I have a 2007 Nismo with 18,000 miles on it. I drive it pretty hard, already had to replace the tires once. Has anyone changed their brake pads? I would like to keep all OEM parts, where would I get these brakes? I'm going to change them myself, any tips?

 

Start here. This should give you a good idea:
https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-...rake-pads.html

 

If your beating on your car why dont you upgrade the pads to something that can take your abuse better.

 

Val, the nismo has brembo brakes... I found this one.

https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-...tem-bleed.html

you don't need to unmount the calipers.. just clean the pistons with enough brake cleaner, push the pistons back (I use a plier wrench grabbing the old pad on the inside and the outside of the caliper... use a rag to don't scratch the caliper)...
than put something between the pad and the rotor to hold it it there...
pull the cotter pins, push the pins holding the pads out... remove the pads.. clean again with brake cleaner and reverse the procedure to put the new pads...

usually takes me about one hour to do all 4 including a partial bleed of the fluid... the first time take your time and learn the procedure that better fits you.

a nice place to buy pads is topbrakes if you look for ferodo/hawk/porterfield/pfc pads...
for the rotors I use rockauto because they have the centric premiums CHEAP.. and I mean CHEAP...

and here with the "flaming" part.
are you more a "performance oriented guy" or a "posing oriented guy"...
high performance street pads like the ferodo ds2500 are going to make a lot of dust... but brake way better than the stock ones... and last even less. and you want to flush the stock crap brake fluid and replace it with at least ate blue.... with a power bleeder (ask Z1 is a sponsor here) is a piece of cake.

if you're more concerned about having your rims clean... ask to the posing community which brake pads makes less dust... I have no clue about that.

 

Props for DIY! For good value on the street with excellent initial bite you might wanna look at Axxis/PBR ULT pads. I have those and combined them with SS lines. I flushed this year with ATE blue fluid. They still rock after 15 months and there is plenty of pad left. They make as least as much dust as oem, but for less money.

If you don't want dust you might want a pad like the Hawk HPS. People say the hawks don't have a good initial bite that you're used to from oem but your wheels will stay bright. Simply press harder on the brake lol. Another pad I've tried on a Lexus is the Wagner Thermoquiet pad. Not sure if they have them for our application, but they're nice with almost zero visible dust and decent response. You can't go wrong with stock pads either.

You may or may not need new rotors. I got mine through 88 rotors (cheap) but I've had good deals through rockauto on other brakes as well. Unless you get premium rotors you'll need to spray them to prevent rust. Either way still looks nice. Good luck.