What results have people had with 540 Brake Calipers??

[sprocketman]

Hi, as it says in the title really, got a 325 that stops ok for track use but I feel it could be made better, don't have the money for 4 pots atm,just open to a little input if you can help!!

Also, I seem to recall seeing someone on here doing conversion brackets for e30/e39 calipers or did I dream that??
Thanks

[Tom944]

At www.300mm.de you can buy a conversion kit which uses E34 540 calipers with 312mm discs. We actually wanted to go that route and even got the calipers but they ended up very heavy for one pot calipers so decided to go the Massive Brakes route.

More info : http://300mm.de/312294mm/312294mm.html

[UweM3]

I used 540 E34 (or E32 735/750) calipers with a 300x28 disk in my E30 M3. Added some solid bushes and brake cooling to the centre of the disk and that worked reasonably well even with road pads (road pads if you can live with the increase wear on track, approx 25 laps on the Ring)

A step up used some AXXIS Ultra. Have been very happy cost ver wear/performance.

Another Step up use proper track pads like Pagid BLUE and you will have some very good brakes IMHO for reasonable money.

[keri-WMS]

I suppose for track use the downsides to the single-pot caliper and 312mm discs are the weight as Tom said, and the cost of uprated pads.

Horses for courses really!

[DanThe]

They are very heavy, using alloy 4 pots your halving the weight!

[UweM3]

They are very heavy, using alloy 4 pots your halving the weight!

yes they are very heavy. BUT, set of disks £90-100
brake pads £60-80. Calipers from dismantler £100 max.
sure I have machined my stuff myself but I would not want to spend another £500-1000 for getting a 2-3kgs off per side.
Do you really think this makes such a difference for the average track day junkie? I don't even dare to tell you how fast I went round the Ring with my scrap yard brakes because nobody would belive it.

Sure I would fancy some nice 4 or 6 pots but in the real world how many people would REALLY drive faster with expensive brakes? I mean really faster.

There is one thing you always have to overcome and that's the braking point set in the drivers head. No matter how many pistons you have around your brake disks, if the drive can't make use of them, what's the point?

But I guess it's one of these "oh I am fast so I need xyz on my car" because that proves that I am fast. No matter what the stop watch says.....

Not saying you shouldn't buy expensive stuff if you have the funds.

[DanThe]

I fitted them to my chromie and spent a small fortune getting them all nice, they are good brakes but they also will not go under 15inch wheels, and only a few 16 inch wheels, so you need to think how much you will spend upgrading to bigger wheels and tyres. This is why I went for the WMS kit as it goes under 15 inch BBS and keeps things cheap

[sprocketman]

So what will go under 15's then??

[keri-WMS]

(Assuming 15" BBS) standard brakes, 280mm 4-pots....that's about it I think.

[UweM3]

The setup I was running was almost fitting under 15" M3 rims. Just a small rib of the caliper was rubbing on the inside. Depending on the inside contour of the rim, diameter wise it would fit.
I have seen people grinding away parts of the calipers (...and SELLING them to the public) to get them under rims.
Not talking about a UK seller.

[Demlotcrew]

Your friend Toby has an Alcon set with machining to the calliper.

[keri-WMS]

One thing worth remembering when squeezing a sliding caliper under a tight wheel is to make sure the pads are new....you get more clearance when the pads are worn!!!

[Demlotcrew]

With a one piston sliding calliper you do, and also with twin sliding.

[UweM3]

One thing worth remembering when squeezing a sliding caliper under a tight wheel is to make sure the pads are new....you get more clearance when the pads are worn!!!

oh yes!

[UweM3]

Your friend Toby has an Alcon set with machining to the calliper.

I am not biting andrew. don't waste your time.......

[215m3]

Your friend Toby has an Alcon set with machining to the calliper.

Did I?

Don't remember getting them machined. The pointed edges were ground off to clear the inner bolts on 16" BBS 3 piece alloys. They still were thicker than the metal around the area of the pistons.

[Demlotcrew]

Toby,

Machined or Ground, its almost the same result.

My point is that it is safe to remove 'some' excess material without compromising calliper strength. I don't think there is anything wrong with what you did, only the cosmetics were affected.

[215m3]

It was done by mechanics/engineers who built race cars and they deduced that the would not effect the strength and was files off too. The amount filed off was no more the a few mm on the corners. This area was still thicker than the areas around the pistons.