How-to: Cheap brake upgrade

[Jokin]

A problem I've noticed with the brakes of my roadsters is not so much braking power but heat dispersion.

I've just brought some air in the wheel-house and there were no longer heat-problems

[daveg]

Just some prices for people that might be useful (for a 3.0i with 330 front calipers):

EBC Ultimax Brakes Discs USR7196
EBC Ultimax Brakes Discs USR1002
EBC Greenstuff Brake Pads DP21089
EBC Greenstuff Brake Pads DP21289

All for £440 delivered with 1L free EBC BF-307 brake fluid from Dawn Rhoden @ [email protected].

Found calipers/carriers for £60 delivered on eBay and Autotech Telford wanted £60 fitting for the lot when doing other work.

[nemex12]

excuse me guys but i dont know much about brakes so i was wondering if this rear caliper have the carrier or not http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-02-03 ... ccessories
is the caliper carrier the same as the caliper bracket? thanks guys

[cj10jeeper]

excuse me guys but i dont know much about brakes so i was wondering if this rear caliper have the carrier or not http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-02-03 ... ccessories
is the caliper carrier the same as the caliper bracket? thanks guys

Yes it does include the carrier.
Carrier and bracket just sound like 2 descriptions of the same part

What do you want a rear 330 caliper for?

If it helps clarify here's a caliper and carrier
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=34&fg=05

[daveg]

Yes it does have the carrier, which is this:

[zfour]

Hi

Sorry to dig up an old thread but im sure the info will be useful to others.

I'm about to upgrade the brakes on my 2.5

I've sourced a set of front 330i calipers (325mm) and will be intending to use either 3.0i rears or 330i rears. Are the 330i rears the same size as the 3.0i? Should I stick with the 330i rears as well?

My question is for those that have done the upgrade esp on a 2.5, what did you have to do to the protection plate/dust cover to make it fit? Can it be 'modified' to fit or do I need to purchase new ones?

Lastly, are the 330i calipers the same regardless of whether they are from the UK or the US?

I have aftermarket wheels so that should clear the rotors.

Thanks

Eric

[xemcfax]

Ok so I bought and installed;



FRONT

2004 330i zhp front calipers with Cool carbon pads and stop tech ss brake lines ATE/PREMIUMONE CW25138 Front Brake Rotor/Disc!





Install was easy and I am waiting on finishing the rears..........

NOW heres my problem......

REAR

2004 330i zhp rear calipers with cool carbon pads and stop tech stainless lines ATE/PREMIUMONE CW22209 Rear brake rotors!!!


My emergency/Parking brake does not even come close to touching the rotor......
The rotor is way to big for shoes.

Took measurements and the O.D. for the parking brake shoes at driving postion is around 155mm-157
when actuated have a firm very firm feel with the handle and used it to loosen the wheels and rotors on the old or stock rotors.

These ATE rotors are the only ATE rotors for a 330i ci xi etc......they are the 320mm, but don't work with the parking brake....
All my research has led me to believe the 320mm upgrade to the rear is only good if you don't need a parking brake.
Or you could upgrade to the 330i parking brake.

I am assuming that all the 320mm rotors would be to big for the parking brake.

I.D. for the stock rotor is 160mm


I.D. for ATE rotor is 185mm. (I am assuming for all 320mm rear rotors)

Yes I did try and adjust the shoe/brake adjuster at the rotor (not the handle)....I don't think you can adjust it out 20mm at least I couldn't.

I looked for similar series with the same parking brake shoes and all I found were the 328's. Which makes me believe they are the same parking brake setup.

Now I am stumped sort of...Do I keep looking for rotors at 320mm have you ever heard of this.
Should I just go for the 328 rotors (294mm)
I have been looking for the zhp specs and they all seem to be at 320mm for the rear.
Think I'll order the 294 rotors and see if they work with the ZHP. Only reason I want to do this is because I tried to fit the calipers on the ATE rotors and they went on but they were snug, yes rubbing on the rotor, Squeezed all the way in.....

