Hi guys so I drove up to Livermore, CA about 2 hr north of SF to pickup some e28 sport seats and the brake fade going down hills on the highway was pretty scary. Mechanic said I still have 60%on the pads. Any upgrade advice?? Braided steel lines?? Bigger rotor set kits? Thanks.
Yeah, I would start with the braided brake lines or maybe a new brake kit(rotors and pads). Or maybe it could be something simple as bleeding all 4 brakes.
Nice job on finding a set of e28 sport seats. Mine me asking how much you paid for the set? Just curious.
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Been a while since I lived in the BA but the City isn't south of Livermore, you went East to get there and if it took you 2 hours you might have been needing to slow down and wait for the brakes to cool. I read folks saying the E23 brakes are adequate all the time but I have a set of twisties that can cause brake fade in under 10 miles. I do have more oomph and it is a gun-the-engine-hit-the-brakes kind of road. I have to get off the gas and just coast up to the last stop sign as the brakes are tired. I don't see the East Bay area as causing this kind of problem with a stock E23 driven properly. But driven aggressively, you might get some fade.
All that said there is NO way to improve the front brake metal parts but you can get much better brake pads. I suspect the brake fluid is old and easily boiled so replacement of all the brake fluid is highly recommended. If you have brake fade, tighter hoses ain't going to do anything but while you are there...and they do firm up the pedal when the brakes are correct. More front brake cooling would go a long way to making them better or at least a bit less prone to fade.
So Replace all the brake fluid
Improve the air flow to the front rotors for cooling
Install stainless/Teflon brake lines
Replace front brake pads with something designed to operate at a higher temp, over a wider temp range, you still need cold bite, too.
I rode in LJ's 745i with the E32 vented rear upgrade, made a nice difference when we did a huge pull down in speed from 140mph area to about 70mph. Less nose dive for sure and I think he has just Autozone pads.
When I have time to install that stuff on the rear of my runner, I am going with slotted rotors in the back and Porterfield pads. Same deal up front. Currently I have ceramic pads all around and SS lines.
I make E23 parts.
09/1983 745i (stolen spring '13 around Houston, TX Achatgruen on nutria buffalo. 8481080)
10/1984 745i
11/1984 745i
11/1984 735i (10:1-265/6)
Ford, MB, and GM round out the pack.
The front brakes are just fine, same pad size as the E28 M5.
If you experience significant brake fade, get better pads and better FLUID. Then bleed bleed bleed.
I did the E32 trailing arms with bigger vented discs, and my 735 stops with authority, and with good brake fluid, no fade.
--Jay3->Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
84 €735i manual, 88 528e/i
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