E30 Zone

Hi all,
Well i've picked up the 3.5 up ready to fit to the car, a BIG THANKS to jaffro for all all the parts!!
usually one of the first upgrades i do is bigger calipers and discs. I'm currently running standard with a set of green stuff pads, which has been fine but with me wanting to track the car and the added power i want to make sure i can stop!!! lol

When it comes to the old escort i ran 4 pot calipers from brakecomp which have been great. i did run some wilwoods which to be honest i was very disapointed with.

Whats been good for you guys? any advice would be great - do any bigger brakes of the larger bmws convert easy?

The 300mm.de kits are real good. For the full list, go on to www.300mm.de
You can obviously replicate it yourself instead of buying it. The 312mm kit (most common) uses a VAG disc (audi TT, S3, ...)
Otherwise, Keri WMS (or something along these lines) on here has a 4 pot kit that gets very good reviews.
Or else, find some 4 pots brembo on ebay and make your adapters...

Hi spec do some great kits !

Hi spec! I forgot about them...

It's gonna depend on your budget AND the wheel diameter/offset your planning to use
If using a multi piston(4/6/8/10/12 pot)caliper, factor in a wheel spacer as well

As a general guide, the following disk sizes typically fit with the following wheel diameters depending on caliper dimensions

Std 14"=260mm disk

15" = 280-285mm
16" =up to 305mm
17" = up to 330mm
18" = up to 355mm

I use Brembo 4 pots from an E38 with re-drilled 302mm x 28mm Chrysler voyager disks and they fit under my 16's with braided hoses and some decent brake fluid
The wheels have a 40mm offset and i need a 30mm hubcentric spacer as well

This is them fitted with the 16's


This is them with the 18's


HTH

Wo those 18's sollow those discs up! ta for the advice mate,

I'm running the 15'' BBS BMW alloys

I use Brembo 4 pots from an E38 with re-drilled 302mm x 28mm Chrysler voyager disks and they fit under my 16's with braided hoses and some decent brake fluid
The wheels have a 40mm offset and i need a 30mm hubcentric spacer as well

Would this set up sit underneath Genuine Alpinas without spacers? Do all E38s have 4 pots?

jamie325isport wrote: Would this set up sit underneath Genuine Alpinas without spacers? Do all E38s have 4 pots?

If, as i suspect, the Alpina's have an offset of about 20mm then i'd say no
They will still require spacers and will stick out past the arches as well.
Mine just clear the arches as it is,and occasionally rub on the arch if i hit a large bump.

AFAIK not all of the E38's have the Brembo's fitted
Mine were liberated from a 1998 728i
The very last of the 3.8L M5's, and the E31 8 series also have the Brembo's fitted


Some of the E32 7 series had ATE 4 pot's fitted, but they're regarded as being inferior when compared to the Brembo setup

HTH

Dave

Aluminium Brembos came with E38 725tds, 728i/iL, 730d, 730i/iL, 735i/iL , but as i know, not all that cars was equipped with that "extra"

Just a warning that 280mm rotors + big caliper are a very very close fit diameter wise on 15s... and in fact a couple of sets I had wouldnt fit due to either needing a spacer to move the spokes from the caliper face or the diameter of wheel was not enough to clear the caliper . And yet other 15s did fit (just), after I'd had the balance weights moved ... just a warning..

paulg390 wrote:Just a warning that 280mm rotors + big caliper are a very very close fit diameter wise on 15s... and in fact a couple of sets I had wouldnt fit due to either needing a spacer to move the spokes from the caliper face or the diameter of wheel was not enough to clear the caliper . And yet other 15s did fit (just), after I'd had the balance weights moved ... just a warning..

This just confirms what I stated earlier

Wheel design and offset also play an important part in any decision regarding larger disk and caliper combinations.

BadDave wrote:
This just confirms what I stated earlier

Wheel design and offset also play an important part in any decision regarding larger disk and caliper combinations.

Sorry, BadDave, was just trying to make doubly sure it was clear, as I bought some 280mm Wilwoods after being told "yep they fit under 15s"..... when actually the correct statement would have been "yep they fit under SOME 15s".

And that one word makes a huge difference as I found to my cost...

PS (I grew up in Lumphanan, some 25 miles from Aberdeen .... some 20 years ago now, is it still as cold up there ? )

http://www.massivebrakes.com/kits/e30/n ... ll/318-325

A lot of Australian guys like this lot for modded E30s with a bit more horsepower.