I ordered and had a shop install an E36 brakes. Later I read that verts all? use thicker vented rear rotors in back. I noticed that installed rotors are solid.l and mechanic said he would’ve noticed if new brakes were different size. Brakes seem to work fine and well no issues. Is there an issue here? Can I check for sure that my vert needs bigger rear rotors ??
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Realoem shows vented disks! D’oh!! Should I redo? When pads wear out more will the calipers over extend on a thinner solid disk? Or is this not a huge deal?
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Had my vert for 6+ years now and never knew that. Have had solid blanks in it and no problems.
My 328i vert does not have vented rotors. Maybe the M's do.
- Ken -
Mine had the vented rotors. I then ran regular E36 solid for awhile before upgrading to the e46 brakes (also vented rears). I think the vented ones were originally spec to address the heavier rear ends of the convertibles. Probably not a big performance deal given most people don’t track verts, but I will say the e46 brakes are a noticeable upgrade.
Twistytee I am more concerned with thinner rotor causing calipers to overextend. Or perhaps put too much bias toward front. dunno. Maybe I’m freaking out for nothing but to others if you search for E36 brake differences you will see that nonM had vented disks too. I’ll find link once I get home
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I think the solid is 9mm thinner (10mm vs 19mm for vented). I know many have run either without changing the carrier dimension and no one seems to report a piston over extension issue. But I would suspect the 96+ MY cars have a wider caliper/carrier combo. I don’t have both versions on hand so I cant confirm this.
This is taken from another online blog
From messing with my 6 e36s of all years and configuration, I can say this was true for me.
If you dont want the full read, then the important bits are underlined in red
Brakes
OK, let's get this out of the way first: no, E36 M3 brakes will not bolt on to your 325/328. Nor will E46 M3 brakes. You can use E36 M3 brakes, if you buy E36 M3 spindles. The spindles are a direct bolt-on.
Stock specs:
E36 M3 front: 315mm x 28mm vented rotor E36 M3 rear: 312mm x 20mm vented rotor E36 325/328 front: 286mm x 22mm vented rotor E36 325/328 rear: 280mm x 10mm solid rotor The E36 325 and 328 brakes are identical and completely interchangeable with each other. The only exception is the 328 convertible, which had vented rear rotors. So, 328 convertible rear brakes (calipers too, as the vented rotors are 9mm thicker) are an upgrade to the 325/328.
Other bolt-on brake upgrades are from the E46. *All* E46 non-M3 front brakes will bolt on to the 325/328 spindles. E46 323i, 325i, 328i rear brakes will bolt on to an E36. 330i rear brakes will not work, because they use a larger diameter parking brake.
E46 323i front brakes are identical to the E36 front brakes... no upgrade there. E46 323i rear brakes are identical to the E36 328 convertible rear brakes, so you get the benefit of vented rotors. E46 328i front brakes are identical to E46 325i front brakes... 300mm x 22mm. Same pad fitment as the stock E36 brakes, so you gain 15mm of rotor diameter and you can re-use your existing track pads. For the above conversions, you can keep your existing calipers and pads, and just swap the caliper carriers ("rotor cages") and rotors.
E46 328i rear brakes are identical to E46 325i rear brakes... 294mm x 19mm. These will work with your existing ebrake. For this swap, you will need calipers, in addition to the rotors and carriers. E46 330i front brakes are actually bigger in diameter than E36 M3 brakes, but the rotors are not as thick. 325mm x 25mm. For this swap, you will need 330i calipers and pads in addition to the rotors and carriers.
Pad fitments: Are extremely interchangeable. So we should all try to update this with more detail.
E36 M3 and E46 M3 share the same front pad fitment E30 M3 and E36 M3 share the same rear pad fitment. E36 325, 328, E46 323, 325, and 328 share the same front pad fitment For comparison, E46 M3 brakes are 328mm x 28mm.
E36 M3 owners: No, E46 M3 brakes will not bolt on to your E36.
One OE parts "upgrade" that is available to you is 850Ci calipers with E46 M3 front rotors. These calipers are 4-piston Brembos, and the original application is a leading mount. You have to swap the crossover tube and bleed screws in order to configure them for a trailing mount like your E36. Also, the E46 M3 rotor is not quite the right size for this application. The 850 rotor is 324mm x 30mm, so at only 28mm thick when new, the E46 M3 rotor could cause hyperextended caliper pistons. Your options are to use a pad spacer or have custom rotors made - a 12.75" x 1 3/16" would work nicely. Coleman or [TCE | http://www.tceperformanceproducts.com] would be able to help you. The last issue with this "upgrade" is pad fitment. This is not a popular FMSI number, so good luck finding your favorite track pads to fit these calipers.
Part number 34 11 1 161 177/178, retail price over $600 each.
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Well that is interesting. PO must have put on non-vented rotors on my car.
- Ken -
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