[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:

[moppity]

They look ace!

How do the new weights compare to the original brakes?

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by moppity

They look ace!

How do the new weights compare to the original brakes?

I’m not too sure, as the original front brakes are now sold.

When the yellow 2 pots come off the rear though, I’ll weight them for a comparison to the new 4 pot rear set up.

[moppity]

Thanks @blau3er. I’d be interested in knowing the disc weight differences too.

[Kermit]

Sweet. Love that.

[danb1979]

Show off

They look mega under those wheels!

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by moppity

Thanks @blau3er. I’d be interested in knowing the disc weight differences too.

I will update once they go on!

Originally Posted by Kermit

Sweet. Love that.

Thank you - overkill for sure, but I love the aesthetic of the big brakes behind the wheels.

Originally Posted by danb1979

Show off

They look mega under those wheels!

Thanks

[blau3er]

[SR-25]

Hi Blau3er,

Thanks for sharing so much information, what sort of clearance to the outside of the brake calliper do you have on a 9J? I never went 437 in the end and decided to go for 20” 405M. I’ve reached out to VAG to see if the brackets are returnable as i imagine they’re custom machined. On an 8J wheel with a 12 or 15mm spacer it’s going to be super close.

I’ll provide some progress over the coming months as I just don’t want the blue M Sport brakes to get lost behind a 20” rim.

Cheers

Mike

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by SR-25

Hi Blau3er,

Thanks for sharing so much information, what sort of clearance to the outside of the brake calliper do you have on a 9J? I never went 437 in the end and decided to go for 20” 405M. I’ve reached out to VAG to see if the brackets are returnable as i imagine they’re custom machined. On an 8J wheel with a 12 or 15mm spacer it’s going to be super close.

I’ll provide some progress over the coming months as I just don’t want the blue M Sport brakes to get lost behind a 20” rim.

Cheers

Mike

There is plenty of clearance against the spokes on both 437m and also on my new wheel set up (APEX VS-5RS). Remember that 437m and these calipers were offered as factory options from BMW (in CCB form) - so no issues there.

The main issue I had with 437m was the occasional stone getting caught between the caliper and the wheel barrel - which is a well documented feature of the 437m and CCB caliper. Its also the same with the M2 2NH calipers and the 788M wheels. My APEX set up certainly has more clearance in this area of the barrel, which is a nice plus as I don't like 20" on the F3x.

Have you bought brackets, and now ran into fitment issues with your wheel set up?

[SR-25]

Originally Posted by blau3er

There is plenty of clearance against the spokes on both 437m and also on my new wheel set up (APEX VS-5RS). Remember that 437m and these calipers were offered as factory options from BMW (in CCB form) - so no issues there.

The main issue I had with 437m was the occasional stone getting caught between the caliper and the wheel barrel - which is a well documented feature of the 437m and CCB caliper. Its also the same with the M2 2NH calipers and the 788M wheels. My APEX set up certainly has more clearance in this area of the barrel, which is a nice plus as I don't like 20" on the F3x.

Have you bought brackets, and now ran into fitment issues with your wheel set up?

Appreciate the response. Totally agree on the 437 issue with the CCB, read a fair bit on M3 cutters over the years.

I just haven't bought the brackets yet. I have found a local company called quarry motors who have a pair of F10 calipers who i can loan to prove the fitment. I have no idea what the lead times are on the brackets, hopefully i'll hear back from Vag this week and get a pair of brackets in the coming weeks.

Really struggled to find M2 2NH rears, looks like ML Performance can source them, however, 1x caliper comes out at the price of almost 2x M5 ones so now focus is primarily on the front.

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by SR-25

Appreciate the response. Totally agree on the 437 issue with the CCB, read a fair bit on M3 cutters over the years.

I just haven't bought the brackets yet. I have found a local company called quarry motors who have a pair of F10 calipers who i can loan to prove the fitment. I have no idea what the lead times are on the brackets, hopefully i'll hear back from Vag this week and get a pair of brackets in the coming weeks.

Really struggled to find M2 2NH rears, looks like ML Performance can source them, however, 1x caliper comes out at the price of almost 2x M5 ones so now focus is primarily on the front.

Sounds helpful! The lead time can be quite lengthy with Vagbrem, as lots of their stuff is custom machined.

2NH rears are like rocking horse sadly - allthough I am almost certain that they are just an off the shelf Brembo GT 4 caliper.....

[blau3er]

OK, final update - REAR KIT.

I’ve been working on this in the background with Vagbremtechnic (VBT) for some time now. There have been various unexpected delays due to their workload and this been something of a passion project that they had agreed to work on as and when they had spare time.

However, the wait was well worth it and it now completes the look and feel of the car. The set up is as follows:

F87 M2 Comp 2NH / F8x CCB 4 pot brake calipers
VBT custom machined steel mounting brackets
F87 M2 Comp 2NH 380mm rear discs
F87 M2 Comp 2NH brake pads
HEL performance braided lines

Notes: this rear set up will only work on F3x cars with the larger 185mm diameter hand brake. If your car has the smaller 165mm version - this would not be suitable as you would loose your handbrake option!

I am super happy with how it all turned out!

Pics:

[XAlp]

Looks ace. How does it stop?

[Alscoob]

That looks super slick, such a visual impact, stunning.

Think you would stand it on its nose if you hit them hard

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by XAlp

Looks ace. How does it stop?

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.

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by Alscoob

That looks super slick, such a visual impact, stunning.

Think you would stand it on its nose if you hit them hard

Thanks! To be honest that was what I was aiming for, I really did this whole upgrade for cosmetics and that wow factor when you see the wheels full of brakes.

The added performance was an obvious benefit too!

[Wibbles]

Epic mate

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by Wibbles

Epic mate

Cheers Craig!

[SR-25]

Absolutely bonkers. Love this thing.

[danb1979]

Looks belting that blau3er

Perfect colours too

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

[blau3er]

Originally Posted by SR-25

Absolutely bonkers. Love this thing.

Very kind - thanks!