brakes...

C

carl

Active member
 Bishop's Stortford, UK
I'm interested in a 'big brake' upgrade. There are various options including Brembos (jlevisw.com), Stoptech (Zeckhausen), AP Racing (Thorney Motorsport), all of which come in a bewildering array of disc (rotor) sizes and number of pistons. Which size and number of pistons are recommended for a Z4MC? Which fit under the standard 18" wheels and which will fit under 19s?

I reckon Mov'it who make the Porsche calipers will do a kit too.
 
carl you should PM peppernick he is trading his car, it might be worth seeing if you can get his brakes. I know he says he is keeping the wheels for his M3 but they are awesome. Best brake and wheel combination for an ///M IMHO.
 
OK there is a slight problem of cashflow since stumping up the cash for the Z4MC, I was more interested from an 'aspiring to' standpoint.

Unless they're a bargain ofc...
 
Ah I see...well, I would still aspire to them, these look awesome, obviously the brakes should be chosen by their performance rather than looks, but even still...

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Although you might decide to stick with standard, I think the brakes are OK for road use, no? I'm probably in the minority but I actually like the standard ///M wheels too.
 
The Brembo's do look stunning on Peppernick's car, but IMHO they're a little overpriced and trade a lot on their name. Which is fine, of course, as they've got that name for a good reason!

Stoptech are a fair bit cheaper and receive awesome reviews, as do APs which I have had on previous cars and cannot recommend enough.

I'm not sure what I am going to go for myself though. I'm going to try a set of Pagid pads, with a 5.1 fluid change and braided hoses first, before I opt for a big brake kit. I still have my heart set on those Mov'It Ceramics, but I could hardly argue that they are cheap either! LOL


In answer to the OP question, there's not a set size of disc or a particular number of pistons that favour the Z4MC, as such. It's more set by the size of your wallet (and in some disc sizes, the size of your wheels). If you have the money, you should be able to squeeze a 6-pot 356mm kit under an 18" wheel....
 
Which braided hoses are you going to get sixspeed?

I thought that there weren't any sets out there for the ///M?

Winton
 
Unless your doing track days or drive like a maniac everywhere I wouldn't bother with the expense.

Brembo's are definitely over priced but company's like AP and Stoptech seem reasonable for 6 pot fronts. My AP's were around £1600 for the full front kit including calipers, discs, bells, pads, hoses and fluid. The rear kit was much cheaper because it uses the existing M discs. Price was around £600 for 4 pot calipers, pads, hoses and fluid.

I have 19" rims but I'm sure my brakes would squeeze under 18's.

AP's website have a facility where you can print off a cut out a mock up of the calipers. You simply stick the print out to a piece of cardboard and cut out the shape. You can then remove a wheel and fit the cutout into the back. That will show you if you have any clearance issues.
The most common problem is that the wheel spokes foul the outer face of the caliper. This is because the 6 pot are wider than standard calipers which generally use a single piston on the inside. You can usually get round this by fitting a 10mm front spacer.
 
Good advice Curtis. My brakes are shot and I'm not sure if I'll try upgrading the disks and pads first or get big brakes and just stick spacers on to hopefully keep the Alpina Dynamic wheels without issue (I miss my f40 set up on the lancia a lot!).
 
I had problems fitting BB's behind the Alpina rims because even with a 10mm spacer the spokes were still going to foul the calipers. That was using AP's "thin" version calipers too! That's when things spiralled out of control and I fitted the M3 rear axle and front hubs so that I could fit CSL rims with loads of clearance!

The Lancia and F40 had a lot of parts in common. At the moment I'm helping rebuild an F40 engine which had suffered extreme fire damage. One of the heads was unrepairable and a new one from Ferrari was stupid money ( the valves alone were £125 + VAT each ). Fortunately a Lancia Group N head is identical and a hell of a lot cheaper. The rocker covers was another example. Got a second hand Group N Lancia rocker cover for £90. The only difference is that one says Ferrari and one doesn't!
 
After trying the standard brakes in the track last week I wasn't impressed as they have no feel.

I think I will start with pads, fluid and hoses upgrade as this should help fix the problem.
 
For real? The Lancia and Ferrari F40 parts are interchangeable? So the F40 V8 is essentially a siamesed pair of Lancia 4-pots? :rofl:
 
Without a doubt AP's, Brembo are well overpriced, Stoptech are decent but do not have the R&D or history that AP have, i've raced on AP's for years, wouldn't use anything else
 
carl said:
For real? The Lancia and Ferrari F40 parts are interchangeable? So the F40 V8 is essentially a siamesed pair of Lancia 4-pots? :rofl:
Click to expand...

Got a bit of an update! The Lancia heads were originally used on the Ferrari 328. Ferrari then used the 328 ( ie Lancia ) heads on the F40.

Sorry, back to brakes!
 
With a single set of Cobalt Friction XR3s in the front of my MZ4 Coupe I was able to out-brake Porsches and other BMWs with Brembos and StopTECHs into a 120+ down to ~40mph turn repeatedly, all day long in 98 degree ambient, ~110 degree track temp.

This car doesn't need big brake kits.
 
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