Poll: E39 Performance Caliper Upgrade

[senoralbo]

As originally posted on Bimmerfest...

This one item has bothered me for some time. I know there are a lot of people that are perfectly happy with the performance of the OEM brakes on their E39's, but I do believe there is performance to be gained over the OEM single piston setup.

I'm hoping I don't have to rehash the benefits of a multi-piston caliper, but in short:

* Lighter Weight
* Less Heat Retention
* Greater Fade Resistance
* Uniform clamping force

Of course, the limiting factor is always price. We often have to buy a kit that includes new (though larger) rotors, brake lines, brackets, etc. I would love to have the option to just upgrade the calipers to offer a reasonable upgrade in performance.

As an automotive "enthusiast", I know that it's often times more economical to purchase a pre-built kit and not always beneficial to "upgrade" components that "work", but I cannot abide.

To that end...I've began discussions with a vendor that is a supporter of this forum to begin an R&D project.

The goals are simple:

a) Discern what manufactured calipers to use (e.g. Willwood,etc.)

b) Manufacture the appropriate brackets to adapt said calipers.


This post is meant to be a discussion on the topic as well as a poll to see how many enthusiasts would be interested in this upgrade.

All comments are welcome, but please keep things on topic.

I want to use something like this:

451834

and this:

451836

[ojomo]

i guess, if you plan on tracking your e39, but as someone said before, its all about the tires? stock brakes are good enough.

[benjammin989]

Would the upgraded caliper's be so dramaticlly better than just upgrading to stainless brake lines and drilled and slotted rotors that there would be enough of a market to support mass production of these. But I'm sure if you build it they will come lol. Atleast the some would.

[ElleShooTiger]

If your current brakes are strong enough to lock up the wheels, then the tires are the weak point in the equation. Upgrading brakes is only required when your tires overpower your braking power or you experience lots of fade during heavy braking. Not gonna lie, big brakes do look good, but they're usually a poor investment and sometimes make braking worse if the rest of the system wasnt designed for them.

BTW might be tricky to find the right caliper to fit our stock rotors (and then you have multiple rotor versions between pre and LCI models and I6/V8 models) so you'd have to possibly come up with a one-size-fits-all rotor as well to get the best market share.


Would the upgraded caliper's be so dramaticlly better than just upgrading to stainless brake lines and drilled and slotted rotors that there would be enough of a market to support mass production of these. But I'm sure if you build it they will come lol. Atleast the some would.

Stainless lines are not any better than regular rubber lines. They look nicer and are more resistant to debris damage or blowing out, but they're not really any tighter than regular rubber. The lines are really just simple pipes that contain pressure from going outwards. Drilled/slotted rotors are generally worse for braking as well, except for maybe on the track where they can cool faster.

[OldSkoolBMW]

finding pads that work with off the shelf wilwoods and allow the brake pad wear sensor to be utilized I think would be the difficult part. When selecting a race caliper, it is important to see what "pad" it uses. Some calipers use a pad size that no one makes a street sensible pad for.

[luminmiller]

I would like to upgrade my calipers and have a set of E38 730 Brembo (Euro) I got for cheap.

I don’t need M5 breaking power or any other BBK for that matter, but it looks like E39 V8 (not M5) and I6 530 have the same size setup. Does anyone know if they weigh the same or are the I6 set Aluminum?

I want to upgrade the fronts only but can't find a commercially sold bracket for the E38 Brembo units so E39 may be the more sensible option.
I would like to slightly increase front caliper/rotor size without increasing weight if possible? (They don’t normally go hand in hand)


What I have found on brake specs:
(Weight Comparison (1 side only)

E38 Brembos (730 Euro)
I will weigh them on Wednesday
Rotors F 316X28
Rotors R 324X12

E39 (523,525, 528)
Total=24.884 lbs (caliper & carrier 7.917 lbs + rotor 16.967 lbs)
Rotors F 296X22
Rotors R 298X20

E39 (530)
Rotors F 324X30
Rotors R 298X20

E39 (V8 not M5)
Total =37.31 lbs (caliper & carrier 14.161 lbs + rotor 23.149 lbs)
Rotors F 324X30
Rotors R 298X20

E39 (M5 All)
Total for Euro=36.31 lbs (caliper & carrier 13.404 lbs + semi-floating rotor 22.906 lbs) [Euro floating rotors are NLA in US]
Total for US=39.859 lbs (caliper & carrier 13.404 lbs + rotor 26.455 lbs)
Rotors F 345X32
Rotors R 328X20

M3 (All (not sure about EVO)
Rotors F 315X28
Rotors R 312X20

[AK_5eries]

Stainless lines are not any better than regular rubber lines. They look nicer and are more resistant to debris damage or blowing out, but they're not really any tighter than regular rubber. The lines are really just simple pipes that contain pressure from going outwards. Drilled/slotted rotors are generally worse for braking as well, except for maybe on the track where they can cool faster.

I don't know about that. I changed to drilled+slotted rotors (stock pads) with stainless steel lines. The extra bite was very noticable and the pedal feel was much firmer with the SS lines. There is a reason Porsche/AMG/M use drilled/slotted rotors and SS lines.

- - - Updated - - -

OP, don't know what your budget is, but check out K Sport BBK. Not that much feedback, but the feedback that is available seems to be positive.