Brakes

C'mon baddave - do your stuff :)

After meeting several Zone members and discussing brake options in some detail, I've been asked to put together a little peice on uprgreading the E30's braking system

Firts off, ensure the calipers are in full working order(no sticking pistons, seals etc) and the brakes hoses are in good condition before embarking on any upgrade

The 1st modification IMO would be to change to Goodridge type braided lines and replace the existing fluid with ATE Superblue which is about the best performing fluid on the market, with the exception of Castrol SRF for a road/trackday oriented car.

Next up would be a change of brake pads. There are several available in the current marketplace desighned for fast road/trackday and pure race situations Unless the car is spending all it's time doing trackdays or racing then there is no need to opt for the race spec pads,better to go for the likes of Mintex M1144/1155 or some of the fast road spec offerings from EBC/Ferodo/Pagid etc.

If this still isn't quite enough, then the next step would be drilled or grooved disks(possibly both). These do have a tendency to reduce pad life and can be noisy on occasions.

Now we move up to larger diameter disks, of which there are several options available. For those using 14" wheels there's nothing much to do due to the limited space available Those with 15" wheels could possibly fit 280mm disks with std sliding calipers or 4 piston calipers from manufacturers like AP Racing,Brembo,Alcon,Wilwood or Hi Spec,However this can become costly Personally, i'd scour Ebay and breakers yards for crashed cars that already have 4 pots fitted and try and get the besy deal i can for the set.

Owners who have already fitted larger wheels(16" upwards) have a head start and can fit disks from 300mm upwards. I know that 302mm disks with 4 pot calipers can be made to fit under 16" wheels(that's my current setup) and it works rather well.

If you are prepared to look around to find parts,and are happy to fabricate caliper brackets,then a budget big brake setup can be acheived for around 40% less than the equivalent off the shelf items.

One conversion which is gaining in popularity is the Audi TT disks and E34 540i caliper setup I've heard they a great improvement over the standard setup, however,I have not driven a car with them fitted as yet