[blau3er]

Originally Posted by danb1979

Looks belting that blau3er

Perfect colours too

I really do like those wheels! Brakes set them off / vice-versa perfectly

Cheers - I did take quite a while to decide on which brake colour and I’ve never looked back with my choice of yellow!

I love my Apex wheels, you didn’t see many sets - although sadly everyone mistakes them for 763m replicas!!

[Th3Walrus]

Hot damn, nice.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by blau3er

Cheers - I did take quite a while to decide on which brake colour and I’ve never looked back with my choice of yellow!

I love my Apex wheels, you didn’t see many sets - although sadly everyone mistakes them for 763m replicas!!

Haha that's fine, you know different

[TurboWeasel]

The stoppiest diesel in the world Proper brake porn that

I love the look of the front calipers pushed right out like that. The rears look small by comparison

I suppose the question is, how do you know if you have the F8x master cylinder and 185mm handbrake? Is there a part number on your MC for cross referencing?

Has the turn-in changed at all with such vast discs? They're kind of like big old flywheels at each front corner now!

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

The stoppiest diesel in the world Proper brake porn that

I love the look of the front calipers pushed right out like that. The rears look small by comparison

I suppose the question is, how do you know if you have the F8x master cylinder and 185mm handbrake? Is there a part number on your MC for cross referencing?

Has the turn-in changed at all with such vast discs? They're kind of like big old flywheels at each front corner now!

The best way to check your master is to put in your VIN on the BMW ETK (Real OEM or similar) and see what parts are listed. As a general rule, the higher powered engine cars with the blue calipers have the same master cylinder. The same goes with the handbrake assembly.

The fronts have been on for 4 years now, so I haven’t really got any memory of how it drove before - but handling feels spot on with these. Obviously it’s a heavier set up than the stock blue Brembo’s, however I have very light forged wheels - so it probably balances things out quite nicely in terms of overall unsprung weight.

My main goal was the aesthetics to be honest of having a ridiculously large brake set up!

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by Th3Walrus

Hot damn, nice.

Thanks!

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

The stoppiest diesel in the world Proper brake porn that

I love the look of the front calipers pushed right out like that. The rears look small by comparison

I suppose the question is, how do you know if you have the F8x master cylinder and 185mm handbrake? Is there a part number on your MC for cross referencing?

Has the turn-in changed at all with such vast discs? They're kind of like big old flywheels at each front corner now!

This is RealOEM for mine pal; show's I've got the 185mm ring brake show with having the blue calipers:

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=34_1972

If you've got them on your 330D, it'll be the same

[ErikB]

I love the brakes, wow

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by blau3er

The best way to check your master is to put in your VIN on the BMW ETK (Real OEM or similar) and see what parts are listed. As a general rule, the higher powered engine cars with the blue calipers have the same master cylinder. The same goes with the handbrake assembly.

The fronts have been on for 4 years now, so I haven’t really got any memory of how it drove before - but handling feels spot on with these. Obviously it’s a heavier set up than the stock blue Brembo’s, however I have very light forged wheels - so it probably balances things out quite nicely in terms of overall unsprung weight.

My main goal was the aesthetics to be honest of having a ridiculously large brake set up!

Thanks for that

My 2016 330D does indeed have the same Master Cylinder as the LCI M3 - P/N 34337849879. Same 185mm handbrake as well.

That's as good a reason as any! Half the appeal of monster stoppers is how good they look behind some nice wheels, plus brakes that big potentially implies something equally tasty under the bonnet

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by danb1979

This is RealOEM for mine pal; show's I've got the 185mm ring brake show with having the blue calipers:

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=34_1972

If you've got them on your 330D, it'll be the same

The same indeed, thanks I have to stop myself on RealOEM, because of the F80 vs F30 parts checking

RealOEM can be a bit hit and miss sometimes I've found. Probably because the catalogue is 4 years old?

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

The same indeed, thanks I have to stop myself on RealOEM, because of the F80 vs F30 parts checking

RealOEM can be a bit hit and miss sometimes I've found. Probably because the catalogue is 4 years old?

Yeah; it gives you the 'ballpark' but not always the exact

If you decipher your VIN via Mdecoder etc; you know what your car has fitted from factory then; just ensure that your parts on RealOEM match the spec if your cars VIN etc

I'd thought about the F80 arms for my F31 when I do the suspension refresh; but after lots of reading (and pages showing the faff you have to go through with spacer washers and other stuff etc); I'll be sticking with OEM spec and spend more on the actual suspension (probably coilovers) etc...

And I REALLY need to stop looking at Apex wheels

[TurboWeasel]

Originally Posted by danb1979

Yeah; it gives you the 'ballpark' but not always the exact

If you decipher your VIN via Mdecoder etc; you know what your car has fitted from factory then; just ensure that your parts on RealOEM match the spec if your cars VIN etc

I'd thought about the F80 arms for my F31 when I do the suspension refresh; but after lots of reading (and pages showing the faff you have to go through with spacer washers and other stuff etc); I'll be sticking with OEM spec and spend more on the actual suspension (probably coilovers) etc...

And I REALLY need to stop looking at Apex wheels

Cheers

Ah right, so the F80 subframe is different then.....of course it is

Yeah they are very nice. America always gets all the good stuff. All we get over here are those miserable bastards over at Compomotive.

[danb1979]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

Cheers

Ah right, so the F80 subframe is different then.....of course it is

Yeah they are very nice. America always gets all the good stuff. All we get over here are those miserable bastards over at Compomotive.