Oh make sure to realease your parking brake when removing the old rotors. They want to stay on if you don't...LOL

I want to thank everyone who has participated in this plight......BIG BRAKES (little cost, lotta blood)
E in Texas

[xemcfax]

OK Finished the Brake's on my '03 3.0 sport.
Note:
The 294mm are the biggest brake for the z4 rears that will fit the ebrake. Just realized the 2.5 and smaller came with smaller brakes in the back,
So you will need to order the calipers for the rear and carriers off a z4 3,0 to upgrade the z4 2.? (or any of the suggestions by the original post)

Just waiting on my KW V2's couple weeks out til KW gets them in country. (USA)

Front was a complete success.
2004 330i zhp front calipers with Cool carbon pads and stop tech ss brake lines ATE/PREMIUMONE CW25138 Front Brake Rotor/Disc!

Rear I kept the same calipers. Had to there are none that fit this rear axle and emergency brake. Painted of course.
Upgraded to the ATE premium one rotor for the '03 z4 3.0i and the cool carbon pads. Could not find a brake line upgrade.
Overall for the price I can't complain.
Without a major mod of installing a 330 series rear end. You can not upgrade to the bigger "BMW OEM" calipers and rotor without losing e/parking brake
If there was a caliper with the right inner dimension or custom rotor you could do it. I'm cheap what can I say!

[cj10jeeper]

Glad you got there and a nice photo write-up.

Makes me happy that I settled for the oem rears from the start and avoided your pain..

[Paradroid]

Surprised to see the 2.2 and 2.5i have the same brake setup as the 2.0i because I find the brakes a bit poor on my 2.0i, they start to fade quite easily and this is just with hard road use, not track.

The brake fluid has not been done in a while, my mechanics (not BMW dealer) are saying don't bother changing it because it doesn't need doing but that must be from a visual inspection, I am tempted to change it anyway before looking at changing more expensive items. Is MOTUL RBF600 the right way to go or will something cheaper be more sensible for road use. Is 1 litre the right amount?

[cj10jeeper]

Brake fluid can be tested to check its boiling point. My garage does it every MOT time as a courtesy. I still change it every 2 years.

I use 1 litre for a full change.

[Jembo]

Surprised to see the 2.2 and 2.5i have the same brake setup as the 2.0i because I find the brakes a bit poor on my 2.0i, they start to fade quite easily and this is just with hard road use, not track.

The brake fluid has not been done in a while, my mechanics (not BMW dealer) are saying don't bother changing it because it doesn't need doing but that must be from a visual inspection, I am tempted to change it anyway before looking at changing more expensive items. Is MOTUL RBF600 the right way to go or will something cheaper be more sensible for road use. Is 1 litre the right amount?

I've recently upgraded my 3.0 300mm to E46 330 spec calipers & 325mm rotors.

You can have my old front set - make me a decent offer - where the old 300mm discs are made by Mintex, NOT drilled or grooved, only done 12k so you can have these plus my old calipers + carriers... can show you the receipts which show I bought them new last August

You just need to strip one of the calipers as it was sticking a bit

[nemex12]

hi guys. bpught bmw performamce rear roptors and they are nowehere near the oem 2.5si rear ones. the 330i rear caliper won´t fit either if you´re using 330i rotors. I will post pics soon enough but I was looking for help as it looks like some of you have managed to use 320mm rears from a 330i but from what I´m seeing it looks nearly impossible or maybe I got wrong brakes or rotors. please help

[LukeMace]

Just bought a set (fronts and rears) from an E46 330 and will pop up pics once done
Callipers
Carriers
Disks
Pads

[Toe-side]

Just bought a set (fronts and rears) from an E46 330 and will pop up pics once done
Callipers
Carriers
Disks
Pads

I think I managed to get a set of 330Ci Calipers (Hopefully the correct carriers this time yesterday ). Will also post photo's shortly also.
Looks like I am starting to make collection of BMW brake parts