the pics of the front and rear black diamond discs...

Black Diamond Front Disc, Green Stuff Pads

Black Diamond Rear Discs, Green Stuff Pads

Rodders...when you say warping...what kind of effects do you get?? I have EBC's and so far, apart from being a little noisey they are very good!

The human being is a fussy bugger.....that noise you get,i dont find it a problem.

They do exactly what is says on the tin.......er box

Rod.....maybe for an auto you should have got the drilled for the cooling effect,
rather than dimpled.

Cheers guys for the fast response

Ok I guess to be on the safe side I better go for the DBA discs with standard pads, so far I've got a good price for the pads but does anyone know of a better price than £361.68 for the discs?(this is including 10% discount & £20 delivery) don't want to sound too tight and don't mind paying that if that is the going rate but it's worth a try if anyone knows of a better price.

Cheers again

you can feel a vibration through the steering as you start to brake - feels a little like wheel balancing wobble but only when you lightly brake at speed

I'm very suprised that they're telling you the rear discs are worn - you might want to get a secondopinion.

I may be overlooking something, but why would an auto cause heat spots on the discs, compared with a manual. I know most people brake then site in traffic with the brake on too (to stop the creeping), but then so do most manual owners!

Black Diamonds looks cool - how are you finding them performance wise? Also do they have a website? How much did you pay?

Also, when fitting the rears, don't you also have to replace a few other parts? My car is in a Lexus today to get new rear discs (due to corrosion) and they have listed a few other parts required to change!

i had noise problems with the EBC's so much so that i could here them along with the s/c whining down when braking.. thats why i went with the DBA, plus also DBA did i nice set for the rear, oh and that Gold colour.. mmmmmmmm goollddd...

I don't think there is much difference. Not many people take a car out of gear and apply the handbrake these days.

An auto will be slightly harder on the brakes though due to the extra weight.

thats what confused me really!

The DBA's people go for, are they always the Golds, how about the grooved ones??

Plus do you have to tell the insurance co?

Here are the link for getting the Black Diamond disc

Fensport

think you get discount too if you are Gold member...

performance is pretty good, i used it with green stuffs pads, and is very good, not sure if Black diamond have a web site thus, i will check...

as for fitting it to the IS, i dont think it need any other bits, think is just a stright swap...

Yes you do. It's for them to decide if it affects the premium or not.

here is their website I think.

ummm, interesting then to note, maybe for future replacement. Unfortunately my front will need replacing first, especially as I am now getting new rears - is it ok to have performance ones on the front only?

Have this also. Discs changed at 40K, 50K and now again at 57K due to heavy vibration with braking at speed. Good job it's under warranty.

Still not happy though!