E30 specific pedal boxes

Wed Feb 18, 2009 8:14 pm

Just wondered if anyone was interested.
One of the companies that occasionally supply me with parts(bespoke mounting bells etc) now makes pedal boxes for the E30.
They list them for both LHD and RHD M3 and IIRC the M3 uses the same servo setup as a stock E30 so should,in theory just bolt on.
They have the choice of 0.65/0.7 and 0.75 M/C's

May be of use to some of you guys

Here's the link
http://www.compbrake.co.uk/brake_p9.htm

Dave

Wed Feb 18, 2009 8:44 pm

Good link Dave, thanks for that.

I would love to get rid of the awful brake transfer bar and this would be a good solution, and quite cheap too. Do you know if the pedal box comes with a master cylinder for the clutch pedal?

Wed Feb 18, 2009 8:57 pm

Theo
I think they might just bolt on where the servo normally sits, still retaining the transfer bar TBH
There's only a very small pic of it fitted in the catologue

There's no mention of the clutch M/C. Just the two for the brake setup.

I'm sure an enquiring email would clarify the above noted points.

Sorry I'm unable to be more specific.

Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:08 pm

Oh right, that's a shame - thought it was a clever bolt in solution in place of the standard pedals, I'll send an enquiry to make sure though.

Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:13 pm

I'll be doing the same once my new mounting bells are done.
Somehow, I don't think the M3 M/C i've got will cope with the size of the pistons in these 6 pots

Even less likely if i opt for 4 pots on the rear as well

Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:30 pm

Yes, after driving a LHD e30 it becomes obvious that the transfer bar really does have a detrimental affect on the feel of the brakes.

Fri Feb 27, 2009 4:50 pm

I'm a big fan of compbrake brakes and misc hardware, they produce thee best brake compounds i'v ever punished.

They make up whatever design you want and you can opt for having a m/c for the clutch ie have 3 m/c's off the pedal box hanging or reverse mounted on the box or remotely mounted with front/rear balance bar for the brake pedal. Or you can have just 2 m/c one for clutch and one for all brakes with a bias valve to adjust balance in single or twin circuit setup. They are fine with 8 pots as with all caliper/piston sizes long as you correctly work out pedal ratios you want and set it up as a whole it will easily cope with it.

Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:17 pm

ShakeyC wrote:I'm a big fan of compbrake brakes and misc hardware, they produce thee best brake compounds i'v ever punished.

I just wish they would answer my emails.....

Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:20 pm

I have had mixed dealings with them, I found you need to get the boss on the phone

Jason

Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:42 pm

UweM3 wrote:
ShakeyC wrote:I'm a big fan of compbrake brakes and misc hardware, they produce thee best brake compounds i'v ever punished.

I just wish they would answer my emails.....

Depends what your asking? if you like your welcome to forward me the email and I speak to them and get back to you.

Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:04 pm

ShakeyC wrote:
UweM3 wrote:
ShakeyC wrote:I'm a big fan of compbrake brakes and misc hardware, they produce thee best brake compounds i'v ever punished.

I just wish they would answer my emails.....
Depends what your asking? if you like your welcome to forward me the email and I speak to them and get back to you.

All I need is a picture of the LHD E30 Pedalbox. I would like to see how it will be mounted and where the MC's are.

Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:25 pm

http://www.compbrake.co.uk/brake_p17.htm

top right pic mounted are hanging pedals with the m/c through the bulkhead up near scuttle in oe position from what the man said.

Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:30 pm

ShakeyC wrote:http://www.compbrake.co.uk/brake_p17.htm

top right pic mounted are hanging pedals with the m/c through the bulkhead up near scuttle in oe position from what the man said.

thanks, that was the picture I am looking for.

Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:31 pm

ShakeyC wrote:http://www.compbrake.co.uk/brake_p17.htm

top right pic mounted are hanging pedals with the m/c through the bulkhead up near scuttle in oe position from what the man said.

Looks to be the same pic as in the new catalogue.
No mention of pedals btw.
I reckon it'll look like the nova/corsa one in the pic below it.
I still reckon it just connect to the std linkage on the RHD cars.

Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:35 pm

It does for rhd as you say BadDave

any questions i ask at a more sensible hour tomorrow

Thu Mar 12, 2009 9:02 pm

I tried emailing them ages ago when I first started the V8 interest. No reply. Gave up and bought a 2nd hand one with the MC inside the car.

