128/328 brakes on 135 (15" wheel fit)

[mimtbr]

I need some help with this and admit, it's not something most people will ever do.
I want to fit 15" wheels to a 135. For fitment, a style 32 15x7-47.
Why? So as to run a rally gravel tire. As far as I can tell, Fin McCaul is the only one to run a 1series in a gravel rally setup. His car is a 120d.


This will be used for rallycross and eventually stage rally. The stock brakes where shot after a couple track days and I wanted to replace pads with race pads but not drive them on the street.

So, first step is a 300mm rotor front and rear. 128 has this and the rear works with the handbrake drum. Removing the dust sheilds and rear fit is no problem.

Second is calipers. I found 07' 328 (which uses the same rotor and bracket as the 128, but front caliper is different. Exactly the same in the rear(Note, some 08'-328's had a 312mm front rotor)) locally and fit them.
Rear first.
The rear required a 0.450" spacer to move the caliper outboard. This was easy with a hardware store hardened machine bushing and hardened washer and longer bolt. The reason is because the 135 has a different hub than the 128 pushing the wheel and rotor outboard. Fits and works like a charm. Most of you will want to go the opposite way. For this, you would have to fit the 135 hub. Handbrake works perfect.

The front....
First, calipers fit no problem. No spacers, perfect fit. A 17" wheel fits no problem. Probably a 16" would fit. The 328 pad and the 128 bracket are the same. The pad is the same shape, but has diff. part number, probably compound, both feel great. The 328 caliper is aluminum and has a thicker section. The 128 is steel and more compact. See below. So I had to change to the 128 and grind a bit for clearance, but it fits under a 15".
328 alum caliper

128 steel caliper

A shot of 328 front brake on the 135

Now for the issue. The steering ball joint rubs. It's very close. I noticed that most all the 1series cars used the ZF steering balljoint and arm assembly. I noticed that euro 118, 120d's used a TRW arm and other ball joint. So my question is, does anyone have an aftermarket steering joint on there car? Does it look more compact? Any ideas on how to get more space reliably?



Oh, on the street with the same 17" tire, the 328 brakes feel exactly like the 135. The weight difference is huge, but you can't really feel it. Again, not tested on the track or in hot temperatures. I will get the weight difference when I switch back next summer.

[TheSt|G]

This is spectacular.

[Stohlen]

Epic!

[andrey_gta]

Originally Posted by mimtbr

...
The reason is because the 135 has a different hub than the 128 pushing the wheel and rotor outboard. Fits and works like a charm. Most of you will want to go the opposite way. For this, you would have to fit the 135 hub. Handbrake works perfect.
...
Oh, on the street with the same 17" tire, the 328 brakes feel exactly like the 135. The weight difference is huge, but you can't really feel it. Again, not tested on the track or in hot temperatures. I will get the weight difference when I switch back next summer.

Are you saying the 128i has more room in the rear for tires because its offset is different from 135i, where 135i is more?


Interesting observation with the brake feel.


I think you can source the TRW arm from ebayco.uk or http://en.bildelsbasen.se/

Example: Trailing link e87 - right or left
http://en.bildelsbasen.se/?link=list...00000010010100

118d
http://en.bildelsbasen.se/?link=item&post_id=26561123
116i
http://en.bildelsbasen.se/?link=item&post_id=25599470

With bildelsbasen= email/call them dont buy/book via the website. Its liek buying without barganing

[mimtbr]

An update and additional question.

I got in touch with Fin and he told me they swapped the tie rod ends side to side. So, the one from the Driver side to the Passenger side. This did not fix my issue. However, his car had the TRW rack and mine has the ZF. Does any one have a pic of the TRW tie rod end? If the thread is the same, it might be an option.

I also tried aftermarket tie rod ends from Deeza. These were even larger than the OEM parts, so that didn't work either.

And the final option would be a bump steer kit using a rod end. Anyone have this on a street driven car?
http://www.gutenparts.com/partners/a...mw-e30-m3.html

[mimtbr]

Success!
After much fitting and re-fitting, here is the final solution...not that anyone would want to unless they are going to go rallying on gravel....but here it is anyway.
As mentioned previously, Fin's advice to swap tie rod ends side to side, did not work for my car. His early 120d must have had the TRW setup. Another German driver advised machining the upright, this is extreme and NOT necessary.

1. Remove conical washer from OEM tie rod end. It's press fit, so I used a three jaw puller. (The aftermarket DEEZA ends were fatter by about 0.100" in the wrong direction). It then becomes a tight fit into the upright, but can still be removed.

2. Use 128 brakes. The 328 alum. caliper is too big. The front 128 steel calipers still had to be ground down a bit.


The result:


And fit with a 15x6.5-36mm offset Braid Winrace TA. Interestingly, it had significantly more clearance on the inside diameter. The BMW Style 32 with 47mm offset and an 8mm spacer works out to 39mm, which is noticeably inboard compared to the 36mm Braid.


Overall impression:
The 128 caliper bore is 54mm vs. the 57mm for the 328 caliper. I felt pedal effort was up a bit.
Cush ride compared to the 17" snow setup, but more wishy washy, which I expected.
Next up, how to fit a 215 gravel tire....