Hella Pagid Rear Brake Pads BMW 128i 328i X1 355011301

These are Hella Pagid rear brake pads for the BMW 1 Series and 3 Series, plus the first-generation X1. If you're driving a 128i, a 325i or 325xi, a 328i, 328xi or 328i xDrive, or an X1 from the 2006 through 2015 model years, this is the set that goes on the back axle. Low-metallic friction material, cut to the factory Teves caliper shape, ready to bolt in.

Low-metallic is a good middle-ground pad for a daily-driven BMW. It's got a small amount of steel blended into the friction mix, which gives you strong, confident stops and pulls heat off the rotor quickly. You get firm pedal feel when the car's cold and when it's been worked hard on an on-ramp. The trade-off is a little more brake dust than a pure ceramic pad, and a touch more noise potential if the hardware isn't clean. For most owners that's a fair deal for the extra bite.

The set covers the complete rear axle, so both back wheels get fresh pads out of one box. Adhesive-backed shims come attached to cut down on that high-pitched squeal you get from bare backing plates. The pads are prepared for a pad wear indicator, but the sensor itself isn't in the box. On these BMWs the rear wear sensor is a separate part (Hella Pagid 355201141), so if your old one is due, order it alongside these and swap it at the same time.

People ask how low-metallic compares to semi-metallic and ceramic. They're not the same thing. Semi-metallic pads carry a higher steel content, which means great high-heat performance but more noise and rotor wear. Ceramic pads run cleaner and quieter but can feel a hair softer when cold. Low-metallic sits in between, and it's what a lot of European cars came with from the factory because it balances bite, heat handling and pedal feel for street driving. If your BMW came on this style of pad, staying with low-metallic keeps the brake feel you're used to.

Fitment note. BMW ran a lot of drivetrain and transmission combinations across these chassis, so match by your exact model, year and VIN before you order. The rear pad shape is shared across the 128i, 325i, 328i and X1 in these years, which is why one part number covers the group. If your car has the M Sport brake package or an aftermarket big-brake kit, that's a different caliper and this isn't your pad.

Installing them is a straightforward afternoon job if you've done pads before. You'll need to retract the caliper piston, and on a car with an electronic parking brake you may need to put the rear calipers into service mode with a scan tool first so the actuators back off. Clean the caliper carrier, grease the slide pins and the pad ears, seat the new pads, and torque the caliper bolts to spec. Bed them in with a series of moderate stops from around 30 mph before you lean on them hard, and they'll settle in quiet.

How long will they last? That depends on how you drive and where. City driving with a lot of stop-and-go wears pads faster than highway miles. Since there's no sensor in this box, check the pad thickness visually at every tire rotation, or fit the separate wear sensor so the dash warns you. Replace them before the friction material gets down to the backing plate, or you'll score the rotors and turn a pad job into a pad-and-rotor job.

Want the honest take? Low-metallic pads like these are the right call if you want a stock-feeling brake that stops hard and lasts, and you don't mind wiping a little dust off the wheels now and then. If your car's rotors are grooved, lipped or below minimum thickness, do the rotors at the same time. New pads on tired rotors never feel right, and you'll be back under the car sooner than you'd like.