You can use an overhung pedal system, (Apparently an E36 pedal box fits, though haven't tried it. I do have an E36 pedal box, but too late to try now and not going to work with the ECU there.)

There's another company that has a floor mount system with everything internal to the car. Excellent if you have a race seat, as the pedals will be more F1 style- flater than the OE upright. Th eMC mount towards the driver under a metal plate. Only problem is, I prefer the OE BMW throttle pedal to theirs.

Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:30 am

I am working on a solution at the moment. Could be quite good, but I can't say anything before I have tested it properly. Will do away with the booster completely and is direct bolt on.

Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:55 pm

some questions to answer regarding the compbrake pedal box.

It is a direct bolt on in place of the brake booster?
If yes, how much pedal effort does one need to achieve the same brake performance?
How much pedal travel will there be with lets say a 0.625" MC?

Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:46 am

For LHD, you'd be ok I reckon. From what I understand it's a direct replacement for the servo. Not sure if it uses the same linkage, but they'd be silly not to.

Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:11 am

oze30 wrote:For LHD, you'd be ok I reckon. From what I understand it's a direct replacement for the servo. Not sure if it uses the same linkage, but they'd be silly not to.

I don't think there is much difference between LHD and RHD. It bolts on where the Servo is, maybe a rod is different for the RHD.

But what's about the pedal ratio? I know you run the V8 without booster and I wish I would have tried your brake pedal.
Do me a favour please and read the sizes of your master cylinders for me?
I am not sure if deleting the servo without changing the pedal ratio will be a good thing and at the moment I haven't got a car to try it out.

Tue Mar 17, 2009 3:20 pm

I'd be interested in what you come up with Uwe. Looking to run a set of 45's or ITB's at some point so will need to lose the servo.

Using Wilwood calipers at the moment but they are suited to the exsisting M/C set up. I'm using a slightly larger 25mm one but they work just fine. I'd like to run separate M/C's for front and rear with a balance adjuster as well if I can

Might be able to offer the car up as a test bench as I won't be racing much this year but I'll do a few tests/track days just to keep my eye in.

Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:01 pm

shorty73 wrote:I'd be interested in what you come up with Uwe. Looking to run a set of 45's or ITB's at some point so will need to lose the servo.

Using Wilwood calipers at the moment but they are suited to the exsisting M/C set up. I'm using a slightly larger 25mm one but they work just fine. I'd like to run separate M/C's for front and rear with a balance adjuster as well if I can

Might be able to offer the car up as a test bench as I won't be racing much this year but I'll do a few tests/track days just to keep my eye in.

The compbrake MC box is not bad value for money and bolts right up (as far as I can see).

Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:23 pm

Uwe,

They're Tilton 74 series, but can't remember if it's 7/10 or 7/8th's?? I think. I

I'll drop by in a week or so once I get sorted.

Wed May 20, 2009 11:18 pm

Wel I've aquired one from one of the local rally boys(rhd converted M3) who's in the process of making up an inboard twin M/C setup which looks rather neat.

It does just bolt on where the servo would normally be and connect to the std brake pedal linkage.

UweM3 wrote:All I need is a picture of the LHD E30 Pedalbox. I would like to see how it will be mounted and where the MC's are.

If you still require pics Uwe, I can get some for you. I just need to fit the M/C's and look out the camera.

Thu May 21, 2009 12:33 am

BadDave wrote:Wel I've aquired one from one of the local rally boys(rhd converted M3) who's in the process of making up an inboard twin M/C setup which looks rather neat.

It does just bolt on where the servo would normally be and connect to the std brake pedal linkage.

UweM3 wrote:All I need is a picture of the LHD E30 Pedalbox. I would like to see how it will be mounted and where the MC's are.
If you still require pics Uwe, I can get some for you. I just need to fit the M/C's and look out the camera.

Are the mastercylinders internal or in the engine bay? The problem I had was there's no room in the bay to fit anything, hence the V8 people mounting it on the slam panel or doing what i did and get floor mounted pedals or similar.

Thu May 21, 2009 1:24 am

BadDave wrote:Wel I've aquired one from one of the local rally boys(rhd converted M3) who's in the process of making up an inboard twin M/C setup which looks rather neat.

