E30 Zone

i'll put this here as it might get a bit more traffic.

this is for anyone looking to upgrade their front brakes without having to spend a bare minimum of £500 to north (north? effing vertical in some cases ) of £1200.
when i did it the whole thing cost me about £160+ all in.

how do you do it? well.

you start with mk3 mondeo front brake calipers, these are the same across the model range whether it's a base model 1.8i upto the ST220,

these are the calipers in question

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332894745444 ... UJqkh4u_YA

you'll also need the carriers/brackets, but if you struggle to find them have a look at jaguar X type 3L as they are exactly the same.

also you will need 4 x 6mm spacers that will go between the strut & mounting bracket.
i used these

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134120941110



then you will need pads, this is your choice so go for what you would normally use/choose.

next we come to the discs.

for this conversion you will need the front discs from an audi A3 1.8T (20v) quattro.

https://www.mtecbrakes.com/brake-discs/ ... 6-99-12-02

yes yes i know they are 5 bolt & the e30 is 4x100 well i'm about to get to that bit,

they will need a PCD change, so if you get them from mtech brakes they can also change the PCD to 4x100 for about £25

as is shown here

https://www.mtecbrakes.com/pcd-change/p ... 100mm.html

so it's best to get the discs from them so they can change the PCD for you at the same time.

so, now you've got the parts, go ahead & bolt it all up but dont forget to put those spacers inbetween the strut & carrier.

it all bolts up as if it was meant to be there,

bleed the system as normal & go enjoy your new brakes (smug ) safe in the knowledge you have just upgraded to bigger calipers (single 57mm piston per caliper) & discs for less than the cost of some other BBK's,

also if you were so inclined you could upgrade the servo & M/C to that from the e90, again bolts straight up & all that's needed extra are a pair of M12 male to M10 female adapters for the ports on the M/C.

i'll try to get some pics up soon of where the spacers sit on the strut/carrier,

hope this helps someone save a few quid.

Great bit of info, thanks. Some pics would also be great.

YODI wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 13, 2022 8:34 pm

Great bit of info, thanks. Some pics would also be great.

i'll try to get some in the next few days.

Great stuff Steve, looking forward to the pics mate.

Mart.

martauto wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 14, 2022 5:23 pm

Great stuff Steve, looking forward to the pics mate.

Mart.

i'll try & get some tomorrow,

if it helps a few folk out then that's all that matters.

Great post! Looking forward to the pics

just tryint to transfer them from phone to pc when the whole thing plays ball.

What size wheels do you need to clear the calipers?

Extremepower3918 wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 8:37 am

What size wheels do you need to clear the calipers?

i'd say 16" minimum but i'm using 17" azev a.

steve_k wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 8:39 am

Extremepower3918 wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 8:37 am

What size wheels do you need to clear the calipers?

i'd say 16" minimum but i'm using 17" azev a.

This should be the first thing you mention in your write up.

Good work!

the first 2 are of the spacers between the carrier & strut.

& the last is how it looks behind a 17x7.5 azev type a.
forgot to add that i added an extra washer to ensure plenty of clearance & that i had to remove the anti rattle clips from the back of the pad as it was very very tight with them fitted,

sorry for the crap pics they were the only ones i could get to work.

Good work Steve, thanks for all the information.

YODI wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 19, 2022 11:12 am

Good work Steve, thanks for all the information.

not a problem, i just hope it can help a few folk out.

Steve, do you have any more info on the E90 booster please and the adapters needed?

Thank you

YODI wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 25, 2022 11:03 pm

Steve, do you have any more info on the E90 booster please and the adapters needed?

Thank you

you can use the servo from any model in the e9x range, also you can use the M/C it comes with.
the adapters needed are m12 male to m10 female

https://www.lpgshop.co.uk/reduction-ada ... gIVsfD_BwE

those are the ones i used, never had any leaks from them either.

hope that helps.

Thanks very much for the tip. I pulled a set of front calipers off an X type Jag in the scrappy yesterday for £20. Just test fitted them under my 16" wheels and clearance is perfect. I had to push the disk dust guard back slightly to clear. The size difference is huge when both calipers are next to each other. Now to send the calipers away to be Powdercoated black.

RB2 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:04 am

Thanks very much for the tip. I pulled a set of front calipers off an X type Jag in the scrappy yesterday for £20. Just test fitted them under my 16" wheels and clearance is perfect. I had to push the disk dust guard back slightly to clear. The size difference is huge when both calipers are next to each other. Now to send the calipers away to be Powdercoated black.

i'm more than happy my info helps someone out, dont forget you will need a 6 - 8mm spacer between the carrier & strut & also remove the backing/anti rattle pads n the back of the disc.

look good mocked up behind your wheel.

Thanks, yeah I left a good gap between the carrier and the strut to create worst case clearances. They fit well, I'd doubt they would clear 15" wheels. I'll give it a try when I fit them for real.

RB2 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 29, 2022 12:25 pm

Thanks, yeah I left a good gap between the carrier and the strut to create worst case clearances. They fit well, I'd doubt they would clear 15" wheels. I'll give it a try when I fit them for real.

thats good then,

like you i doubt they would fit under 15's but you never know,
just goes to show there's no need to spend stupid amounts of money to upgrade your front brakes.

It does look like a nice solution. I am thinking by the time I rebuild, powder coat and get some decent pads like ds2500, it'll still be south of 300£ all in.

I think you've probably just increased the market value of the calipers

RB2 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 29, 2022 12:51 pm

It does look like a nice solution. I am thinking by the time I rebuild, powder coat and get some decent pads like ds2500, it'll still be south of 300£ all in.

I think you've probably just increased the market value of the calipers

i know what you mean, i painted mine with some blue hammerite i already had in & yes when i take into consideration the cost of new pads it does go up a bit,

still one of the cheapest routes though, even when compared to the ASBO brake upgrade (mk2 focus st225 calipers & 315mm mk5 golf gti discs & pads.

I got a pair of jag callipers from my local scrap yard, looks like they will fit under 15" bbs wheels, but they're very tight. There's not enough clearance for the wheel weights so I'm going to attack the callipers with a grinder and failing that I'll get the wheels rebalanced with the weights on the outside. I'll update with pictures once it's all fitted.

Re the spacers I know they need to be 6 to 8mm but how big is the hole as the link doesn't work please

Corasdad wrote: ↑

Wed May 01, 2024 7:46 pm

Re the spacers I know they need to be 6 to 8mm but how big is the hole as the link doesn't work please

Sadly Steve-K passed away last year but it is good his info is still helping people.

Wheel specs are in the wiki
https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.php?title=Wheels

But 57,1mm is the centre bore

Omg sorry to hear that guys. His info is great and he will definitely help me do my brake conversion, thanks for the link but it's the washer he uses to space out the brakes I needed the spec for, I will just buy an assorted few

flybynite wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2024 5:49 pm

Sadly Steve-K passed away last year but it is good his info is still helping people.

I was going to delete/lock this post but you are right in what you said.
I don`t think he would mind.

Mart.

Very true Mart and Flybinite

Corasdad wrote: ↑

Wed May 01, 2024 7:46 pm

Re the spacers I know they need to be 6 to 8mm but how big is the hole as the link doesn't work please

The bolts are 12mm mate. The hole needs to be sized to suit.

Thanks

Hi did anyone ever find out if this set up fitted under 15’s?