Brake Calipers

[jaydon9269]

Hi

Does anyone know the best calipers (other than BMW ones) to buy
for a 2005 Z4 2.0i

 

[Ed Doe]

What are you trying to achieve, performance or Aesthetics?

Various pricey options for increasing performance and improving Aesthetics - D2, AP racing, stop tech, hispec etc... Or there are adapter kits for the 6 pot bmw performance calipers, or porsche Boxster s calipers to go with M discs.

For improving performance on a more modest budget I'd suggest some decent pads on oe discs.


Before doing anything though I'd recommend a brake fluid change.

 

[cj10jeeper]

If you provide more detail to f what you want to achieve it will help make answers better focussed
For a straight replacement Europarts do some good deals

 

[kis]

Hi

Does anyone know the best calipers (other than BMW ones) to buy
for a 2005 Z4 2.0i

As a cheap option you can retrofit e46 330 brakes? A good guide available here which I used for my upgrade project. What was your intention with the calliper change? Performance?

 

[Marius]

Hi

Does anyone know the best calipers (other than BMW ones) to buy
for a 2005 Z4 2.0i

As a cheap option you can retrofit e46 330 brakes? A good guide available here which I used for my upgrade project. What was your intention with the calliper change? Performance?

it's actually not that cheap if you use good parts ,and it's not worth the hassle because they not goanna be anything you expect them to be .

 

[cj10jeeper]

Hi

Does anyone know the best calipers (other than BMW ones) to buy
for a 2005 Z4 2.0i

As a cheap option you can retrofit e46 330 brakes? A good guide available here which I used for my upgrade project. What was your intention with the calliper change? Performance?

it's actually not that cheap if you use good parts ,and it's not worth the hassle because they not goanna be anything you expect them to be .

Marius - I have to disagree about the difference. It's considerable, having had the car before and driven on it for several years post conversion. It's with good reason BMW upgraded to these as standard post facelift on larger engine variants

Parts can be expensive if you buy the lot straight off, but nothing compared to so called big brake conversions. If you time it to when you need new disks and pads then a pair of calipers at £80 each, carriers from a breakers (if you cant find calipers) is all the incremental cost plus slightly more for pads and disks

 

[Joycey]

As a cheap option you can retrofit e46 330 brakes? A good guide available here which I used for my upgrade project. What was your intention with the calliper change? Performance?

it's actually not that cheap if you use good parts ,and it's not worth the hassle because they not goanna be anything you expect them to be .

Marius - I have to disagree about the difference. It's considerable, having had the car before and driven on it for several years post conversion. It's with good reason BMW upgraded to these as standard post facelift on larger engine variants

Parts can be expensive if you buy the lot straight off, but nothing compared to so called big brake conversions. If you time it to when you need new disks and pads then a pair of calipers at £80 each, carriers from a breakers (if you cant find calipers) is all the incremental cost plus slightly more for pads and disks

Second that Cj, I do this mod for quite a few z3 owners who have the 1.9-2.2 engine sizes. The difference is very noticeable.

 

[jaydon9269]

If you provide more detail to f what you want to achieve it will help make answers better focussed
For a straight replacement Europarts do some good deals

Hi, Thank you for the replay to my question.
It was actually just for a straight replacement. My front right calliper
looks as if it is the original one fitted when the Z4 was new in 2005
It's showing a lot of rust and spoiling the look of the wheel.
The front left calliper looks a lot better and looks as if it has been
replaced since the car was registered.
It may be wiser to wait until I need front pads and replace everything
at the same time.

 

[Ed Doe]

Wouldn't bother replacing them if there's just a little corrosion on the outside face. Wire brush it with some brake cleaner and spray it silver or something and it'll look much fresher for almost no outlay at all. I did this to mine a year ago, it still looks fine now!

 

[Ducklakeview]

I "upgraded" mine with (new) bigger 325mm discs and used calipers from a 330d, the difference was vast, and I already had 300mm discs as mine is a 3.0L. Stopping power and pedal feel were greatly improved.

Mike

 

[kis]

If you provide more detail to f what you want to achieve it will help make answers better focussed
For a straight replacement Europarts do some good deals

Hi, Thank you for the replay to my question.
It was actually just for a straight replacement. My front right calliper
looks as if it is the original one fitted when the Z4 was new in 2005
It's showing a lot of rust and spoiling the look of the wheel.
The front left calliper looks a lot better and looks as if it has been
replaced since the car was registered.
It may be wiser to wait until I need front pads and replace everything
at the same time.

I'd echo what's been said already. You don't really need to change them. If the 'rusty' one is old and ceasing then that's a different story.

If you're after more performance based change then the e46 330 (petrol or diesel) front calipers are direct bolt on like Ducklakeview said.

Otherwise just stick with a wire brush and a coat of hammerite in your choice of colour!