135i/BMW Performance Caliper Install

[704sw]

It's been requested I make a thread covering my installation and such of the OEM 135i Brembo calipers I recently acquired. This also applies to the BMW Performance front and rear calipers. The BMWP brakes are the exact same, just Phoenix (or Austin) Yellow. A lot of this should also apply to the 996 Brembo caliper upgrades people have done.

I found a couple of threads, linked below, which have helped me, but none were really complete. I'm hoping this thread will serve as a more complete resource for anyone hoping to follow this route.
---http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?6456-135-6-piston-OEM-Brembo-Retrofit-The-DIY&highlight=135i---
---http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=827882---

Things you'll need:
Front passenger Brembo 6 piston caliper
135i #: 34106786060
BMWP #: 34116786742
Front driver Brembo 6 piston caliper
135i #:34106786059
BMWP #: 34116786741
Rear passenger Brembo 6 piston caliper
135i #: 34206785238
BMWP #: 34216786744
Rear driver Brembo 6 piston caliper
135i #: 34206785237
BMWP #: 34216786743

Front carrier brackets:
I bought mine from Reboot Engineering. These will allow for you to run standard E46 330 rotors (325x25).
http://rebooteng.com/parts/bmw-135i-brembo-caliper-brackets/

Pads:
Pick the brake pads of your choosing, based on your driving objectives. I've been very happy with the Bosch QuietCast pads Peter installed on my car before I bought it, but for these I'm hoping for something that will be track-capable yet still low dust.

Front Rotors:
With the use of the Reboot carrier brackets, you may choose any standard 330 front rotor (dimensions are 325x25).
It's worth noting drilled rotors are purely for aesthetics.

Rear Rotors:
You will need to run standard E46 M3 rear brake rotors. The retaining screw hole will not line up, as it is different on the M3 and non-M. If you have studs, you're lucky and you suck. If not, it just makes reseating the wheel a touch trickier. A wheel hanger can be quite useful.

Brake lines:
RallyRoad extended brake lines are specifically manufactured for the Porsche (996) calipers on E46s (read: Brembo). Another company sells a kit for just the fronts on ECS, but they were back ordered for over a month and I'm impatient.
You need ~600mm fronts, and ~650mm rear lines. I tried emailing StopTech to see if they could help me pick lines by measurement, but weren't particularly helpful.

Brake Fluid:
Useful information here
http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?20259-What-brake-fluid-are-you-guys-using&highlight=brake+fluid




I will be backfilling information later. I'm on a conference call, and bored out of my skull, so I decided to go ahead and start typing away.

[BMWCurves]

Excellent.

[nextelbuddy]

im curious, if I have m3 brakes all around could i still do this upgrade and keep my rotors all around? ive always loved this brake system conversion.

[rguti153]

Nice !!!

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[johnrando]

Good stuff

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[RUS_ZHP]

Good stuff

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+1. I am excited to see the results.

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[rguti153]

Front driver caliper :34116786741
Front passenger:34116786742
Rear left:34216786743
Rear right:
34216786744

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[704sw]

Minor setback: rear lines are seized to the hardline. ****ing northern cars. It looks like someone's already screwed around on one side, as the bolt's getting a little stripped. Nothing is easy on this car.

[ZHPizza]

Minor setback: rear lines are seized to the hardline. ****ing northern cars. It looks like someone's already screwed around on one side, as the bolt's getting a little stripped. Nothing is easy on this car.
Time for vice grips and a torch! I'm excited to get my hands on this blue car.

[704sw]

Time for vice grips and a torch! I'm excited to get my hands on this blue car.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/ba42d2457b4f531ddd6db1db354fcac3/tumblr_mt46om3b9w1qa64yjo1_250.gif

[BMWCurves]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/ba42d2457b4f531ddd6db1db354fcac3/tumblr_mt46om3b9w1qa64yjo1_250.gif

Nate's all:

http://i.imgur.com/MxO9PWp.gif

[704sw]

im curious, if I have m3 brakes all around could i still do this upgrade and keep my rotors all around? ive always loved this brake system conversion.

I did a brief look, and didn't see much. That's not to say no one has done it, but I didn't see much. I know the RallyRoad option with 996 calipers was a really popular option for M3 guys. I really like the aesthetics of the F30 Performance brakes too.

[derbo]

im curious, if I have m3 brakes all around could i still do this upgrade and keep my rotors all around? ive always loved this brake system conversion.

