[Theivz]

hi folks

I have an lci e91 320d msport - see sig. perfect comfy family daily with enough horses/torques for me for now

was wondering what peoples thoughts were on upgrading brakes...

I don't think funds/family permit a bbk although I got a quote of £1700 for front and rear performance bmw bbk which is not bad for a bbk but way too much still at the mo

I want it for increased stopping power (remap and family = momentum lol (pls no physics lessions)) but also for the occasional track day use (novice). I will be driving like miss daisy im sure...

so I suppose what's left is upgraded discs/pads ... any other ideas or recommendations would be appreciated

- I think I'm leaning to ebc turbo discs and green stuff pads around £450 for front and back but only as my mates have recommended

[parapaul]

Stick with OEM quality discs - Pagid/Textar/ATE etc. The EBC discs get pretty poor reviews - and from experience, grooved discs are noisy. It's quite fin for the first few weeks, but it quickly gets very annoying, particularly for a family car.

For pads, go Red or Yellow instead of Green. Greenstuff are the OE equivalent. I've had reds in the past and loved them. Way better performance than OEM and no dust. The latest Yellowstuff compound isn't low dust, but still getting nothing but excellent reviews though, so I'm going to give them a try.

[Theivz]

thanks for the advice

unfortunately they only do green or yellow stuff for my car. If I take the car on a track only twice in a year is it worth it? I hear they take a little longer to get going when daily driving???

the discs you recommended seem to cost significantly more. Any suggestions for where I might get them cheaper?

[parapaul]

www.carparts4less.co.uk

It's the internet-only side of Euro Car Parts. Pagid discs for my 330d work out about £50 each.

Edit: Just looked, for a 320d they're about £35 each. Bargain!

[stringy93]

335 front brake upgrade? Bolts straight on and they are much bigger discs and calipers. I've done it to mine and highly recommend it. All in including brand new discs and pads from BMW it came to about £550

[Theivz]

I don't know where I was looking in that case - they do look significantly cheaper
ebc turbo are coming out around 170 for fronts and 150 for rears

pagid discs are better in terms of stopping power in combination with yellow stuff pads?

[Theivz]

Originally Posted by stringy93

335 front brake upgrade? Bolts straight on and they are much bigger discs and calipers. I've done it to mine and highly recommend it. All in including brand new discs and pads from BMW it came to about £550

I was tempted!

do yours make a lot of high pitched noise when you brake?

[parapaul]

Originally Posted by Theivz

pagid discs are better in terms of stopping power in combination with yellow stuff pads?

Equally as good. Theoretically the grooves and dimples may make a difference to gas dissipation and braking performance under extreme conditions, but for a car that's going to br primarily a family car, they'll be ideal.

[parapaul]

Originally Posted by stringy93

335 front brake upgrade? Bolts straight on and they are much bigger discs and calipers. I've done it to mine and highly recommend it. All in including brand new discs and pads from BMW it came to about £550

Seriously? I would have expected it to be double that.

Do the calipers bolt onto the exisiting carriers or does it need a whole new setup?

[doughboy]

OP, I'd recommend yellow stuff highly.

Great bite from cold, much better then EBC Red which need warming first, EBC green are just standard replacements, no use IMO.

Re discs, I bought a set of MTEC drilled discs, took a chance as they are cheap and everyone poo poo'd them, thought what the heck..

Brilliant, super true and smooth, quiet, no vibes or wobbles when hot. Much better than factory discs.

Highly recommended, and ony £180 all round for giant 335i discs, in fact the yellow stuff pads cost more than the discs!

[Mr Singh]

Originally Posted by parapaul

Seriously? I would have expected it to be double that.

Do the calipers bolt onto the exisiting carriers or does it need a whole new setup?

You need the carriers too, done it on mine. Solid upgrade tbh. Cost me around £650 with Zimmerman Z Sport discs/pads.. with cheaper or stock grade discs/pads i'm sure it would be £100 less. Ended up changing rear discs to the same aswell. 325/330 owners need not worry about rear calipers as they are same as the 335s.

[stringy93]

Originally Posted by Theivz

I was tempted!

do yours make a lot of high pitched noise when you brake?

Not that I've noticed mate, but I don't really give them much stick on a track etc. Furthest my car goes is the gym or ikea lol

[stringy93]

Originally Posted by parapaul

Seriously? I would have expected it to be double that.

Do the calipers bolt onto the exisiting carriers or does it need a whole new setup?

