Brake upgrades

[tomstickland]

Are there any reasonably simple front brake upgrades for the E30s?
Or should I search on here?

[TW166Y]

brembo brakes are good matey with uprated pads ive heard

[tomstickland]

I was thinking more along the lines of a scrapyard raid style upgrade. Like, did the E36s get bigger brakes that still fit the E30s etc. Or did the 5 series get bigger brakes?

[Jos]

Front struts on the e36 are the same as the e30, although I think there is offset issues with them.

Best bet would be M3 running gear or an aftermarket upgrade, I quite like these guys:

http://www.godspeedbrakes.fsnet.co.uk/

[Jhonno]

Not much had been looked into this Tom..

i reckon M3 front brakes could be redrilled (ala the 4 stud v6 vaux setup) and do the job.. i think the caliper mounts are the same..

Im might be selling an m3 front setup with good discs n pads if its of any interest to play with.. or i could measure stuff or summat..

[tomstickland]

So the M3 got a beefier set up than the regular 325 sports and iS then?

[Jhonno]

yeah massively bigger caliper/pad and 280 discs

[tomstickland]

Ah right. What about the shocks? Are they the same as the MTech style 318is/325sport then?

I might be interested in liberating those from you.

[Jhonno]

m3 shocks can be fitted as well yes as you have the 51mm shocks

so you can run m3 shocks/springs all round

[tomstickland]

M3 springs and shocks in the 318IS. That would be interesting. I'm guessing that they're a bit stiffer than the MTech IS items? Plus the IS engine must be similar weight to the M car.

[lentec]

If it a scrapyard raid your interested in have a look!
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/suemanley1/front%20brakes.htm
Any Qs ill answer what i can!

PS jaguar calipers vw disks!!

[Jhonno]

M3 springs and shocks in the 318IS. That would be interesting. I'm guessing that they're a bit stiffer than the MTech IS items? Plus the IS engine must be similar weight to the M car.

yeah bit stiffer - good stuff tho, the M3 is regarded as being one of the best handling cars ever..

[stulane]

Another quick brake question:

I have a 325i rear axel and am going to put it on my 320...

Does anyone know if the handbrake cable is different to the cable already in my car with drums? When i pulled the cable off the mini drums on the disk axel it looked different but when trying to find part numbers, it seems like its the same cable?

Any ideas?

Thanks

[tomstickland]

The Vauxhall Vectra 288mm discs and callipers would be a nice one to go for since I can get all the bits quite cheaply and they are monster brakes for the money. Hmm. I've still got the 320 brakes so I can do some measuring work. Maybe the lack of payment for the front hubs is a blessing in disguise then.

[telski789]

ive got the big brake kit on mine,285 discs and a plate which pushs your caliper our,just misses the inside of a 15"!! feels really good,obviously big wheels will be going on after the fresh paint!!

[Taylor325i]

ive got the big brake kit on mine,285 discs and a plate which pushs your caliper our,just misses the inside of a 15"!! feels really good,obviously big wheels will be going on after the fresh paint!!

Where did you get that kit from, dude? Is it the same one that Rally Design do for about Ԛ£175?

Taylor.

[telski789]

i boght it off a mate,not sure where he got it from,i'll ask him,i got the whole kit including the calipers which hadnt done many miles at all for Ԛ£75,bargain me thinks!! they look good in 15's!! make the rear ones look tiny! by the way,theyre vented so if your gonna do it to a car which doesnt have the calipers for vented discs,you'll need them too!

Tel

[Dan318-is]

jus quickly

why not jsu use ATE discs and some good road pads surely this owuld achiveve the same affect as using large stock discs n caliper

also would it be way easier to lock up without ABS?

[telski789]

theres no substitute for surface area!! bigger discs and green pads are ace,and they look good too!

[player6]

i have 360mm with 6 pots

[tomstickland]

Well, bigger discs increase the leverage effect, have more heat dissipation area, plus usually have larger diameter pistons in the calipers. All of which help.

TBH, since I put new fluid in the system the brakes have firmed up quite nicely - I can get a chirp out of the front tyres quite easily if brake hard, plus a 4 wheel lock up if I push a bit harder. I suppose the IS driving technique of not slowing down for anything means that the brakes don't get much use anyway.