Aesthetics-wise, these are amazing looking calipers. It is one of the reasons I purchased these way back in 2011 or 2012. I used the ECS tuning kit as they were one of the first out with the kit. If all you want is some nice looking calipers and won't do much HPDE, these calipers are awesome. I ultimately went to a Stoptech BBK and should've done it sooner with all the track stuff I do..


My personal observations as a HPDE guy:


Caliper is fixed and requires removal to replace brake pads. Pain in the butt to swap brake pads on the fly. (Stoptech has bridges to swap pads without even removing the caliper.)
Caliper piston boots have ceramic caps on them. These become brittle and crack if used with aftermarket brake pads that retain higher heat temperatures. (Racingbrake.com has replacing SS pistons to remedy this issue, but is somewhat costly.)
Brake pedal feel does not really feel any better than a stock 330i caliper. (IMO, if you spending for this, the pedal feel should improve.)
Uses a stock 330i rotor, so replacement rotor discs has many options.
Uses a stock 135i brake pad size, so ordering brake pads would follow 135i options.




Pictures for attention: lol.
http://i.imgur.com/RGDo3Et.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/8qQ84DI.jpg

[704sw]

Aesthetics-wise, these are amazing looking calipers. It is one of the reasons I purchased these way back in 2011 or 2012. I used the ECS tuning kit as they were one of the first out with the kit. If all you want is some nice looking calipers and won't do much HPDE, these calipers are awesome. I ultimately went to a Stoptech BBK and should've done it sooner with all the track stuff I do..


My personal observations as a HPDE guy:


Caliper is fixed and requires removal to replace brake pads. Pain in the butt to swap brake pads on the fly. (Stoptech has bridges to swap pads without even removing the caliper.)
Caliper piston boots have ceramic caps on them. These become brittle and crack if used with aftermarket brake pads that retain higher heat temperatures. (Racingbrake.com has replacing SS pistons to remedy this issue, but is somewhat costly.)
Brake pedal feel does not really feel any better than a stock 330i caliper. (IMO, if you spending for this, the pedal feel should improve.)
Uses a stock 330i rotor, so replacement rotor discs has many options.
Uses a stock 135i brake pad size, so ordering brake pads would follow 135i options.




Pictures for attention: lol.
http://i.imgur.com/RGDo3Et.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/8qQ84DI.jpg

All very good points. I do plan to get this car into HPDE-worthy condition, so I will be upgrading the pistons later this year or early next year. I didn't say it in this thread, but I did when I first posted about buying them: I paid $152 total for all four calipers (with reasonably fresh pads, which I'll be replacing when I rebuild them). For that price, rebuilding with the stainless pistons is a no-brainer.

Also, because I haven't updated the thread yet, I removed the weights in order to clear the wheels (which is now moot because I'm running spacers for clearance).

[derbo]

All very good points. I do plan to get this car into HPDE-worthy condition, so I will be upgrading the pistons later this year or early next year. I didn't say it in this thread, but I did when I first posted about buying them: I paid $152 total for all four calipers (with reasonably fresh pads, which I'll be replacing when I rebuild them). For that price, rebuilding with the stainless pistons is a no-brainer.

Also, because I haven't updated the thread yet, I removed the weights in order to clear the wheels (which is now moot because I'm running spacers for clearance).

For that price, its a decent upgrade. Brake bias and pedal feel are two other items to be concerned with. Maybe an M3 master cylinder might help with this? I'm not entirely sure on the math to calculate it. I had a stock 330i MC + front 135i calipers only so my brake bias moved forward a bit.

I suggest speaking with Botond regarding the rb SS pistons. He had it on his car and did HPDEs long after I got rid of mine.

My attempt to workaround the heat problem:

Titanium Brake Shims, Cooling ducts, extra long cooldown laps around the pits.

[az3579]

FYI, I had nothing but problems with these calipers even after rebuilding them. I replaced the pistons with custom stainless ones that Chad fabricated and used RacingBrake's higher temp seals, but the seals kept leaking. I've replaced the seals twice on the set, and they still leaked fluid. Since Ray purchased them from me, he says he hasn't had any issues. Go figure...

The stock seals never leaked. The problems only started after I put in the RB seals.

I've since switched to Wilwoods. Personally I can only recommend the Perf calipers for a street driven car given my nightmarish experiences with getting these track ready.

[Karl Lazlo]

I put about 30k on them but have since removed them for Wilwoods. I am halfway though the Wilwood install (rears are a royal PITA) and the BMWP BBK is now sitting in a plastic bin in my kitchen as I try to decide what to do with them. For what's it's worth, I didn't have any of the BP issues with them.

