Using OEM 540i (E39) brakes in my 528iT???

[grovertdog]

Hiya-

Have a 2000 E39 528 Sportwagon, wonder if I can use calipers, carriers, and what I believe are slightly larger in diameter rotors, from a similar age 540i?

Don't really want to get into this if serious modifications are necessary.

Any comments appreciated!

GTD

[grovertdog]

Anyone out there?? ;-)

[grovertdog]

No one has done this?

[thejlevie]

I'm not positive on a Touring, but I know that 540 fronts work just fine on my '01 525i. There's no reason to change the rears since they are the same on the E39's (except the M5). The swap is real easy. You need the carriers, calipers, rotors and pads from a 540. Be aware that there was a change in the rotors & carriers early in 2000. It doesn't matter whether you use either set of parts, but you have to know which you have in order to get the right rotors.

Unless you track the car or are after the looks of the larger front rotors, there's little advantage to be gained from this swap. A set of high performance street pads (Axxis Ultimates, Hawk HPS, etc) can easily generate enough braking force to get into ABS on front wheels. And their higher Maximum Operating Temperature (MOT) will eliminate any risk of fade in street driving.

For a tracked car the swap is whorthwhile for the greater themal mass and larger swept area. However when used hard with a high performance pad you can find that teven brand new OE thrust arm bushings aren't up to that much braking force. I've had to go to solid urethane thrust arm bushings to eliminate vibration under hard braking.

[grovertdog]

Excellent points, thank you very much for responding.

I have an opportunity to get the parts for a pretty good deal, from a guy who completely redid his 540. I don't anticipate getting that much of a difference in performance, but I do subscribe to the theory "bigger is better", and the extra size of the 540 rotors should provide some incremental heat dissapation benefit.

I do NOT track the car, but I do drive hard, up and down Northern Cascade mountains to ski, throughout the year. What brake pad do you think would be the best fit for me, weighing equally "feel", braking force, and dust, if you don't mind my asking?

Thanks again for the help!
GTD