Yup; the F80 arms offer better camber; but it's not a direct fit etc...

Quite happy to keep it OEM TBH; lowering a touch on coilovers will offer a bit more camber than normal; my pal said that should be more than enough to dial in a fast road set up, as the OEM camber is minimal at best!

[TurboWeasel]

I suppose if you were committed, would the F80 subframe accomodate a diesel engine?

It's alloy I believe, so a useful weight saving over the F3x steel jobbie.

Yeah the stock camber is pathetic, barely any at all, but that's only the static camber. Low static camber is better for reducing steering twitchiness. There's a ton of dynamic camber thanks to the big boy 7+ degrees caster

When the warranty is up, I think just a set of Ohlins coilovers is enough to completely transform feel and handling. Don't need much more than that tbh on a daily road car.

Sorry for the thread derail

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by TurboWeasel

Thanks for that

My 2016 330D does indeed have the same Master Cylinder as the LCI M3 - P/N 34337849879. Same 185mm handbrake as well.

That's as good a reason as any! Half the appeal of monster stoppers is how good they look behind some nice wheels, plus brakes that big potentially implies something equally tasty under the bonnet

Yes, it certainly helps if that is your starting point as it makes fitting the brakes much easier and maintains an OEM pedal feel.

[XAlp]

Originally Posted by blau3er

Stopping power is totally excessive!

From factory my car had/has the same master cylinder as the F8x cars, so the brake pedal feels OEM too.

They are a big upgrade over the blue M Sports - but most of the difference comes from the fronts. Up until now, I’ve been running the 2 pot rears and never felt it was unbalanced or anything - as the piston volumes remain very similar between the 4 calipers.

[MY340i]

brake fluid.... ATE TYP200 isn't LV. that would be SL6.

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by MY340i

brake fluid.... ATE TYP200 isn't LV. that would be SL6.

Cant say I gave LV fluid any thought - just went with Vagbremtechnics recommendations. Cant say it would be a concern in the UK climate.

Brake pedal feels perfect!

[blau3er]

2 months on and the rear brakes are now bedded in - they are EPIC!

[blau3er]

[Rgtcarbon]

Originally Posted by blau3er

I thought I would share the details of my brake set up again....

The front brake conversion was done 4 years ago, I worked with Vagbremtechnic (in the UK) back in 2019, and the kit was the first of its kind for the F3x platform. I supplied a spare hub, caliper and disc and they made the brackets in aluminium. Since then, they have changed their bracket material from aluminium to steel - which gave a great excuse the get the front kit off and refreshed with new paint, new pads and discs and of course the new brackets - also added some HEL lines this time.

I am also finally about to upgrade the rears after some developmental delays. The brackets pictured are aluminium prototypes, and a new set will be made in steel shortly before I get them fitted.

For those who are interested, the details for this set up are below:

The front end consists of:

F10 M5 brake calipers - 6 piston Brembo
F87 M2 Competition 400x36 (2NH) brake discs
F10 M5 brake pads
Vagbremtechnic carriers
HEL braided brake lines
Weight (per axle) Caliper, carrier, bolts & pads - 8.75kg. Brake disc - 13.9kg

The rear end consists of:

F87 M2 Competition brake calipers - 4 piston Brembo
F87 M2 Competition 380x28 (2NH) brake discs
F87 M2 Competition brake pads
Vagbremtechnic carriers
HEL braided brake lines
Weight (per axle) TBC

The fronts went back on the car this weekend, and the rears will be going on as soon as the brackets have been completed (there is a bit of a lead time currently).

Some of you will have seen this kit many times before from my previous posts, but for those who are happy to spend the money, it’s a great set up comprising of pretty much all OEM parts. The brake pedal is as OEM, providing your car has the larger master cylinder (most cars optioned with the blue Brembo’s from factory have this - but not all).

The rear set up will only work with cars that have the 185mm sized handbrake shoes - and most of the backing plate needs to be removed to allow the disc to fit.

The front kit is plug and play once you have all the components, the only modification needed is to either remove the backing plate (which I have done) or to trim it down.

The front brakes must be the blue F10 M5 calipers ONLY and NOT the gold, red or silver CCB / M2 2NH calipers, as they have different mounting radius’s. The rear brakes can be either the gold, red or silver CCB or M2 2NH - as they are all the same.

As I have mentioned, I’ve had the front set up on the car for 4 years and they work perfectly. Brake bias is not an issue as the piston areas of the 6 pot / 4 pot set up vs the M Sport 4 pot / 2 pot set up works out as follows:

Front 6 pistons:
30/34/36mm = 52.7cm^2 (68%)
Rear 4 pistons:
28/28mm = 24.6cm^2 (32%)
Total: 77.4 cm^2

Front 4 pistons:
40/40mm = 50.3cm^2 (67%)
Rear 2 pisons:
40mm cm = 25.1cm^2 (33%)
Total: 75.4 cm^2

I had the calipers repainted in Porsche ‘speed yellow’ by Brake Caliper Refurbs. I’ve gone with the lowercase Brembo motorsport logo (my preference) and they’ve had all brand new seals (made by Hutchinson) along with titanium bleed nipples to avoid the horrendous BMW trait of seized bleed screws.

Pictures:

Hi Blau3er , amazing setup and looks awesome, really want to get this done on my F31 , is it absolutely necessary to have the f87 m2 comp rear callipers?

[Rgtcarbon]

Hi Blau3er , amazing setup and looks awesome, really want to get this done on my F31 , is it absolutely necessary to have the f87 m2 comp rear callipers?