It does just bolt on where the servo would normally be and connect to the std brake pedal linkage.

UweM3 wrote:All I need is a picture of the LHD E30 Pedalbox. I would like to see how it will be mounted and where the MC's are.
If you still require pics Uwe, I can get some for you. I just need to fit the M/C's and look out the camera.

I'd be very interested in seeing some pics details of this Dave

Thu May 21, 2009 6:16 pm

oze30 wrote:
BadDave wrote:Wel I've aquired one from one of the local rally boys(rhd converted M3) who's in the process of making up an inboard twin M/C setup which looks rather neat.

It does just bolt on where the servo would normally be and connect to the std brake pedal linkage.

UweM3 wrote:All I need is a picture of the LHD E30 Pedalbox. I would like to see how it will be mounted and where the MC's are.
If you still require pics Uwe, I can get some for you. I just need to fit the M/C's and look out the camera.
Are the mastercylinders internal or in the engine bay? The problem I had was there's no room in the bay to fit anything, hence the V8 people mounting it on the slam panel or doing what i did and get floor mounted pedals or similar.

M/C's are mounted in the engine bay.

I'll get pics over the weekend

Thu May 21, 2009 6:25 pm

BadDave wrote:
M/C's are mounted in the engine bay.

I'll get pics over the weekend

I have made something already. Deleted the booster and moved MC.
Not a tewin MC setup but it has worked for me like this before (with booster) and I will fit a brake prop valve and made some modifications to the pedal to compensate for the loss of booster support. Fingers crossed!

Sun May 24, 2009 10:37 pm

Here's a couple of pics on the Compbrake one

The PAS reservoir may need moved by up to 1/2"

Not a lot of room left there.

Mon May 25, 2009 2:19 am

hate to tell you dave but you have put it on the wrong car, you rolled that one remember?

Mon May 25, 2009 12:46 pm

nickso wrote:hate to tell you dave but you have put it on the wrong car, you rolled that one remember?

It's only so I can do a dummy build to get the new brake pipe length's and routing sorted prior to fitting in the other one..

Mon May 25, 2009 1:13 pm

BadDave wrote:
nickso wrote:hate to tell you dave but you have put it on the wrong car, you rolled that one remember?

It's only so I can do a dummy build to get the new brake pipe length's and routing sorted prior to fitting in the other one..

lol. looks good though, seems you kept busy after i left.

Mon May 25, 2009 1:22 pm

Shame they don't fit with a V8.
Dave, what's the overall length from the firewall to the end of the M/C?

Mon May 25, 2009 3:12 pm

has anyone acyually used one of these yet? Reason I ask is becuase I had one fitted to my rally car and its going to be coming out after just one event. I have wilwood 4 pots on the front and 2 pots on the rear so was expecting some decent braking but the fact is that you cant even stop the car.

I was dissapointed and therfore went to see out local rally preperation specialist who runs an e30. He wasnt surprised as he had the same problem with his car after he fitted one of these. Apparently it all boils down to the fact that the standard linkage gives you almost no mechanical leverage advantage and when you do the maths it works out at pretty close to 2:1 which works fine with a servo but is useles with one of these, you will have a great feeling to the pedal but it wont stop. He Now makes custom pedal boxes which fit under the dash and have a pedal ratio of 6:1 which is what you need.

Just thought i'd let everyone know before anyone rushes out to buy one

Mon May 25, 2009 3:54 pm

If anyone is interested, Tilton Engineering (http://www.tiltonracing.com) in the US makes a range of floor mounted, firewall mounted and overhung pedal assemblies. These typically include two brake master cylinders (with balance bar to adjust the front to rear brake bias) and a clutch master cylinder. The pedal ratio is high, typically around 6:1.

The overhung 600 series here http://www.tiltonracing.com/content.php ... &id=13&m=b may be of particular interest to those with limited room inside the engine compartment for master cylinders and wish to avoid the use of the RHD pedal linkage. Substantial modification will be required to get them to fit and unless for track or rally use, you might want to think twice. Tilton offer a wide range of master cylinders for use with their pedal sets. No brake booster is required, although particular attention should be paid to selecting the correct master cylinders to match the size calipers.

The fluid bottles can be mounted remotely from the master cylinders, which is advisable with this configuration, unless you fancy fishing around under the dash each time you want to top up the brake and clutch fluid.