will E36 M3 brakes fit E30 M3?

[m3ben05]

As above really, will the front brakes from the e36 M3 fit the E30 M3? I know they are 5 stud and a lot bigger than the standard ones?

Also, if they will fit, is it worth it, are they any better?

Cheers in advance guys

[Lordschleife]

No idea, but I'd try better pads/fluid before forking out for bigger brakes - that might solve any issues you have

[m3ben05]

No real "issues" to be honest, the main reason for wanting bigger brakes is the look (i know, how sad) The standard brakes do fade after a few hard laps although it only sees occasional track use as we have a dedicated track car.

I cant fit massive calipers due to my deep dish wheels so i was just exploaring other options

[maxfield]

What about E46 instead of E36? or you could just get some new wheels and drop AP 4pots in

[m3ben05]

e46 would be ok also but i know where i can get a set of e36 ones. I dont want new wheels and have no real need for ap's

[maxfield]

Breakers ebay somewhere like that. not to sure

[jmc330i]

Im fairly sure the E36 M3 calipers bolt straight on to the E30 M3 struts, but a spacer is needed to centre the E36 M3 disc in the caliper because the disc offset (if thats the correct term) is different. You will probably need 17" wheels though.

Have a look on S14.net and search for 'E36 brake upgrade' - that should give you the info about the spacer and where to get them from (in the USA).

[m3ben05]

Yea thats what i thought. It says i will need wheels from the e36 M3 aswell though, does anyone know what offset they are.

[jmc330i]

A quick google says the E36 M3 offset is 41mm.

[jaistanley]

I'm currently researching this at the moment.

I need to measure my E30 M3 hubs, measure my MCoupé hubs and find out the offset of E30 M3 and E36 M3 wheels.

I'm in the process of fitting MCoupé brakes front and rear to my 318is with M3 running gear.. I have the rear arms sorted but need to sort these spacers so I can run the front brakes and get new wheels.

I plan to draw the required spacers in AutoCAD and post it here when I get round to it..Should be easy to get them machined up from nice drawings. Dont hold your breath atm though, I'm a lazy soab!

Anyone else done this or have the spacers to measure up?

Jai

[m3ben05]

Theres a company in the states that makes them. I dont think il be able to do this because my wheels will be the wrong offset for the brakes

[jaistanley]

But the calipers will bolt in the same place wont they?

The disk face is in the same place, just the 'hat' that needs a spacer behind it. The total distance out by the caliper will be the same, the spacer's thickness being taken up by the different offset wheel..

Am I right??

Jai

[jmc330i]

AFAIK, the spacer (from SBI) is needed to move the disc out to centre it in the caliper. This will also have the effect of a wheel spacer because the face of the disc (with the bolt holes in it) will have moved outwards from the hub by the amount of the spacer in-between the hub and disc.

This would then create more space between the caliper face (side on view) and the inside of the wheel spokes, because the wheel would have moved outwards, as if you had fitted a normal wheel spacer.

I know Jordan (from RV3) has this setup on his non-M3 E30 and has E36 M3 wheels, so I would think they would fit the the E30 M3 with no problems.

[m3ben05]

I dont think it will fit mine due to my wheels. Any spacers would push them out past the fenders.

Never mind, il have to think of something else

Thanks for all the help btw

[jmc330i]

What wheels have you got? Ive not seen any pics of your car.

[m3ben05]

http://www.e30zone.co.uk/modules.php?na ... ic&t=28008

There rondel style 58's

[jmc330i]

That looks stunning

I was considering the those Rondells when I change to 5 stud on my Sport.

Like you said, you might have issues fitting the E36 M3 brakes with the wheels.

I have just searched on S14.net for the conversion and you only need a 15mm spacer between the hub and disc to fit the E36 M3 brakes, bringing the offset to the E36 M3 offset.
Maybe you could borrow a normal 15mm wheel spacer to try out and see how far that moves the wheel in the arch.

[m3ben05]

Thanks

15mm MAY be do-able but it also depends how much bigger the caliper is compaired to the e30 item. The inside of the spokes is only 10mm max away from the caliper as it is. If they are wider then i would need another spacer on the outside to push the wheel out to clear the caliper.

Some more research needed then. I can get a full e36 set including disks, calipers etc for Ԛ£120 from a mate of mine so it would be a cheap way of getting bigger brakes if its possible.

Do you think they will actually be any better?

[jmc330i]

The guys on S14.net say they are a good upgrade from the standard E30 M3 brakes. They are only a single pot design but they work well, especially on the lighter E30 M3.

They only down side Ive heard is that they are quite heavy, but Ive not seen any weights to compare them. The upside, is that discs and pads are easily available and if you can get them for Ԛ£120 then bonus

Im not sure on the width of the E36 caliper, but you will have an extra 15mm over what you have now. Could you ask your mate if you could borrow one of his calipers (assuming they arent bolted to his car) and trial fit it to yours with a spacer?

[m3ben05]

I think there still fitted to his car. He has a set of brembo's to go on though so if he got his arse into gear he could sort it out!

Iv been looking on s14.net aswell but cant seem to get a complete answer


Logically they should be better than the standard ones seeing that they are bigger.

[jmc330i]

I think there still fitted to his car. He has a set of brembo's to go on though so if he got his arse into gear he could sort it out!

You know what youve got to do

There was a guy on S14.net who sold the E36 upgrade kits, but it was basically the rotor spacer as thats all thats needed - thats where I got the 15mm measurement from.

Even thought the E36 M3 calipers are single pot ones, the 315x28mm discs are bound to make a difference over the 280mm E30 M3 ones. Ive driven an E30 325i with standard calipers but spaced out to accept 280mm discs and that made a difference over the stock 260mm.

[m3ben05]

If it didnt work, would it be possible to use bigger disks with the standard calipers?

Sorry for the dumb q's im a dumb ass when it comes to things like this!

[jmc330i]

would it be possible to use bigger disks with the standard calipers?

It should be yes, unless theres something odd about the M3 setup. You would need to make up a custom caliper bracket to move the caliper outwards and then you could use a larger aftermarket E30 M3 disc.

This is what was done on the 325i with the 280mm discs, the caliper was moved outwards and the 280mm VW Corrado disc was used.

[Jhonno]

735i caliper with a tab ground off and merc 500e discs apparently give a 300mm brake setup on the e30..

there is a post in tech forum about (search m3 brakes or m5 brakes one of the 2) it as i was asking before. cant find any 735i in my local breakers tho

[jmc330i]

735i caliper with a tab ground off and merc 500e discs apparently give a 300mm brake setup on the e30.

Is that for the M3, or the standard E30?

Thinking about it, I guess the M3 - Merc 500 are 5 stud??

[buster]

theres a good conversion for 4 stud cars using audi s3 or TT disks.
312mm x 25 using 540 calipers.
The audi disks are 5x100 pcd but have two sets of 5 holes on them there for only 2 more holes need to be drilled to fit the e30.

[Jhonno]

735i caliper with a tab ground off and merc 500e discs apparently give a 300mm brake setup on the e30.

Is that for the M3, or the standard E30?

Thinking about it, I guess the M3 - Merc 500 are 5 stud??

yeah m3.. think those mercs are the right pcd also..