Quote:
Originally Posted by jonahk
Good friend of mine got an F80 with the ceramics (disclosure car, got a great deal). He just about had a heart attack when he had to replace his rotors after 60K miles and wound up trading in the car. I want to say the quote was in the $25K range.
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$25k? Sounds high.
It's certainly common knowledge that the cost of carbon-ceramic brakes is high, but these stories about ownership and replacement cost have gotten exaggerated.
First of all, in normal road use, the discs *never* have to be replaced. Outside of heavy track use, they're designed for 300000km life (186000 miles) which--let's face it--is far longer than most of us own these cars.
Second, a full set of replacement discs for a F80 costs about $15k (just check a site like ECS Tuning). Figure another $800-1000 for a full set of pads. And the replacement itself is a job any one with a $100 Craftsman tool kit could do in their driveway in about 90 minutes.
Given that the brakes are about an $8k option from the factory, the replacement cost of parts at "only" $16k (2x the original cost) makes this a pretty reasonably-priced service job. It's not uncommon for OEMs to have
far higher markups on service parts.
Having said all that, the brakes are undoubtedly a huge expense, and each buyer will have to decide for themselves if it's worth it.