As mentioned you need the carriers aswell to accommodate the bigger discs. My standard discs were about 300mm iirc and the 335 ones are 348mm. Yeah i was happy with the price, half that of the performance kit. I did get abit of discount at the dealers because I buy so much but it wasn't much

[parapaul]

Originally Posted by Mr Singh

You need the carriers too, done it on mine. Solid upgrade tbh. Cost me around £650 with Zimmerman Z Sport discs/pads.. with cheaper or stock grade discs/pads i'm sure it would be £100 less. Ended up changing rear discs to the same aswell. 325/330 owners need not worry about rear calipers as they are same as the 335s.

Just looking into this now as I never expected it to be so affordable! The calipers are available from Euro Car Parts for £110 each, but they don't list the carriers. I've emailed them to see if they can source them or if I'll have to go to BMW for them instead.

[AlanYoro35i]

Originally Posted by Mr Singh

You need the carriers too, done it on mine. Solid upgrade tbh. Cost me around £650 with Zimmerman Z Sport discs/pads.. with cheaper or stock grade discs/pads i'm sure it would be £100 less. Ended up changing rear discs to the same aswell. 325/330 owners need not worry about rear calipers as they are same as the 335s.

Hi,, can you tell me where did you buy the Zimmerman stuff? tried goggling it but i don't have any result about from GSF carparts but still cannot find application list.




cheers

[anielsen71]

@Mr Singh
Regarding the size of the rear brakes on 330d, that's not correct.
On my 330dA from 2006 the rear brakes are smaller than the 335 brakes I have now.
I changed the brakes all around to 335 and added steel braided brakelines also.
Better brake performance for sure, but not as good as I expected.
I went for OEM rotors and pads but have some trouble with the rotors in the front. I'm thinking of switching to Zimmerman instead.

[Mr Singh]

Originally Posted by anielsen71

@Mr Singh
Regarding the size of the rear brakes on 330d, that's not correct.
On my 330dA from 2006 the rear brakes are smaller than the 335 brakes I have now.
I changed the brakes all around to 335 and added steel braided brakelines also.
Better brake performance for sure, but not as good as I expected.
I went for OEM rotors and pads but have some trouble with the rotors in the front. I'm thinking of switching to Zimmerman instead.

Mine is also a 2006, and I can tell you on my car I had same size rears the 335 has

I've seen a few later model 330Ds with 335 front brakes from the factory too.

[anielsen71]

Well, It might be a difference from manuel transmission and aut. transmission then.
I think my rear brake rotors was 320mm and now they are 338mm in diameter.

Here in denmark there are 2 different aprovals of the car from the authorities.
One with the "small" front brakes of 330mm in diameter and another with front brakes of 348mm in diameter. I might have to do with the option of sport package or not

[AlanYoro35i]

Originally Posted by Mr Singh

Mine is also a 2006, and I can tell you on my car I had same size rears the 335 has

I've seen a few later model 330Ds with 335 front brakes from the factory too.

Mr singe , can u advise where to get zimmerman??

[Josh1a1h]

Originally Posted by doughboy

OP, I'd recommend yellow stuff highly.

Great bite from cold, much better then EBC Red which need warming first, EBC green are just standard replacements, no use IMO.

Re discs, I bought a set of MTEC drilled discs, took a chance as they are cheap and everyone poo poo'd them, thought what the heck..

Brilliant, super true and smooth, quiet, no vibes or wobbles when hot. Much better than factory discs.

Highly recommended, and ony £180 all round for giant 335i discs, in fact the yellow stuff pads cost more than the discs!

I think it has been proven that the mtec discs were just drilled or grooved stock discs.
Which is not a bad thing. But they do churn lots out and if the job wasn't done correctly, you could certainly have a few issues.

[anielsen71]

Are there any of you guys who drives an Automatic and do NOT have trouble with the front discs getting wobbled?

And if, which manufacture?

[Theivz]

Originally Posted by doughboy

OP, I'd recommend yellow stuff highly.

Great bite from cold, much better then EBC Red which need warming first, EBC green are just standard replacements, no use IMO.

Re discs, I bought a set of MTEC drilled discs, took a chance as they are cheap and everyone poo poo'd them, thought what the heck..

Brilliant, super true and smooth, quiet, no vibes or wobbles when hot. Much better than factory discs.

Highly recommended, and ony £180 all round for giant 335i discs, in fact the yellow stuff pads cost more than the discs!

wow that's a great review

its sounds like the yellowstuff pads are good then...

those discs sound cheap! but also good hmmm