Brembo brake upgrade! - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

John B · 26th March 2003, 01:17

Last year I took my '01 M5 to a track event at Limerock and found the brakes to be by far the weak point on the car. I had already done the Dinan stage III suspension upgrade which had transformed the car from understeer to very neutral with a quicker turn-in. The brakes were just not up to the task of a track day, they faded quickly and I had to back up my braking points significantly. Prior to doing the same event this year I wanted to improve on this weak spot. I looked in to better pads and fluid and opening up the air ducts in the front but ended up going with a full Brembo 4 wheel 14" upgrade and also open up the ducts in the front. WOW!! what a difference! I was able to brake about 100 feet later but more importantly experienced zero fade all day!
I am extremely happy with this upgrade and highly recommend it to anyone in the same situation.

While the brakes were being done I also added a B&M shift kit. likewise a huge improvement. The shifting is now very positive with a CLICK-CLICK feel. There is a little more gear noise comming through the harder bushings vs the stock rubber ones but I actually like it and the feel is greatly improved. I think my car is now about as good as a 4,000 pound sedan can get for a track day. I ran it hard all day and it did not skip a beat.

I am very satisfied with the following upgrades and highly recommend them.

Dinan Stage III suspension
Dinan Chip (to eliminate speed governor)
Dinan Exhaust (lighter and sounds great, + 6HP on Dyno)
Brembo 4 wheel brake upgrade
B&M shift kit.

TCM · 26th March 2003, 02:08

Wow, not only are you the first person on the board to do the four wheel Brembo upgrade, but you are also the first person to install the B&M ssk!! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the two mods.

Reflex55 · 26th March 2003, 03:32

Glad to hear that. Rear Brembos are one of things on my list.

ELEVENS · 26th March 2003, 04:45

VERY impressive! Where did you buy them? Any pics!?

-Bill

26th March 2003, 08:23

Very nice! What type of pads were used on the track with the 4-wheel brembo brakes?

Cheers.

kwalls · 27th March 2003, 11:28

Great news can't wait to see some pics

Ken

cidair · 27th March 2003, 23:47

Good news for me.

I´m just about to install a Brembo kit on my car.

Is there a big difference if you upgrade just front, compared to a 4 wheel kit?

MIB · 28th March 2003, 14:48

Quote:

Originally posted by cidair
Good news for me.

I´m just about to install a Brembo kit on my car.

Is there a big difference if you upgrade just front, compared to a 4 wheel kit?

If the Front upgrade is not balanced, than yes there is a difference. I believe Brembo's are front Biased, so there would be an improvement by adding the rears.

Stoptechs are balanced , therefore the rears are mainly for show.

Feel free to step in any time Dave Z.

DZeckhausen · 29th March 2003, 04:50

Quote:

Originally posted by MIB
If the Front upgrade is not balanced, than yes there is a difference. I believe Brembo's are front Biased, so there would be an improvement by adding the rears.

Stoptechs are balanced , therefore the rears are mainly for show.

Feel free to step in any time Dave Z.

You've done a fine job. I can feel free to take off for a few days, knowing the message board is in good hands!

I would add that pedal travel will be slightly longer with the Brembo brakes because they use bigger caliper pistons. E39 pedal travel with Brembo fronts is slightly less than, but still close to stock. StopTech pedal travel is noticably shorter than stock.

The StopTech 4-wheel kit uses front calipers with bigger pistons than their two wheel kit, yet still smaller than the Brembo. So pedal travel for StopTech's 4-wheel kit will be in between the StopTech front and Brembo front kits.

Both StopTech and Brembo rear caliper pistons are almost identical. Stoptech is 28mm x 4. Brembo is 28mm x 2, 30mm x 2.

One final note: the StopTech 4-wheel kit fits under stock wheels front and rear. The Brembo requires 5mm spacers in front, but no spacers in the rear.

DZeckhausen · 29th March 2003, 04:58

One more thing. The Brembo M5 rear kits are already in general availability and are shipping now. The StopTech 4-wheel M5 kits are in limited availability until April 14, at which point they can ship as many orders as I can sell. I have a couple special kits being installed during the week of the 7th, but additional orders won't be shipped until the 14th.

The Z8 4-wheel kits are shipping now.