A little history to begin things off. In the past, I have had the opportunity to drive two world class sports cars, a corvette and a supra twin turbo. Both are very capable cars but they are ultimately sports cars. This was followed by the my quest for the perfect car which eventually led me to the M5! Many will argue that the M5 is one of the most perfect automotive piece of engineering ever to come out of fatherland Germany. No doubt I agree with this sentiment. However, there were a number of weakness in which I felt the M5 could be improved upon. They were the handling dynamics and its stopping capabilities. The M5 far from being lacking in either department could use some help. I found my answer for the handling issue with the use of Dinan's own suspension components. Next were the brakes. I explored a number of options available from Brembo, Movits and Stoptech. Thanks to the many folks on this board I was able to conclude that I did not want a big brake kit that made the use of spacers. I also wanted to retain the use of my stock wheels as well. The only solution presented itself in the form of Stoptech's. Stoptech is the only option for those of you that want to retain the stock wheels without using spacers.
Now that Stoptech's were what I wanted, I needed to find a source for those big brake kits. By dumb luck I happened to come across a tip which led me to find a set for a price that I just could not pass up! I managed to get the big brakes, the extra stainless steel lines for the rear brakes, paint my rear calipers and labor all for a good price. PM me if you want to know. A heckuva deal to say the very least!
This was last month. After I got back from the M5 DE I decided to go ahead with getting the big brakes! I contacted the shop and had them order the kit! It didn't take very long for them to arrive and so the date was set for May 7th. I would swing by the shop and watch them install the brakes. It would take about 2 days for them to finish the job since the paint on the rear calipers needed time to fully cure.
The day arrived...
Stopping by the shop, I found this. Big metallic and RED!
Time to put my M5 on jacks. She's all ready to go. One observation that I happened to make was how light the stock wheels were. They're amazingly light yet strong.
As you can clearly see in this picture, the stock calipers only have ONE piston! I don't care what the folks at BMW say, I don't think that a 4000 pound performance sedan deserves such a wimpy setup.
Time to fix that!
This is what it looks like with no rotors.
A note for those who are curious about the stock rotors. It's VERY heavy!
I happened to check out the weight of the new Stoptech's. They're definitely lighter. The stock rotors are one piece, cast iron. The Stoptech rotors are two pieces, aluminum hat with cast iron rotors.
I won't go into details on the actual installation since that was covered extensively in great detail by DZeckhausen.
Such a lovely setup.
The new brake calipers and rotors were all in place and now it was time for them to remove the rear wheels and calipers. I didn't stay for this so no pictures from that.
The car remained in the shop for the next two days since it took them three tries before they managed to get the paint on the rear calipers to match the front calipers. This was finished up with some high heat clear coat! Looks great!
The M5 went to the dealership from the tuner shop to have a special ordered part installed. Apparently when the technician was installing the suspension parts, he happened to "break" a small clip.
The day finally came when everything was all finished. I picked my M5 up from the dealership and I sported the biggest grin ever upon seeing those massive new brakes! Not a bad job they've done! They still needed to break them in.
According to the shop, the proper break-in procedure was to drive at approximately 40-50 mph followed by hard braking down to about 5 mph before releasing the brakes. I was told NOT to hold the brake as the pads would stick to the rotors. Also, the hard braking would have to be done without activating the ABS. I would have to do this 8-10 times. Sounded simple enough I thought. When I tried doing it...making sure nobody was behind me, I found that I kept invoking the ABS!
Those brakes are STRONG! The pedal also definitely felt firmer! I love it already!
So, the next few times I made extra sure not to invoke ABS again. At stoplights I used the e-brake handle to keep the car in place. I was now one very happy man!
The final note was that the true potential of those new brakes would not be felt for another 100 miles after they've been fully broken in. I can't wait! These brakes make the M5 literally stop on a dime!
The best part is that the brake dust have now been almost completely eliminated! There is very little dust coming out now.
A couple more pictures....
Big massive red calipers.
Ready for a drive?
Profile shot.
It was such a beautiful day that I just could not resist taking this last shot.
To conclude things, I'd like to say that those of you looking to improve the M5's stopping capabilities should consider taking a look at Stoptech's!
Stoptech's are on! Impressions! (Writeup)
WOW
Linear Mode
