Quote:
Originally Posted by Gyrock
I think the clue to your incredulity, is the fact you refer to the M5 as a 'luxury sedan'.
Can't speak for the OP, but as my car arrives next week, also specced with CCBs, the reason I took this option is because the car will actually not represent for me a 'luxury sedan', if I'd wanted that I'd have bought a 7 series.
The car will be a daily performance drive for me and be suitable for my line of work, but at weekends it will also and more importantly, become purely a performance drive and surely the reason the car exists in the first place? Last time I looked M stood for Motorsport 
Come on, the M5 was built with performance in mind, not with luxury in mind, that to me is secondary. And in fact, just as the M3 CSL had shameful standard single pot brakes fitted to it when it was released back in 2003, it can be properly argued that the M5 should have CCB as standard now if it to truly deliver on it's promises of power and performance. |
I don't mean to disparage the performance aspect of the F10. It is an amazing performance car. But it is also a 4500 lb. luxury sedan. I guess most people equate carbon ceramic brakes with 'performance'.
I race with quite a few Porsche 996 and 997 Cup cars, and 90% of them have steel brakes for the track. For people looking for every tenth of a second we can get on the track, there are much better ways to spend your money. If steel slotted rotors are good enough for racing, why do you need all the headaches and problems that ceramic brakes bring for street cars?
Ceramic brakes have one major advantage over steel - they don't fade with intense use. However, properly designed steel rotors with the right cooling, fluid, calipers and size will not fade on the track. Steel rotors have better feel than ceramics, and are more progressive, and when they wear out, they do it gradually. Ceramics are quite dangerous in their failure mode, so you have to be very careful.
If you're intent on heavy tracking of your M5, then I would question your judgement in general, but yes you might justify ceramics. You would have just as good track performance and much better street use if you upgraded the fluid, rotors and calipers to one of the top brands. Other than the generic "Well, 'M' is about performance, and that must mean ceramic brakes", I don't see the reason for ceramic brakes on the F10.