Brakes

Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:25 am

I have a 316 '90, discs front, drums rear.
Just had new discs and pads fitted up front and shoes rear.

It also had new all new brake pipes and fluid. And the brakes are still s***.

Anything I can do to get them better. If not anybody know how much a conversion to rear discs would cost, would I need a new rear axle? Any help is much appreciated.

Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:03 am

Make sure the shoes are properly adjusted at the rear.

Adjust the pedal linkage under the dash to take any slack out of the linkage system.

To change to rear disks yes you will need the rear disk trailing arms together with all the associated braking components. It's not really a job to be doing outside on axle stands at this time of year, and if it hasn't been apart before or recently you are guaranteed to find lots of other bits that need doing once you start taking it to bits.

Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:13 am

drive around on them for a week.. new brakes can take a bit to start biting

Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:48 am

Even if you switch to rear disks, the brake bias means that you won't see a huge improvement anyway.

What discs and pads did you use? And are you confusing stopping power with pedal feel? The E30's brakes will always feel a bit heavy compared to modern cars, but they're still more than capable of bringing you to a halt as long as you have a few muscles in your right leg.

Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:13 am

It was done by a garage, and they are EBC discs and pads I believe, and nope pedal pretty much goes right to the floor and has like no stopping power, it almost makes me not want to drive it its that scary

Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:30 am

Sounds like it's full off air or a problem with the cylinders

What was it like before the garage got hold off it?

Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:58 am

jimmyspeed wrote:Sounds like it's full off air or a problem with the cylinders

What was it like before the garage got hold off it?

^^

Not a very good garage if they're letting a car go out with no brake pedal!!!

Wed Dec 17, 2014 12:03 pm

If the linkage has no more than a little slack, you have air in the system

Wed Dec 17, 2014 6:43 pm

Take it back to or call up who did the work and explain what the problem is.

Have you noticed any puddles under the car

Was any brake bleeding work done?

Can take a few hundred miles for parts to bed in but you should get a goodish brake pedal all the same.

Thu Dec 18, 2014 2:37 am

theres air in it

Thu Dec 18, 2014 10:12 am

would be interesting to know if whoever fitted the new pads just forced the calliper pistons back, or did it properly by opening the bleed nipples and pushing them back.

Thu Dec 18, 2014 6:06 pm

Brianmoooore wrote:would be interesting to know if whoever fitted the new pads just forced the calliper pistons back, or did it properly by opening the bleed nipples and pushing them back.

I've fitted 100s sets of brakes, the only time I'd undo a bleed nipple is if the piston wouldn't go back to check whether seized piston or collapsed hose. Never have I had a problem.

Thu Dec 18, 2014 6:41 pm

maxfield wrote:
Brianmoooore wrote:would be interesting to know if whoever fitted the new pads just forced the calliper pistons back, or did it properly by opening the bleed nipples and pushing them back.
I've fitted 100s sets of brakes, the only time I'd undo a bleed nipple is if the piston wouldn't go back to check whether seized piston or collapsed hose. Never have I had a problem.

The state of the few ccs of fluid that have been sitting in the bore of a caliper with the piston extended because of worn pads is very different from that in the rest of the system, and is best discarded, rather than forced back into the ABS pump or master cylinder.
In a commercial workshop environment, completing the job in the shortest possible time is the prime objective, with good engineering practice a poor second.

Wed Jan 28, 2015 7:19 pm

hi from mike , I had a problem with my brakes ever since I bought it , the pedal travel was terrible , the brakes on my wifes car is great , I read on an American web site to fix the problem was to fit a master cylinder from a 7 series , so go from a 22mm cylinder to a 25mm cylinder what a difference I now have brakes I can trust , it was £158 for the master cylinder and you can use your original expansion tank , hope this helps , mike

Wed Jan 28, 2015 7:30 pm

mikemike wrote:hi from mike , I had a problem with my brakes ever since I bought it , the pedal travel was terrible , the brakes on my wifes car is great , I read on an American web site to fix the problem was to fit a master cylinder from a 7 series , so go from a 22mm cylinder to a 25mm cylinder what a difference I now have brakes I can trust , it was £158 for the master cylinder and you can use your original expansion tank , hope this helps , mike

That will just increase the already high (by current fashion) pedal pressure. It was fitting a NEW master cylinder that made the difference, not a different one.
25mm cylinder is only required when fitting calipers with a similarly increased piston area.

Thu Jan 29, 2015 9:22 am

If all is properly done and brakes still are not enough good you can change brake disc from solid to ventilated (if you got solid at the moment) before changing drums to discs

Thu Jan 29, 2015 11:41 am

The 25mm cylinder will give more "feel"/a pedal that needs more force to push.

I know a lot of the motorsport teams follow the route of the use the largest cylinder/hardest pedal the driver can still push enough to lock.

Its something I might try on mine out of curiosity, will give objective results of I do.