Wanted - E86 Z4M Performance Brake upgrade

[Z4Mitchell]

Hi all,
Am looking for BMW genuine Brake Upgrade set of Calipers and Brackets to suit my vehicle.

If anyone sitting with a set and willing to sell, please respond thanks.

[mmm-five]

BMW didn’t make a genuine upgrade for the Z4M.

Closest you’ll get is the BMW Performance calipers with custom brackets from somewhere online.

[Ed Doe]

There's an ebay seller from Germany who does the adapters. There is an oem adapter for the e46 M3 hub which does fit the z4m hub - bradz on here has the ones off my performance calipers (I purchased mine from an E46 M3).

I'm assuming you're already aware your current discs are maintained with the M performance calipers right?

[Z4Mitchell]

There's an ebay seller from Germany who does the adapters. There is an oem adapter for the e46 M3 hub which does fit the z4m hub - bradz on here has the ones off my performance calipers (I purchased mine from an E46 M3).

I'm assuming you're already aware your current discs are maintained with the M performance calipers right?

Morning Ed,
Many thanks for your response.
I am aware of the discs as a friend at work has done this to his track day e46 M3. The brakes are totally superb over the standard offering and would like to keep to the BMW spec to ensure genuine as best I can.

[ph001]

Why should the calipers make that much of a difference? Ultimately braking performance comes down to the swept area of the disc, pressure and pad compound.

[TomK]

Why should the calipers make that much of a difference? Ultimately braking performance comes down to the swept area of the disc, pressure and pad compound.

Ultimate braking performance in most modern cars is actually limited by the tyre first and foremost. The reason why many choose a BBK for track work is because the opposed pistons and stiffer structure provide far better modulation feel and more even pad wear at the limit of braking than the standard sliding mono piston calipers can provide. Heat dissipation (which is key on track) will also be significantly better due to the far larger pad surface area. Also the weight of the caliper will likely be a lot less which is nice for the kinematics.

[ph001]

Braking performance is the brakes, ‘traction’ is the tyres. Of course they are closely linked. I don’t agree that heat dissipation is significantly better with a larger pad...that’s far more down to the disc.

Agree with more even pad wear and perhaps a little better modulation but these are not primary concerns for most people.

[TomK]

but these are not primary concerns for most people.

Quite agree, don't think I ever suggested otherwise.
In terms of performance on track with sustained levels of hard usage I can speak from experience on the Z4M that an upgrade to multi piston calipers on the same size disc is indeed beneficial in terms of fade at the very least. Whether this increased ability of dealing with the heat comes from the pad area or the physical size of the caliper and its material I don't know, the fluid was comparable in both cases however there was a higher spec pad with the bbk installation. I've since moved to a bigger rotor/ AP racing setup and whilst indeed the 'ultimate braking performance' is probably of negligible difference they feel a whole lot better again than the brembo BMWP calipers (as you'd hope I guess at a quarter the price!).