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Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:06 pm
by Attilio
Hi,

I am thinking of upgrading the braking system once the discs and pads will have to be replaced. Found this set of callipers on eBay

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/New-BMW-M-E82-E ... Ciid%253A1

I wonder if they are compatible, maybe would require E92 brakes?

Does anyone have experience / suggestions about calliper or full brake upgrades that don't cost a fortune?

thanks in advance!
A

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:12 pm
by thanatu55
You want some 330i calipers to upgrade to 325mm discs. You need the carriers too.

They are a straight bolt on fit.

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:16 pm
by bradz
You don't want to downgrade to 330 brakes on a M! :headbang:

I'm not sure if they will fit, I'm not saying they won't though.

M135i brembo 6pots bolt on with an bracket though.

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:25 pm
by Attilio
bradz wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:16 pm You don't want to downgrade to 330 brakes on a M! :headbang:

I'm not sure if they will fit, I'm not saying they won't though.

M135i brembo 6pots bolt on with an bracket though.
Thanks Bradz!

I did see those (here is the link to the seller):
https://www.ebay.ie/itm/BMW-M3-E46-M-PE ... 1438.l2649

I was also told they will fit the standard 18' wheels; the only downside I can find is that there is no upgrade for the rear axle...

Maybe the full set of callipers of a M135i could be used (front and rear) with Z4M discs? I wonder how to get the brackets/adaptors...

A

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:35 pm
by bradz
That's a silly price!

I paid £650 for the calipers from BMW they use the stock z4m disc. Adaptors from epytec are about £140 iirc

I think you need a small spacer to use them with 224"s

For the rear I have got 996 Brembo 4 pots to match as the 135i ones don't fit without using a different disc and some machining.

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:49 pm
by thanatu55
bradz wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:16 pm You don't want to downgrade to 330 brakes on a M! :headbang:

I'm not sure if they will fit, I'm not saying they won't though.

M135i brembo 6pots bolt on with an bracket though.
Ah I didn't see the ' "M" Specific" header, I just saw E85. Ignore me then, apologies.

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2017 11:49 pm
by Mangozac
bradz wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:35 pm That's a silly price!

I paid £650 for the calipers from BMW they use the stock z4m disc. Adaptors from epytec are about £140 iirc

I think you need a small spacer to use them with 224"s

For the rear I have got 996 Brembo 4 pots to match as the 135i ones don't fit without using a different disc and some machining.
Hey Bradz what calipers are these?

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 2:00 am
by Attilio
thanatu55 wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:49 pm
bradz wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:16 pm You don't want to downgrade to 330 brakes on a M! :headbang:

I'm not sure if they will fit, I'm not saying they won't though.

M135i brembo 6pots bolt on with an bracket though.
Ah I didn't see the ' "M" Specific" header, I just saw E85. Ignore me then, apologies.
No worries, thanks for caring to contribute !

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 8:01 am
by Monaco84
Mangozac wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 11:49 pmHey Bradz what calipers are these?
bradz wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:35 pmFor the rear I have got 996 Brembo 4 pots
you also need adaptors for the rear. Epytec might have them as well
bradz wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:35 pmAdaptors from epytec are about £140 iirc

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:37 am
by MrPT
This is the kit I have:

https://www.vagbremtechnic.com/front-ca ... cs-ak0007/

Image

Brackets and hoses are £250, or £850 including new calipers from Aston Martin. You can also find the calipers s/h from eBay or astonmartinbits.com for about £400 (inc DIY refurb), but they are not as common as the Porsche calipers mentioned by bradz.

I was in a similar situation to you last year and liked the sound of these because the front piston area is within a couple of % of the stock Z4M caliper, so is a good match for the brake master cylinder and therefore preserves pedal travel and braking force. BMW Performance calipers have a ~14% smaller piston area; Porsche 996 / Boxster S are ~20% smaller (front and back). The downside with the VBT kit is that there is no equivalent rear kit available that preserves the stock brake bias. Hypothetically it would be a 4-pot caliper with 31 and 33mm pistons.

