Brembo or StopTech

[propellerhead]

I've searched. I promise. I saw a thread from last year about someone who had soft pedal feel on the Brembos. I read an article from Roundel that said the StopTechs were really good.

I am looking for input from anyone who has used or has researched StopTech and Brembo 8 pots. My objective is a 4 wheel BBK. I dont think I need 8pots on the rear- if they're even avail.

My three main concerns are performance, pedal feel, and fitment. I have 18" BBS RKII's.

[Gustav]

Check out these threads, even Stoptech representatives are chiming in here:

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/sea...searchid=18239

[TCM]

I would reccommend Brembo over Stoptech due to looks and fitment issues I have seen, but both are great setups. One word of advice do not get the 8 piston, it is overkill for the M5 and actually increases unspring caliper weight. Go with the 4-piston setup all around and you will be a happier and wealthier person. Dave Z. is the guru when it comes to brakes, so I am sure he will give you his unbiased opinion on the subject when he sees this thread. Again, you cannot go wrong with either company, so it is really up to your preference. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

[DZeckhausen]

Originally Posted by TCM

I would reccommend Brembo over Stoptech due to looks and fitment issues I have seen, but both are great setups. One word of advice do not get the 8 piston, it is overkill for the M5 and actually increases unspring caliper weight. Go with the 4-piston setup all around and you will be a happier and wealthier person. Dave Z. is the guru when it comes to brakes, so I am sure he will give you his unbiased opinion on the subject when he sees this thread. Again, you cannot go wrong with either company, so it is really up to your preference. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

It's easy to be unbiased when you sell BOTH products.

If your goal is to have an 8-piston brake kit, there's only one option and that's Brembo. They have the "ordinary" 8-piston monobloc with 380mmx34mm rotors and they have their LeMans forged kit which is really exotic and very expensive. (You're looking at around $12,000 for a 4-wheel kit.)

But let's start this discussion with a couple basic questions:

Do you plan to track the car?
Do you plan to sell those 18" wheels and get 19" wheels?

If the answer to the first question is yes, then forget about the 8-piston and focus on the Brembo 355mm front or StopTech 355mm front. Both are better matches to your performance needs and both offer you MUCH cheaper replacement rotors and a vastly larger selection of pad choices. There's a matching rear kit from both companies.

If the answer to the second question is no, then forget about the 8-piston kit. It requires 19" wheels. Also, forget about the StopTech 4-wheel kit since the rear brakes will probably not fit under those wheels. You can print a template and check: http://www.stoptech.com/wheelfitchar...hart_index.htm

Those are the most basic considerations. Your wheels may totally dictate your choice of brakes.

[propellerhead]

Originally Posted by TCM

I would reccommend Brembo over Stoptech due to looks and fitment issues I have seen, but both are great setups. One word of advice do not get the 8 piston, it is overkill for the M5 and actually increases unspring caliper weight. Go with the 4-piston setup all around and you will be a happier and wealthier person. Dave Z. is the guru when it comes to brakes, so I am sure he will give you his unbiased opinion on the subject when he sees this thread. Again, you cannot go wrong with either company, so it is really up to your preference. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

Great advice, Thanks! I will admit to wanting the 8 piston out of sheer "bigger is better-itus." Everything I have read so far (thx, Gus) has me looking at StopTechs. I am not to concerned with how they look- though I would like silver calipers.

BTW, I L-O-V-E Silverstone... that and bluewater. pics?

[propellerhead]

Originally Posted by DZeckhausen

Those are the most basic considerations. Your wheels may totally dictate your choice of brakes.

I will track the car. I plan to keep the 18" wheels.

I measured, yesterday based on the info you gave me for the 8pots and it looked like I would have plenty of room for the 8 piston calipers. By the specs you gave me, they didn't look that much larger than the 4's. After your advice however, that's neither here nor there- The 8's seem not to meet my objective.

I will use the StopTech template for my rears, but do I correctly read that the Brembos WILL fit under my 18" rears? This could make the decision much easier. Thanks, again, Dave.

[Tin]

I've just fitted the 4wheel brembo kit (8pot fronts, and 4pot rears).

The pedal feel is a tiny bit soft when first pressing the pedal, but then is a very firm feel (I think anyhow).