[704sw]

I put about 30k on them but have since removed them for Wilwoods. I am halfway though the Wilwood install (rears are a royal PITA) and the BMWP BBK is now sitting in a plastic bin in my kitchen as I try to decide what to do with them. For what's it's worth, I didn't have any of the BP issues with them.

Results seem to vary widely; I'm not too worried about it yet. And as I said, I paid $152 for these. Add brackets, new rotors in back, and new SS lines, and I'm at $500 for a four-corner "sort of BBK." Even if it's only temporary, that's a steal.

We all know Brembo is hardly the best for the track, but I think they'll be just fine for my needs in the short-medium time horizon. And they look awesome.

[ZHPizza]

All this talk of heat dissipation issues and mister #2blue4u gets to the reality of why these are going on the blue car:


And they look awesome.

I'm getting my stitches out tomorrow. You about ready to torch something?

[cakM3]

I read in Sankeakur's thread on e46Fanatics that some other things that can be considered is to have a machine shop cut 2 or so mm off the radius of the M3 discs, as the pad does not make contact with that portion of the disc. He also stated that this will also give more clearance between the disc and the calipers.

I'm looking to do this part at the moment which is what has stalled my retrofit for the time being... that and other immediate priorities that have come up recently...

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=16009864&postcount=39 (http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=16009864&postcount=39)

[NoVAphotog]

Front carrier brackets:
I bought mine from Reboot Engineering. These will allow for you to run standard E46 330 rotors (325x25).
http://rebooteng.com/parts/bmw-135i-brembo-caliper-brackets/


I know these guys! Great people. Good luck with the install.

[ItsRichieRich]

Glad I found this thread before committing to a set of 135i brake setup. Was looking for a budget friendly setup but I intend to track this car a bit so I will stay clear of this. Wilwood setup seems to be the best setup from what I have read.

PS: I apologize again for thread revival :thumbup

[cakM3]

... Wilwood setup seems to be the best setup from what I have read.

I can say from having BMW Performance BBKs on my first ZHP and now having these Wilwood BBKs on my current ZHP, the Wilwoods provide stiffer brake pedal feel and react much more than the Performance BBKs I had did. As Derek pointed out "Brake pedal feel does not really feel any better than a stock 330i caliper". Also for the money getting this setup is cheaper and changing out brake pads are far more easier than changing out brake pads on the Performance BBK caliper.

I'm glad I went ahead and purchased the Wilwood BBK for ZHP kit from Colin. :thumbsup

[johnrando]

Yup, those are more for bling, go with a better setup for track. That being said, love the street bling. [emoji3]

I may have even said that earlier in this thread, dunno. [emoji3]

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[t.er]

Even other BBKs, you don't really need one for the track, unless you're doing lap after lap after lap. Good pads and fluid on the stockers will go a long way. Of course, I can't argue with the bling, my crusty old calipers sure don't look that great :rofl

Also lol that's hilarious how the entire caliper has to be removed to change the pads. Honestly, just being able to pop a couple clips/pins and sliding the pads out for me is one of the biggest reasons for getting a BBK. You can daily on DTC-60s but it's probably not great for the rotors, the dusting is insane, and if it rains that dust turns into some kind of demonic sludge that is damn near impossible to remove from your wheels

[Galapolis]

Also lol that's hilarious how the entire caliper has to be removed to change the pads. Honestly, just being able to pop a couple clips/pins and sliding the pads out for me is one of the biggest reasons for getting a BBK. You can daily on DTC-60s but it's probably not great for the rotors, the dusting is insane, and if it rains that dust turns into some kind of demonic sludge that is damn near impossible to remove from your wheels

Not to mention that the dust from Hawk pads is corrosive too, so they damage the clear coat of the wheels long term. I've been dailying HPS 5.0s for 2 years now and my rotors look like Vinyl records.

[johnrando]

Not to mention that the dust from Hawk pads is corrosive too, so they damage the clear coat of the wheels long term. I've been dailying HPS 5.0s for 2 years now and my rotors look like Vinyl records.Ugh! (But have to love the 'look like vinyl records' line, lol).

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[ItsRichieRich]

Not to mention that the dust from Hawk pads is corrosive too, so they damage the clear coat of the wheels long term. I've been dailying HPS 5.0s for 2 years now and my rotors look like Vinyl records.

Really? The Hawks 5.0 I had on my F30 335i was amazing, very little dust on street driving. And iw washed off pretty easily too. Unlike my OEM M sport pads... Those were terrible!