323i vert rear brake snafu

[airplanefxr]

Hey I just got a 98 323i vert and I needed to replace the front and rear rotors and pads and I have the vented rotors in the rear but the kit I bought has a solid rear rotor I know it's a stupid question will I be ok running the solid with the current calipers? I tried searching but can't come up with a solid answer. Thanks

[pbonsalb]

In addition to the rotor being different, the caliper or pads might be different. You are likely to have less trouble using the correct parts. Installed parts might not be returnable. Some wrong parts fit, some don’t. Using a 3/8” thick rotor in place of a 3/4” thick rotor presumably would require thicker pads.

[samy01]

No that doesn't work. You must get the correct parts.

[bluptgm3]

When shopping for parts, first enter the last seven of the VIN in www.realoem.com to determine correction part number requirements for the specific car.

BMW has ‘rolling’ introductions with model year overlap, so in some cases it is easy to get the wrong parts using a vendors search engine.
Places like ECS Tuning and FCP European (lifetime warranty) and others offer a wide range of parts at various price points. Shop using the BMW part numbers to insure you get correct parts.


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[airplanefxr]

Thanks guys I actually tried the solid rotors just out of curiosity. It fits but the caliper bracket doesnt sit right. I ended up ordering the correct rotors I guess I need to do some more research before shotgun ordering parts.

[JDStrickland]

Hey I just got a 98 323i vert and I needed to replace the front and rear rotors and pads and I have the vented rotors in the rear but the kit I bought has a solid rear rotor I know it's a stupid question will I be ok running the solid with the current calipers? I tried searching but can't come up with a solid answer. Thanks

The factory rotors are smooth, the slotted/vented rotors are aftermarket. You do not need to change the calipers.

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Thanks guys I actually tried the solid rotors just out of curiosity. It fits but the caliper bracket doesnt sit right. I ended up ordering the correct rotors I guess I need to do some more research before shotgun ordering parts.

You have something else happening. Slotted rotors do not require different calipers than smooth rotors.

[samy01]

@JD

this is about solid or vented rotors, nothing about smooth or slotted rotors. There were definitely rear vented rotors stock from the factory, just the same as the front ones which are also vented, but not slotted. Rear vented rotors is ependent on engine/model and what you ordered the car with originally at the dealership. You're mixing things up.

[JDStrickland]

@JD

this is about solid or vented rotors, nothing about smooth or slotted rotors. There were definitely rear vented rotors stock from the factory, just the same as the front ones which are also vented, but not slotted. Rear vented rotors is ependent on engine/model and what you ordered the car with originally at the dealership. You're mixing things up.

Sorry, I did not know that. I put slotted and drilled rotors on my car to replace smooth rotors and no change of caliper was needed. It did not occur to me that the calipers would be different. The speed bump in this project is that his rotors do not fit, and that doesn't sound right to me. www.realoem.com would be a good resource here.

[spyderg0d]

By solid rotor he means a solid disc rotor with no venting in the casting.. The solid rotor is a total of 8 mm thick as apposed to vented rotors that have 2 flat surfaces and an empty cavern in the middle for heat tranfer as a vent that are i think 15 mm thick. Solid and drilled are grooves in the outside of the rotor surface and drill holes through the rotor.

Early verts up to 96 had smaller, thinner solid rear rotors, which also have a caliper thats not as deep to match on non package equiped cars.
The vented rotors used from 96 on standard equipment, are larger, and have a deeper caliper to accomodate the thicker vented rotor. There exceptions like sport package ect for the rear vented rotors being placed on verts throughout years tho.

Usually, one just looks at what rotor they have before buying random parts in a quessing game online. Rotors by themselves are not interchangable.. Pads are not either as the rotors are different diameters.

[Eric93se]

Here's the two different rotors.

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airplanefxr, don't feel so bad, I made the same mistake buying vented rear for my sedan the first brake job I did on my 328i.

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I plane to only buy coated (zinc or other) rotors in the future, they are cheap and will look better. I like the Centric partial method where they do not coat the parts where the pads run on the rotor.

[samy01]

I'm not sure if your picture description "solid, for sedan and coupe" is correct in every scenario. I have rear vented on my coupe.

[Eric93se]

I was under the impression that vented were only on verts,.must be a US model thing.

[spyderg0d]

No.. Solid rotors came standard on 92 to 94 non m package cars. 95 was vented rear rotors on coupes and sedans as standard. Verts still had solid rotors until 96. Then all cars came with vented rear rotors. This is all US spec ofcoarse.

Its one of those continuing evolving production things they did along with abs systems, obc's, strut changes, ect. As the production year went on, the parts generally increased in some mechanical value. They didnt start with large modern vented rotors and end up putting classic single plate rotors on last run vehicles a decade later. Lol.

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I was under the impression that vented were only on verts,.must be a US model thing.

Possibly where you are they only came on verts.

[Eric93se]

My '97 328i has solid rear rotors, USA sedan. 10/96 build.

[spyderg0d]

Well then, looks like the dates I have are alittle off. Maybe sedans were a thing for solids a bit longer.