The stopping power is incredible!!! a few repeated high speed stops from (120mph down to 60mph) is impresive!!

I've not tried the Stoptech's, but by the feedback from all the members on this board, I chose the brembo and am very happy with the setup.
There are alot of happy members with the 4wheel stoptech system too.

Equally would have gone for the Stoptech's, if I kept the 18's.

Cheers

Tin

I have the Brembo 4-wheel kit with 4-piston calipers all around. This is a great set-up and you will most likely be very happy with it. This kit fits well, comes from the biggest name in high-end brakes and looks great.

Cheers.

[DZeckhausen]

Originally Posted by propellerhead

I will track the car. I plan to keep the 18" wheels.

I measured, yesterday based on the info you gave me for the 8pots and it looked like I would have plenty of room for the 8 piston calipers. By the specs you gave me, they didn't look that much larger than the 4's. After your advice however, that's neither here nor there- The 8's seem not to meet my objective.

I will use the StopTech template for my rears, but do I correctly read that the Brembos WILL fit under my 18" rears? This could make the decision much easier. Thanks, again, Dave.

When you told me 8-piston brakes, as measured by the template, do fit under your 18" wheels, I scrambled to check my numbers. I figured I had an error on my web site. But the numbers do check out. The 8-piston kit has 3mm less barrel clearance than the 4-piston kit, making it likely that it would interfere with the inside of an 18" wheel. But the BBS RKII is rather generous in that dimension. My worry would also be that the 8-piston caliper extends 6mm closer to the hub than the 4-piston caliper. So, as the spokes curve inward toward the hub, they are more likely to hit the caliper face. The saving grace seems to be that the 8-piston caliper's face is 6mm further inboard than the F50 caliper (4-piston).

For your car, the discussion is moot, since you will be tracking and will end up with one of the 4-piston kits. However, I would be very interested to know if the measurements you took showed it to be a close call in any dimension or if the wheels easily cleared. An 18" wheel option for that brake kit certainly makes it more attractive.

Here's a shot of a StopTech front brake kit on the same wheels as yours right after I installed it on Harold Chang's car:

BBS RKII wheels

I have no doubt the Brembo rear kit will fit under the BBS wheels. The only question is will the StopTech kit fit? When you print out the template, be very careful to measure the labeled dimensions and then use a copier to scale up or scale down the template. Better to have it be a whisker too large than a bit too small.

I'm installing a 4-wheel Brembo kit (silver calipers, slotted rotors) on rebel1's 2002 M5 this Saturday. If you were close by, I would suggest stopping by and joining us. We'll be doing the fronts first, then taking a lunch break at Panevino to regain enough energy for the rear installation.

[Lscman]

I appreciate the link to these old brake threads & read them with interest. At the time, I was running a Vette.

The lack of a parking brake for certain applications was especially intriguing. Has anyone considered using "The Club" to block wheel rotation or maybe one of those fixtures used by the police dept? It works on my style 32's.

[stever]

I've got probably 2500 track miles on my StopTechs now (front only) and on a cost basis am very satisfied - just ordered a pair of new front rotors at roughly $500 for the pair (check Brembos replacement price).

I've found the PF97s work great on demanding tracks and the availability and cost of pads for StopTechs is another plus.

If you run the car on tracks that are hard on brakes don't believe that bigger is better -- there is no way you can put enough rotor inside even a 20 inch wheel to allow streetable pads on a demanding track -- unless you're simply willing to back off and let a lot of people pass.

For the price difference between StopTech and Brembo you can buy an extra pair of track rotors and pads for the front (Axxis Ultimates work fine for me on the rear for street and all tracks) and brake with the Porsches.

[DZeckhausen]

Originally Posted by Lscman

I appreciate the link to these old brake threads & read them with interest. At the time, I was running a Vette.

The lack of a parking brake for certain applications was especially intriguing. Has anyone considered using "The Club" to block wheel rotation or maybe one of those fixtures used by the police dept? It works on my style 32's.

Lack of a parking brake? All the Brembo, StopTech, Mov'it, and UUC brake kits for the E39 have a rear rotor hat which doubles as the parking brake drum, just like the 1-piece factory rear rotors.