M3 brake upgrade

[gary]

I'm looking to upgrade the front brakes on my Sport Evo.

I'm looking at disc's calipers and pads, ideally looking at 4 pots but want to keep the original 16" wheels.

What would be the best mid range manufacturer?

I'm looking at somewhere around £600 or do I need to spend more?

TIA

[bigbird76]

Gary have you looked at the calipers from a older 7 series E38 I am sure they are 4 pot? Others will confirm this though.

Leigh

[jmc330i]

E38 brembo 4pots will bolt straight on to the E30 M3 front strut. But discs aren't so easy.

I think E36 M3 discs can be used, but as standard the disc won't be centred in the caliper, so a spacer is required between hub and disc. A custom bell and rotor setup can also be used. In either case (other than cost), one downside is that you will need E36 offset wheels due to the spacer (or thicker bell) pushing the disc face out.

The setup will fit under the 16" M3 BBS wheel, but the offset of the wheel is wrong once the disc has been spaced out.

[ajay]

[quote="jmc330i"]E38 brembo 4pots will bolt straight on to the E30 M3 front strut.

Only the E31 (8series) brembo 4 pots will bolt straight on to the
E30 M3 front strut, the E38 brembo,s will definatly not unless a custom caliper bracket is used. The rest of the above is true though.

[jmc330i]

Ah yes, sorry was getting my E numbers confused, thinking the E38 was the 8 series because of the 8

Just to confirm, it's the E31 8 series brembos that bolt on to the M3 strut. And also to correct myself above, it's the E46 M3 disc that's needed.

[gary]

Cheers guys. I'll do some investigating

[ross_jsy]

Might have made it up but I think I saw Keri from WMS talking about developing a kit for the m3. Might be worth PM'ing him?

[Chris_B86]

As above, talk to WMS, or have a look at Wilwood

[jmc330i]

Might have made it up but I think I saw Keri from WMS talking about developing a kit for the m3. Might be worth PM'ing him?

I spoke to Keri about an M3 kit a couple years ago. I've just had a look though my emails, but must of deleted them.
There was definitely talk of an M3 kit, but I don't know how far it got. Would be worth a PM.

[pacerpete]

Leave it alone, even with that interior, it is worth dollarz Big brakes will further compromise it . It is not as if the standard brakes are not more than adequate in NORMAL use.

[Kos]

I have to agree with the fat man

But you won't ever sell it so there is no real harm in doing some sort of up grade as long as you keep all the orginal parts to re fit if you ever choose to sell it

[harry_p]

I found mine was fine on standard brakes with decent pads and fluid, but then i only have weedy standard 200bhp m3.

I think the e30 m3 is the only m car which doesnt kill it's brakes within two laps on track

then again, if you have the money sat there then why not. A set of nice callipers will certainly look better than the big ugly single piston sliders they come with.

[gary]

Lol.....Yeah I'm torn between keeping the standard brakes on. But as said I won't be selling it and I'll be keeping the original stuff so as to be able to put it back on.

It's just that the brakes are so spongy and you have to stand on them to get any sort of braking during spirited driving.

I changed the fluid last year and run Mintex pads. Maybe some braided hose might be the better option.

I will pm Keri though and see if they do M3 calipers etc

[harry_p]

Tbh, I've always found mine pretty responsive, even compared to modern stuff, without being over servod.

Maybe the standard callipers are due an overhaul? New hoses would be worth a try if they're still original too.

The only time my brakes have been crap was when the hose popped off the inlet, no servo assistance meant literally pushing as hard as I could on the pedal to slow down. Luckily the lumpy idle gave away a serious air leak so it was soon spotted!

[gary]

Cheers guys I'll let you know what I decide

[DasChin]

Gary have you tried updating the pads and fluids as well as stainless steel hoses?

i would be tempted to keep it as is with a sport evo

if you are going to go 4 pots then wildwoods are pretty good or WMS.

are you changing the discs as well? You could go to 305 or 310 on the 16s depending on caliper. Not sure what sport evo has as OEM discs.

i ran the 8 series 4 pot brembo on front of my old e36 track car and it was the e46 drilled disc that you run. You would need 17s for this set up as the disc is around 330mm.

[gary]

I'm thinking of trying braided flexi hoses to see if that makes a difference.

I changed the fluid about 2 years ago and have done about 3000 miles in that time.

If I decide on the 4 pot route then I would probably change the disc as well

[ross_jsy]

Brake fluid absorbs water even if it's not in use so even though you have only done 3k miles it is probably due a change.

[gary]

Cheers mate I'll try that along with the braided hoses and see if that makes a difference

[keri-WMS]

We do plan to do an M3 kit, but BMW made life very difficult by using long lugs on the strut with short lugs on their caliper (same with all the BMW 5-stud stuff I've seen) - the WMS T20 caliper's lugs clash with the ones on the strut and the smallest it can do is about 320mm. We are looking at a larger radial caliper though that will allow a smaller disc.....

We recently increased prototyping capacity though so this year should see a few new products appearing.

[gary]

Thanks for the update. I'll keep an eye out on your site for updates

[turk]

I have a nice set of e38 4 pots available. pm me if you're interested.

[pacerpete]

I have a nice set of e38 4 pots available. pm me if you're interested.