E30 Braking

Sun Dec 25, 2005 1:27 am

Apologies as its probably been asked a few times before.

I'm on a budget to upgrade the front brakes of my 316. I'll fit 320/325 suspension. As mentioned elsewhere, I'll sort the engine out afterwards, but looking at stopping first.

What standard brakes can be used as an upgrade in size and stopping power? Ideally I'm looking for fairly easily and cheaply available brakes from a higher spec BMW or other similar car

For instance on my 106 I fitted 206GTi brakes as they were the largest that would fit under 14's.

Cheers,
Jon

Sun Dec 25, 2005 1:30 am

If the engine is staying 316 then 325i brakes will be more than sufficient.

Sun Dec 25, 2005 1:44 am

It wont be

Sun Dec 25, 2005 9:41 am

the standard size discs are pretty good on my 325 touring,ive upgraded to ebc drilled and grooved discs with ebc redstuff ceramic pads and they handle 290bhp fine.whats your plans for the engine?

Sun Dec 25, 2005 11:19 pm

Somewhere between 316 and Cosworth turbo (

) is the plan

. Its reassuring to hear that 325 brakes work okay on the touring! Saves going to medium budget like wilwoods.

Sun Dec 25, 2005 11:25 pm

JonA wrote:Somewhere between 316 and Cosworth turbo ( ) is the plan . Its reassuring to hear that 325 brakes work okay on the touring! Saves going to medium budget like wilwoods.

Yeah for the street they are okay, its at high speed you really feel their limits.

Andrew

Sun Dec 25, 2005 11:39 pm

Ah, cos I'll hopefully be thrashing it around a track...

Will any 5 Series calipers fit?

Sun Dec 25, 2005 11:42 pm

Hmm not sure if it's worth going to the extra hassle until you have loadsa power that needs to sufficient braking power..
I have Red Dot discs with Pagid Fast Road pads, I didn't suffer any brake fade and felt very confident with them when used for 4 laps on a track in comparison to a car running same BHP but standard 325 brakes who over shot the pit lane quite badly

Sun Dec 25, 2005 11:50 pm

What size are the 325 discs out of interest?

I run 266mm discs with mintex 1144 pads on my 106 and i have to be careful to stop them overheating on track. Thats in an 800kilo car so i'm worried about the 1000 odd kilos of bmw!

Mon Dec 26, 2005 12:40 am

I think the 325 brakes are about the same size, somewhere around 266mm front and a little bit smaller rear. The fronts are vented and so thicker than the fairly skinny rears.

My 323i (about 1100kg) is a bit lighter than the 325s (about 1200kg I think?), although both are dependent on options, and your 316i will probably be lighter too.

I have never had any problems with the brakes on my car after quite a few track days and I just have EBC drilled and slotted discs (although they aren't actually drilled right through, more like dimpled. I wouldn't use drilled) and I had EBC Greenstuff pads but now I have another brand (Lucas I think). I have never had any brake fade and I usually do 5 to 10 laps at a time. Also for the first year of motorsport and track days I shared the car with my father so it got probably twice the use of most of the other cars there. They could be more powerful but I didn't really have any problems.

It depends on the type of tracks you go to and how you drive as well. So far I haven't been left foot braking, I go back through the gears into the corners (so there could be a little bit of engine braking helping me) and I don't think I am too hard on the brakes, but at the same time I am driving as quickly as I can and the laps are usually timed so I am trying to set some good times.

Aston