inexpensive 4 or 2 pot caliper swap?

[Rally Culture]

so this is my 1st e30 318is and i love it except for the brakes. the single pots suck (im use to 2&4 pot) and i wanted to know if there is a cheaper alternative than a bbk, if i could steal some brakes from say a porsche or what ever. if not then i was thinking for the time being going with slotted rotors and better pads maybe ceramics. what kind of set up is everyone running?

[thebrelon]

You should at least bleed/change your fluid plus quality OEM rotor and hi perf pad such as EBC green/yellow.
Then you can also rebuild your calipers with OEM parts.
Brake system is good on E30, people use to upgrade it when swapping bigger engine but I know people tracking euro S50 E30 with the above setup and are very happy.

You can also upgrade with other bmw parts (e34, e30 m3....) or mazda rx7 2 pots caliper for the front but it's a bit overkill for a stock 318is....

[thebrelon]

Oh and going the e34 or m3 e30 route means 5 bolts rim so this isn't exactly inexpansive.
By the way inexpansive and brakes usually don't go along.

[DesktopDave]

I think you're asking the wrong question. I'll restate it properly: "If I have $4000 burning a hole in my pocket, can I get real racing calipers on my car?" There was a buy on here that used RX7 hardware, and it seemed to work well. He had a machine shop, but I'd figure it's not impossibly expensive to get emachineshop.com to custom machine some billets for you. If I find it I'll post it.

However, I'd suggest stock BMW pads (Textar), along with some SS lines. I've also had luck with Akebono ceramics, they worked well. I liked the way ATE PowerSlot rotors looked, but cheap plain Brembo blanks work just as well.

The single-pot calipers and small rotors are very lightweight, I'd recommend keeping them stock and optimize brake pedal feel instead. Every pound of unsprung weight (hubs, calipers, wheels) you can save is worthwhile. It gives the car a light and lively feel, and dramatically increases the lifespan of bearings, bushings and struts. Our cars are blessed with incredibly low weight, especially compared to the heifers BMW makes today. Given that the car is so light, heavy brakes are a significant penalty.

Most mushy brakes are caused by worn lines, worn caliper seals or old MC seals. I'd recommend testing or swapping your master cyl first - the E32 (750iL) master cyl is a significant improvement from what I've heard. It's a cheap bolt-on upgrade, less than $300 for a brand new one. I'd also urge you to overhaul your calipers. Those seal kits are really cheap, maybe $20-ish per corner. Maybe get them powder-coated while they're out...red is fastest, LOL. Here's a good thread on that option.

If you must have cheap four piston calipers, check on early E24 or E28 fixed-caliper brakes. They're quad-piston in the front, dual in the rear. I don't think they're bolt-on, but they should be cheap. They were good enough for Ferrari, and anything that can slow down a 3700# E23 or E24 will work magic on a 2500# E30. They are a complete PITA to properly rebuild, but that's what you get with multi-piston calipers. Check out how sexy my E23 looks:


Rears aren't so sexy, eh?

[Tgoode318]

You should also Look at E46 330i Brakes this would be a great and much cheaper upgrade then getting true racing brakes if you shop the right places. I Googled it and found this awesome post which pretty much explains it all from Dave Zeckhausen

"if you want the most flexibility for using factory and aftermarket
wheels without thick wheel spacers, you should avoid the Brembo and
StopTech big brake upgrades and, instead, grab a set of front brakes
from an E46 330i. It's a direct bolt-on and would replace your 286mm x
22mm rotors with much bigger 325mm x 25mm rotors. The only restriction
is the requirement for 17" wheels.

You would need the following parts to make the conversion:

34-11-6-750-149 Left Caliper
34-11-6-750-150 Right Caliper
34-10-6-750-158 Caliper Carriers (QTY 2)
34-11-6-750-159 Spring Clips (QTY 2)

Pacific BMW (1-800-909-PART) is a good source for these parts at a
discoutn price. I would suggest going to the aftermarket for a set of
Balo, Brembo, ATE, or Zimmerman rotors rather than getting them from a
BMW dealer. Quality is the same and price is lower.

I would suggest aftermarket pads. You should probably consider Axxis
Ultimate pads if you intend to do any high performance driving. If you
are going to road race the car on the track, then you'll need some track
pads. I can provide those.

Dave  "   

[Nick_318is]

I think that write up is for an e36 and not applicable to the e30.

Want better braking with the e30, get better pads and fluid, I track mine regularly with the stock blank rotors and calipers with track pads and it's great.

[Tgoode318]

Your right it is for E36! Sry E30 guys.  For E30 its still possible but more difficult/expensive. First off you need at least 17" rims a 5 lug swap basically the complete hub assembly for the E46 Fronts. Heres a link to where some people did it on there cars and said stomping on the brakes stops the car almost Instantly!   http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=14536&page=2 While i haven't done this conversion on my E36 318 I do have a E46 330ci with good stock brakes/pads and when i stomp on the brakes from 100 stops ridiculously quick so i cant even imagine this in a super light E30!!  That being said, the Op wants inexpensive so guess this isnt for him but for some of you other performance junkies out there this might be an option! And for people with an E36 This is the best option unless you want to go Brembo or other Big brake comp.

[E36-italia]

Heres a link to where some people did it on there cars and said stomping on the brakes stops the car almost Instantly!

i can tell you that it stops bizarre good.. enough to make the rear go light/up the air.. i have them on my racer.
Speed around 600 euro on new brembo discs (most expensive part, oem disc will work to) and around 150 euro for a set calipers.. the pads are DS2500... so total costs are quite lower then a BBK (for an E36)

added bonus is that the rims are now filled with some decent sized brakes