E30 brake upgrade ideas....

As my OBD-I S52 swap nears completion (looks like we will finally be able to finish it up at the end of next month when I get back from Montana) and I'm already thinking about my next project.

I know you guys understand that!

Basically I want to go 5 lug because I get access to hoards of OEM wheels and lots of lightweight wide 17" wheels, which are non-existent in 4 lug, unless you go custom and they have long lead times and/or are very pricey.

I really want to run the TRM MT1-R 17 x 9 (only 16.4 lbs!!!!)

So Ground Control has told me they now build a custom strut to use the E36 stuff up front to solve the caster issue, and then you can use E36 M3 stuff, huge upgrade, cost effective, cheaper pads/rotors than a BBK when replacements come. Problem is the only way to match the back is with Z3M Roadster/Coupe trailing arms which are very spendy.

Or it's go with E30 M3 stuff (I have a line on some strut housings) but we are back to BBK's at both ends (I don't like the idea of a rotor spacer to run the E36 M3 stuff). And to do a quality front and rear BBK you are closing in on $3000!

What would you do? Has one of you mad fabricators figured out a way to the venter E36 M3 rear brakes on to an E30/Ti trailing arm?

don;t they make a BBK for the Ti?

Yeah, there are lots of companies that do. But running OEM sliding calipers up front with billet, fixed piston calipers out back seems a bit odd to me.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=131650

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/forumdisplay.php?f=133

Have Fun!!

-=PJ

I did a 5 lug on my E30 using Jay's E36 "bastard kick" setup and it is a good package. I made my own brackets to use a E36 325 rotors with Wilwood Dynapro calipers. Its a nice setup - my car is track-only and it stops all day long, rotors are cheap, Hawk DTC-60s are $75. CAn't beat it with a stick. For more brake I could have used E36 M3 hubs but that requires the big rotors and I wanted to keep the 15" rubber. You can buy one of those massive setups which are bolt-on if you are afraid of making your own stuff but I did a little math (thanks Angry) and they are gross overkill for a light car. 330mm rotors weigh a lot too.

As to the Z3 trailing arms... spendy? I bought a set for $200 and it came with a pile of other stuff. BTW, you can just use 1.9L Z3 hubs and wheel bearings and press them into the E30 arms... I couldn't come up with a good fit for the rotor so I used the Z3 package and put Wilwood DynaPros back there too (same pad at all 4 corners).

I know there are a couple threads on the E30 boards that involve retrofiting RX7 calipers using Passat rotors (or something equally as odd sounding). Not sure if any of those projects got off the ground though.

walterj, Z3 M trailing arms are spendy. That's the only way to get the M Coupe brakes in back.

I spoke to BimmerWorld the other day and he suggested what you did. Non-M E36 stuff up front to match the Ti stuff out back and felt that would be enough for the significantly lighter E30.

walter, is track car gutted? With my swap done I figure the car is going to weigh about the same as stock (2825ish I believe), but with more forward weight distribution.

I've ripped out the trunk tar, but the S52 is around 70lbs heavier from what I understand, and I'm also deleting the power steering and at some point will delete the non-working ABS pump and some of the lines and replace the stock limiter with a proportioning valve for the rear.

And I'll be honest, since I run 17s and will continue to, the bigger M rotors would fill up the wheels much better. I think we might try to figure out a way to get the M rear brakes on the E30 trailing arms. Yay for car enthusiast friends with Engineering degrees.

But I like the way you solved the problem, do you think the non-M stuff will be good considering how much heavier my car most likely is compared to yours?

z31maniac wrote: walter, is track car gutted? With my swap done I figure the car is going to weigh about the same as stock (2825ish I believe), but with more forward weight distribution. I've ripped out the trunk tar, but the S52 is around 70lbs heavier from what I understand, and I'm also deleting the power steering and at some point will delete the non-working ABS pump and some of the lines and replace the stock limiter with a proportioning valve for the rear. And I'll be honest, since I run 17s and will continue to, the bigger M rotors would fill up the wheels much better. I think we might try to figure out a way to get the M rear brakes on the E30 trailing arms. Yay for car enthusiast friends with Engineering degrees. But I like the way you solved the problem, do you think the non-M stuff will be good considering how much heavier my car most likely is compared to yours?

Yeah, my track car is 2100lbs wet, no driver right now and I'm trying to get it there with my fat ass in the seat. I'll post up some pics of the beast one of these days so you people can have a good laugh at some of my "engineering". It has been nicknamed Walter's Coffin by the rest of the paddock.

Your car is still lighter that the E36 325 that those parts came off of but.... if you plan to run a lot of sticky tire, maybe with spacers... you might want the M3 parts for the larger wheel bearing anyway. A heavily tracked 325 with Hoosiers & 12mm spacers eats wheel bearings like cookies.

Search noob.... Doh! I probably should have just posted in this thread rather than making a new one.

Passing along a brake upgrade option for you E30 guys. Looks like they also have upgrades for other BMWs. I had not heard of Massive Brakes but alas I am not super in tune with the BMW world. Checking it out they seem to have a pretty good reputation and are active on some BMW boards. I talked to Lee and he sounds like a pretty nice knowledgeable guy. www.massivebrakes.com -Greg