If you need new discs and pads and the same time and are thinking of going for a higher performance pad, the cheaper Reyland AP kits are also worth considering, although again you’d need to got front + rear to preserve brake bias (and then you are into >£2k territory). Just upgrading pads and brake cooling would also be a good move if you aren’t too fussed about looks.

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:44 am
by srhutch
Attilio wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 8:06 pm Hi,

I am thinking of upgrading the braking system once the discs and pads will have to be replaced. Found this set of callipers on eBay

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/New-BMW-M-E82-E ... Ciid%253A1

I wonder if they are compatible, maybe would require E92 brakes?

Does anyone have experience / suggestions about calliper or full brake upgrades that don't cost a fortune?

thanks in advance!
A
I would like to upgrade mine at some point also. However I can’t see how these would be an upgrade. They don’t look much better than stock and aren’t even 4/6 pots.

You could get a set of 4 pot Porsche Boxster calipers with the M3/CSL brackets for a easy bolt on solution.

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:55 am
by MrPT
Here are the part numbers of the calipers mentioned above, FYI:
2F9DB24B-A05C-4DDB-B357-D67594ED9498.jpeg
2F9DB24B-A05C-4DDB-B357-D67594ED9498.jpeg (68.85 KiB) Viewed 2312 times
Last two characters of the Aston ones are the colour code.

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 12:31 pm
by bmwaddict
MrPT wrote: Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:55 am Here are the part numbers of the calipers mentioned above, FYI:

2F9DB24B-A05C-4DDB-B357-D67594ED9498.jpeg

Last two characters of the Aston ones are the colour code.
So what are you running at the rear Paul?
Standard M calipers?

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 12:33 pm
by bradz
MrPT wrote: Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:37 am I was in a similar situation to you last year and liked the sound of these because the front piston area is within a couple of % of the stock Z4M caliper, so is a good match for the brake master cylinder and therefore preserves pedal travel and braking force. BMW Performance calipers have a ~14% smaller piston area; Porsche 996 / Boxster S are ~20% smaller (front and back). The downside with the VBT kit is that there is no equivalent rear kit available that preserves the stock brake bias. Hypothetically it would be a 4-pot caliper with 31 and 33mm pistons.
I'd certainly be intrested in comparing next time we meet.

Whilst I'm not disagreeing with the tech info, there certainly was a reduction in pedal travel when I fitted the 6 pots. (Compared to freshly bled stock fronts)

I never understood big brake conversions until I fitted one.

The feel and modulation inspires so much confidence in them. Would be good to compare.

Brake upgrade - are these compatible? Suggestions?

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 1:36 pm
by MrPT
bmwaddict wrote: Wed Dec 27, 2017 12:31 pm
MrPT wrote: Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:55 am Here are the part numbers of the calipers mentioned above, FYI:

2F9DB24B-A05C-4DDB-B357-D67594ED9498.jpeg

Last two characters of the Aston ones are the colour code.
So what are you running at the rear Paul?
Standard M calipers?
Yes, just tarted up a bit to match the fronts.
bradz wrote: Wed Dec 27, 2017 12:33 pm Whilst I'm not disagreeing with the tech info, there certainly was a reduction in pedal travel when I fitted the 6 pots. (Compared to freshly bled stock fronts)
That does makes sense though. Those 6 pots have less total piston volume than stock, so there will be more piston travel per unit of pedal travel. Pairing them with the 996 rears means there's a bit of a shift from the stock brake bias to the front, but I'm not sure how much us mere mortals would be able to tell. You'd also hope that every option we've discussed is still going to hit the limits of the road/tyres before their own.

The combos to avoid, in my opinion, are just changing the fronts to BMW Performance or Porsche 996 calipers and keeping the stock rears. Big change in brake bias rearwards, and the kind of thing you'd probably find out for the first time when someone's cat suddenly runs out in front of you. :cry: