128i Brakes on the Track

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by markslc1

Ok I did my brake job today with the z4 rotors and the 330i caliper brackets and stock 128 brakes and pads. It all mounts up, but it appears the caliper cylinder does not fully connect with the back of the stock pads as seen below



Thoughts? Should I put my 330i pads on there, or did I mess something up?

Looks about the same to me.

[markslc1]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

Looks about the same to me.

I guess it does look the same. But shouldn't the piston have full contact with the back of the pad?

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by markslc1

I guess it does look the same. But shouldn't the piston have full contact with the back of the pad?

The piston has full contact with the pad. The piston face is chamfered, for one, so it kind of appears to be off the pad. Also, the angle we can take photos from exaggerates the illusion. If you take the pad off there's a perfect circle from the piston on the back.

[markslc1]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

The piston has full contact with the pad. The piston face is chamfered, for one, so it kind of appears to be off the pad. Also, the angle we can take photos from exaggerates the illusion. If you take the pad off there's a perfect circle from the piston on the back.

OK. Thanks much for taking the time to confirm. I'll go ahead and bed the brakes today.

[PKumarM3]

Castrol srf + stainless steel lines + larger rotors + learning how to use your brakes.

[markslc1]

Originally Posted by markslc1

OK. Thanks much for taking the time to confirm. I'll go ahead and bed the brakes today.

First time at the track with this setup with EBC yellow pads, and I was happy with the performance. Thought I honestly wasnt abusing the brakes since it was the first time out. We'll see how it goes in the future, but so far so good.

[snub-nose 28]

Is there an update now, yet?

[markslc1]

Originally Posted by snub-nose 28

Is there an update now, yet?

The car wasnt running at full power at the track. some kind of power cut from 5500-6000 rpm, but the brakes were just fine on a 90 degree day. Of course it was my first time out, so I wasnt really hard on them. So far so good.

[RyanDavies]

I ended up with an extra set of these 330i carriers if anybody is particularly interested in swapping to run the larger rotors on their car.

[crowtrobot]

Looking for advice on reasonable brake upgrades for my 128i. Ran 3 DE events at Watkins Glen last year, looking to do 4-5 this year. Ran stock rotors with Hawk HPS and Motul 600 fluid, bled a week or so before the event. Was mostly good aside from two things:

1) Brakes started fading pretty badly after I moved up run groups and was getting faster. Not something I want going downhill into a turn.
2) Rear pads were annihilated somehow. My guess is the e-diff ate them up Day 1 which was rainy, did not get into TC at all, only a few moments of ABS.

I've ordered stainless steel lines, but additionally I've been eyeing 335i brakes or F30 brakes as options, but these will require new wheels, as I'm on 17" 262s, so that kind of blows the budget up.

Also been looking at the BMW Performance brakes with the piston retrofit, since these will fit my wheels, but wasn't sure if this would be worthwhile, or a half-measure. (Been looking into sourcing 135i fronts and 328i rears to assemble the kit on my own w/o the PY paint)

Lastly, had considered the BMW Performance front bumper and retrofitting the 135i cooling ducts and fender liners, but I'm not sure that the performance/$$ ratio makes this worthwhile. I'm not crazy about the look of the Performance bumper, and getting paint matched is always a little dicey.

Given that I'm doing 4-5 events/year (8-10 days), is it even worth doing this, or just go to a dedicated set of rotors and track pads and leave the rotors/calipers stock size?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[MightyMouseTech]

Ya, HPS are not even an aggressive street pad. I use them on my winter car so I can swap to DTC60 when at the track. All Hawk compounds are compatible with each other, so if you stay with Hawk pads, no need to swap rotors when you go to the track.

The ediff will do a number on the rear brakes. Even on dry pavement I was overheating my rear rotors. A real limited slip would help.

[BlackLizard]

Watkins Glen is a pretty fast track, and can be pretty tough on brakes.

Personally, I would prefer a more track oriented pad, a high temp fluid (which you have), and improved cooling.

[crowtrobot]

Originally Posted by BlackLizard

Watkins Glen is a pretty fast track, and can be pretty tough on brakes.

Personally, I would prefer a more track oriented pad, a high temp fluid (which you have), and improved cooling.

MightyMouseTech Agreed - I was pretty disappointed with the HPS. There was a car & driver blog about track performance for HPS, HP+ and EBC Yellowstuffs, and I more or less came to the same conclusion as the review - the HPS were fine fine fine until they weren't. I backed off the HP+ because of complaints of squeaking/dust, but I think I've settled with the idea of changing pads/rotors for the event anyway, so I'll run something more aggressive this year.

BlackLizard Re: cooling - is there an option besides going to a different bumper/135 air ducting? I'd rather not be cutting up parts to run my own ducting if I can avoid it. Bumper kit unpainted is $1200 + freight on Tischer, plus liners plus ducts - seems like a lot of expense to me for gains that aren't immediately clear performance-wise (some cool air vs. no cool air is quite clear, haha). My hope with the bigger brakes/dedicated pads is more bite, less time on the brakes, and more heat sinking with the larger rotor, so hopefully the integrated heatload inside the wheel well isn't so bad. Not arguing mind you, just my thoughts. Appreciate the feedback, thanks! Do you visit Watkins often? I'll be there in April for the local BMWCCA chapter's DE.

[BlackLizard]

No worries.

I came across a thread over on e90 post for the installation of NACA ducts on the under tray that I thought was brilliant. If you DIY the installation, you can do it for under $100 and if you still want to go to a BBK afterwards, you can. Here's the link to the thread http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1287364

It was my first time at The Glen, a buddy of mine owns Apex Driving Events and I help him out.

[bNks334]

Bend the heat shield on the rotor back as far as possible! Use it to scoop air. This is less effective once you move to wider wheels, but it is still drastically better than the heat shield blocking airflow to the rotor altogether.

[WhatsADSM]

Originally Posted by crowtrobot

Looking for advice on reasonable brake upgrades for my 128i. Ran 3 DE events at Watkins Glen last year, looking to do 4-5 this year. Ran stock rotors with Hawk HPS and Motul 600 fluid, bled a week or so before the event. Was mostly good aside from two things:

1) Brakes started fading pretty badly after I moved up run groups and was getting faster. Not something I want going downhill into a turn.
2) Rear pads were annihilated somehow. My guess is the e-diff ate them up Day 1 which was rainy, did not get into TC at all, only a few moments of ABS.

I've ordered stainless steel lines, but additionally I've been eyeing 335i brakes or F30 brakes as options, but these will require new wheels, as I'm on 17" 262s, so that kind of blows the budget up.

Also been looking at the BMW Performance brakes with the piston retrofit, since these will fit my wheels, but wasn't sure if this would be worthwhile, or a half-measure. (Been looking into sourcing 135i fronts and 328i rears to assemble the kit on my own w/o the PY paint)

Lastly, had considered the BMW Performance front bumper and retrofitting the 135i cooling ducts and fender liners, but I'm not sure that the performance/$$ ratio makes this worthwhile. I'm not crazy about the look of the Performance bumper, and getting paint matched is always a little dicey.

Given that I'm doing 4-5 events/year (8-10 days), is it even worth doing this, or just go to a dedicated set of rotors and track pads and leave the rotors/calipers stock size?

Any advice would be appreciated!

As others have stated. HPS pad is your biggest issue. They simply won't hold up to any track time beyond some basic parade laps. No matter what you decide don't go back out there with HPS (I wouldn't even bother with HP+ either).

[markslc1]

Originally Posted by markslc1

The car wasnt running at full power at the track. some kind of power cut from 5500-6000 rpm, but the brakes were just fine on a 90 degree day. Of course it was my first time out, so I wasnt really hard on them. So far so good.

Finally got a chance to run the car hard for two days at the track at Oregon Raceway Park. The combo of these slightly larger rotors / stock calipers/ hi-temp fluid, and EBC Yellow pads was a great combination. Braking was great, with only mild fade at the end of the later sessions. I suspect I'll go through these pads pretty quickly, but they should last another 2-3 track days. Overall very pleased with the track performance of the 128 braking system.

[Suhb]

So there’s two potential aluminum calipers:

34116769091 328i
34116769093 Z4

What is the difference between the two?

I’m looking to fit as big of brakes as I can inside the style 262 wheels.

Possible options are:
z4/328i aluminum calipers + 330mm rotors
z4/328i aluminum calipers + 312mm rotors
328i steel calipers + 330mm rotors

I don’t see why the aluminum calipers and 330mm rotors wouldn’t clear the 262 wheels considering the 135i calipers + 338mm rotors clear it.

Can anyone chime in on any of the possible options?

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by Suhb

So there’s two potential aluminum calipers:

34116769091 328i
34116769093 Z4

What is the difference between the two?

I’m looking to fit as big of brakes as I can inside the style 262 wheels.

Possible options are:
z4/328i aluminum calipers + 330mm rotors
z4/328i aluminum calipers + 312mm rotors
328i steel calipers + 330mm rotors

I don’t see why the aluminum calipers and 330mm rotors wouldn’t clear the 262 wheels considering the 135i calipers + 338mm rotors clear it.

Can anyone chime in on any of the possible options?

The aluminum 9093 calipers and 330mm rotors didn't fit in my style 207M wheels.

[Zombie_Head]

Sorry to bring back this old thread, but i have a couple of questions.

Basically if i understood correctly, one can keep the 125i calipers (front and rear), get the 330i/Z4 carrier and install the 325mmx25mm discs? The two piece Z4 ones should be the ones to go for, since they are two piece meaning lighter correct?

What about the rears? do the 330i/Z4 discs also require carriers for the calipers to mount up?

Isn't this the same setup some teams were using when racing 1 series cars?

This would be an ideal setup for me, since everything is original BMW and i do not need to have to go to the TÜV and have registered the modifications, sadly this means i am stuck with EBC pads only for the REC90/RC90 label (European label for being street legal) and i can run redstuff or maybe yellow stuff on street and track.