How-to: Cheap brake upgrade

[kis]

Brilliant that you have got a set
In terms of 'trust' I agree and in general you are right, however at any time there are up to 500 guests on the site. There are 200 now as I post this .., so it's a wide audience

Yes, finally!
Noted about the second comment! I'll be more weary about things in future :?

 

[MrPT]

Someone at the Duxford meet (apologies - cannot remember your name Mr '58 plate Montego Blue owner from Bucks who's going to LM with Airtrack this year) was sporting E46 M3 front discs on his 3L coupe - identified with the help of some Rain Man action from [ref]Stu Boy[/ref].

I had a look at the specs...




So ok... stock pads won't sweep the whole disc, and fresh pads and discs will be a bit of a squeeze, but the hub fits and the diameter is perfect.

Doesn't this make new or part-worn E46 M3 discs a decent upgrade option for 3.0si owners? They are nice, 2-piece drilled rotors and supply should be plentiful (in fact, I think a stock surplus is how the aforementioned gentleman secured these discs at a bargain price).

 

[kis]

Interesting comment.

I think I did look into this but outlay seems to be quite a lot more than the 330, this is for parts whether new or second hand, and not sufficient gain. Also in terms of maintenance, just costs more because of the M name tag. Also I think the actual disc is the same (325mm) its just the thickness thats slightly more on the M. Obviously braking power of the M brakes themselves might be slightly more but not THAT much. Also some chatter on the 3 series forum about issues with the calipers being a direct fitment.

If it was a M3 CSL (which is 340mm or something) then this would probably be more "worth" it in terms of performance gains, provided everything fits. Wasn't too sure which is why I never pursed it myself. 330 is tried and tested...

 

[cj10jeeper]

The whole purpose of this thread is for a cheap, easy direct swap and bolt on conversion.
Once you start to mix and match, add pads that don't fit, ///M parts it'sa different topic altogether.

 

[MrPT]

The whole purpose of this thread is for a cheap, easy direct swap and bolt on conversion.
Once you start to mix and match, add pads that don't fit, ///M parts it'sa different topic altogether.

Fair point. I did think that "bolt on" 2 piece floating rotors and >5kg less unsprung mass for ~£200 was pretty good value, but yes - not cheap compared to the other options in this thread.

Point is probably moot now. Doing a little more digging, I think they were actually these OE option for the 3-series. And those definitely aren't cheap!

 

[MrPT]

If it was a M3 CSL (which is 340mm or something) then this would probably be more "worth" it in terms of performance gains, provided everything fits. Wasn't too sure which is why I never pursed it myself. 330 is tried and tested...

The CSL brakes are immense (for road use, anyway), but I found that my si had better feel. You could really lean into them, whereas the Z4M brakes put you through the window at the the merest prod!

 

[kis]

The whole purpose of this thread is for a cheap, easy direct swap and bolt on conversion.
Once you start to mix and match, add pads that don't fit, ///M parts it'sa different topic altogether.

Fair point. I did think that "bolt on" 2 piece floating rotors and >5kg less unsprung mass for ~£200 was pretty good value, but yes - not cheap compared to the other options in this thread.

Point is probably moot now. Doing a little more digging, I think they were actually these OE option for the 3-series. And those definitely aren't cheap!

Bolt on? I'm sure that the calipers need to be turned slightly by a few mm so that it can fit.

If it was a M3 CSL (which is 340mm or something) then this would probably be more "worth" it in terms of performance gains, provided everything fits. Wasn't too sure which is why I never pursed it myself. 330 is tried and tested...

The CSL brakes are immense (for road use, anyway), but I found that my si had better feel. You could really lean into them, whereas the Z4M brakes put you through the window at the the merest prod!

I was kind of thinking that too, braking overkill. Then the fact that the whole brake system would be "front end heavy". Didn't want to mess up the ratio disproportionately.

Running a 3.0 means you're at 294mm on the back already so can't upgrade without a host of other issues (slightly different story if you're a 2.0). So keeping the set up as originally, 330 equipment which bolts straight on. The rears I'm leaving as standard.

 

[03z4]

I'm having trouble confirming the following fit...

I have 2003 z4 2.5

I bought 330i front and rear calipers and carriers and based on the first post in this thread I don't see any issues but someone posted that the stock parking brake cable won't work with the 330 rear caliper...can anyone confirm?

 

[Ducklakeview]

The rears will not fit.

Mike

 

[kis]

Not sure it's the cable, it might be the parking brake shoes or something. In any case the rears are not a bolt on like Mike said. Front is bolt on...

 

[cj10jeeper]

Going back some time, but think the inside of the disks have a different size and offset so as posted above parking brake doesn't fit

 

[oalloyd1]

Hi guys,

Will the rear E46 330 rear brake set-up bolt directly on to my 2003 E85 3.0?

Cheers,

o

 

[03z4]

Literally my question a few posts up...I'm hoping I can some how combine the 330 rear and e85 rear to get a fully function 4 corner 330 brake swap with functional parking brake...will understand more when I can get the new setup next to the stock one.

Hi guys,

Will the rear E46 330 rear brake set-up bolt directly on to my 2003 E85 3.0?

Cheers,

o

 

[kis]

If you read the thread you should know what the issue is. Can't remember myself, all I know is there is an issue with the handbrake.

Oalloyd1 I know you're building a track car... if you don't need the handbrake I'm sure you can make the rest work easily.

If you need a handbrake as most people do it's too much work, for a too smaller result.

 

[03z4]

I read the whole thread and that's what created the issue...first post claims the 330 is bolt on front and rear but does not mention the hand brake issue...further on its mentioned so I wanted to verify.

Can the 3.0si rear 294mm brake bolt up on a 2.5 z4 and have a working hand brake?

 

[kis]

I'm sure 3.0i or 3.0si is a bolt on. Both are 294 vented. I assume handbrake would also work (in this case), but as I have a 3 I've not really looked into it.

 

[03z4]

I'll have to find out because I don't want to have such a dramatic bias between front and rear (stepping up to 325mm front and leaving stock 280 rear)

 

[Ducklakeview]

3.0 si brakes are 325mm front. Bolting 330 brakes into the front of a 3.0 gives the same setup all round as the 3.0si.

Mike

 

[oalloyd1]

Cheers guys!

Think i'll avoid the rear one's then and stick to racing pads as I need a handbrake!

o

 

[cj10jeeper]

If it reassures you I cannot recall anyone who had swapped the rears unless going for some much higher cost big brake conversion set up. Bremno or otherwise

Why 'racing pads' are you tracking it?