320 Brakes

Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:44 am

Hello all,
I am now the proud owner of my 1st E30 its a 320 Se and im already gettings quite attached to her (only got her yest) being 19 years old im not expecting perfection.
However....
I dont feel the brakes are upto standard. There is a very long reach on the pedal and i just wondered if this was normal?
and also is there a brake upgrade that is easy to get the parts for and doesnt require to much adaption? i wondered if the calipers and discs of a 325 are a possibilty?

or anything else for that matter?

Thanks

Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:10 pm

Peddle travel shouldn't be too long, is it loosing fluid?

Front brakes are the same as a 325i

325i's had rear discs fitted which can be retro fitted to a 320 easily (About £50 for the second hand parts)

Welcome to the zone

Wait for the regulars telling you you need more power

Andy

Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:22 pm

Cheers for that i was kind of hoping that there was a easy upgrade for the front but i will def be investing in some rear discs. I havent even been able to get the wheels off yet. I got it back at just gone 7 last night and had work 1st thing this morning so i will be having a play ASAP. but cheers for the advice about the pedal

Mon Mar 22, 2010 4:22 pm

Bleed/change fluid first, it's the usual cause of poor pedal feel.

Brake fluid is a service item, like oil, belts and coolant; if you don't know when it was last changed, change it!

Mon Mar 22, 2010 4:57 pm

'Long' pedal travel on a 320i sounds like the rear brake drums need attention,they were 'self adjusting' but I would guess that you will find shot drums,shoes and a siezed adjuster.
All is not lost,however,replacement drums and shoes from GSF will not cost a fortune and a bit of elbow grease and WD40 will free off the adjusters.Allow plenty of time for the job,when I pulled the first drum off my late 320i a small pile of adjuster parts fell out and it took a while to work out how it all worked...second side was dead easy!
Whilst you have it in bits,check out the wheel cylinders and the brake pipe leading to them.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:27 pm

Perfect time to fit 325i trailing arms

Tue Mar 23, 2010 8:48 am

Cheers! Just gotta wait for the time at the weekend to do it! As i was thinking along the lines of the rear cylinders, it feels like ur squashing a marshmellow- theres just no bite

But was thinking about the 325 upgrade... hummm tempting ... only had the car 48 hours and already shriving for more performance in places

Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:15 am

iamtarzan wrote:Cheers! Just gotta wait for the time at the weekend to do it! As i was thinking along the lines of the rear cylinders, it feels like ur squashing a marshmellow- theres just no bite

But was thinking about the 325 upgrade... hummm tempting ... only had the car 48 hours and already shriving for more performance in places

The options at the front are basically big-brake kits from Wilwood, HiSpec (or pay more if you like), or you can adapt four-pot calipers from other cars - common examples are Volvo (240?) and late-model RX7. Brakes are not going to be as sharp as more modern / heavily assisted cars you may have driven to date.

Start with new fluid, checking pad and hose condition and a bleed through. Ready to be corrected by experts, but the RHD cars use a fairly extended brake pedal linkage - servo sits on the left side of the engine bay - and this builds in a certain amount of pedal flex/travel. So this is another reason why it may feel strange to you.

Tue Mar 23, 2010 4:47 pm

what sort of adaptions are needed from the rx7 brakes? or even the volvo just carriers? tappings?

i was just comparing it to mk2 golf, sierra, mk1 mx5 and these just feel poor, but they will be getting a serious overhaul on sunday... but i thought i would take adavantage of the wealth of knowledge availble on here and it has proved very fruitful

Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:43 pm

iamtarzan wrote: But was thinking about the 325 upgrade... hummm tempting ... only had the car 48 hours and already shriving for more performance in places

A few simple upgrades will transform the car and if done when the standard parts are due for replacement can be a good route to take

Edit: How far does your handbrake come up?

Get some pictures of your ride up

Andy

Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:33 pm

Are you talking about a soft pedal when the brakes are hot, or all the time? If it's just when they are hot it's possible you've got water in with the brake fluid which will boil at a far lower temperature than the fluid. Also once fluid has boiled once it loses some of it's heat resistance and will boil at a LOWER temperature next time! Freeky stuff.

Re: ready-made 4 pot kits there's also the WMS one!