StopTech E46 M3 kit used in big brake test - $2,000 off!

[DZeckhausen]

A StopTech 4-wheel brake kit was used in a brake evaluation test and has less then 200 miles on it. It's in new condition, just barely bedded in, and will be supported fully, as if it was a brand new kit. It is being sold for $2,000 off the list price of $4,995. If you have an E46 M3 and were thinking about a big brake kit, this may be a good opportunity for you. Black calipers and slotted rotors. Contact me for more details. I don't expect this to be around very long.





First person to email or call gets dibbs.

[DZeckhausen]

Sold! It's shipping today to a lucky E46 M3 owner (and M5 owner) who was quick with his keyboard.

First responder from the board was from Switzerland with an E46 M3 CSL, but StopTech wouldn't let me send it there for a variety of reasons. At least we had fun chatting on the phone and now I have a much better appreciation for the CSL. I think we need to hear some stories from the owner!

As it turns out, the brakes are on the way to Tennessee to the second responder. Sorry to all the other folks who wanted these. I'll keep you posted if any new deals come up.

[DZeckhausen]

In case anyone hadn't already figured it out - these brakes were being used by Steve Dinan as an evaluation set. The original plan was for Dinan to offer a rebranded StopTech kit with custom caliper piston sizing for the M3 and M5. At the last minute, Dinan switched to rebranding the Brembo GT kits and merely swapping the Hawk HPS pads for some, as yet unknown, Ferodo pads.

In response to Dinan's market entry, StopTech authorized me to run a $1,000 off sale on the E39 M5 kits until Thanksgiving. I purchased their entire inventory and have sets available with red or black calipers. Silver calipers may be ordered between now and Thanksgiving at the same discount, but the shipping date will be several weeks off due to the custom paint. Red or black kits are available for same-day shipping from Zeckhausen Racing. See: Special sale on StopTech 4-Wheel Big Brake Kits - $1,000 discount! for more details.

[howler]

Have you inspected the new Dinan/Brembo brake system to compare to the stock Brembo package or are your comments strictly conjecture?
If not, how do you know that Dinan does not use a custom caliper piston?

Originally Posted by DZeckhausen

In case anyone hadn't already figured it out - these brakes were being used by Steve Dinan as an evaluation set. The original plan was for Dinan to offer a rebranded StopTech kit with custom caliper piston sizing for the M3 and M5. At the last minute, Dinan switched to rebranding the Brembo GT kits and merely swapping the Hawk HPS pads for some, as yet unknown, Ferodo pads.

In response to Dinan's market entry, StopTech authorized me to run a $1,000 off sale on the E39 M5 kits until Thanksgiving. I purchased their entire inventory and have sets available with red or black calipers. Silver calipers may be ordered between now and Thanksgiving at the same discount, but the shipping date will be several weeks off due to the custom paint. Red or black kits are available for same-day shipping from Zeckhausen Racing. See: Special sale on StopTech 4-Wheel Big Brake Kits - $1,000 discount! for more details.

[DZeckhausen]

Originally Posted by howler

Have you inspected the new Dinan/Brembo brake system to compare to the stock Brembo package or are your comments strictly conjecture?
If not, how do you know that Dinan does not use a custom caliper piston?

Dinan and Brembo sources have confirmed the Dinan brakes are merely rebadged Brembo Gran Turismo brakes with different pads than the standard Hawk HPS. So my comments are not based on physical inspection by me, but on information provided by others.

[howler]

I spoke to Eric at Dinan yesterday after you posted this note concerning the Dinan brake package.
He confirmed that the only modification to the standard Brembo system is they changed the pads and went with slotted rotors.
Since Dinan discounted the package 20% (anniversary sale) and they warranty thier products as BMW does, I am still happy I purchased the Dinan F/R brake package.
Maybe not an extensively modified system, but a good price on a proven system.

Originally Posted by DZeckhausen

Dinan and Brembo sources have confirmed the Dinan brakes are merely rebadged Brembo Gran Turismo brakes with different pads than the standard Hawk HPS. So my comments are not based on physical inspection by me, but on information provided by others.

[DZeckhausen]

Originally Posted by howler

I spoke to Eric at Dinan yesterday after you posted this note concerning the Dinan brake package.
He confirmed that the only modification to the standard Brembo system is they changed the pads and went with slotted rotors.
Since Dinan discounted the package 20% (anniversary sale) and they warranty thier products as BMW does, I am still happy I purchased the Dinan F/R brake package.
Maybe not an extensively modified system, but a good price on a proven system.

I agree absolutely. I sell that system too (the Brembo branded one). In fact, it's the system I have on my own car, but with different pads. I went with Pagid RS421 Blue instead of the Hawk HPS to firm up the pedal. I also went with slotted rotors instead of drilled.

If you want to hang on to your stock M5 wheels, it's the only option. 3mm spacers front and rear and you're good to go. The StopTech 4-wheel kit simply does not fit under the stock rear wheels. It fits the front wheels with no spacers, but that doesn't help if you're going for the 4-wheel kit.

So neither kit is a slam dunk. You need to make two columns and decide how important each category is to your decision.

StopTech wins on price. Normally it is $4995 and Dinan/Brembo is $6090. With my sale, StopTech is $3995. Dinan was 20% off during their terrific anniversary sale as long as they installed it for you. Their 50 units of expensive labor may offset some of your savings.

Brembo wins on wheel fitment for the 4-wheel kit. With 3mm spacers all around it will fit factory M5 wheels.

StopTech wins on wheel fitment for the front-only kit. No spacers required at all.

Balance is a tie for the 4-wheel kits. For the 2-wheel kit, StopTech wins since the caliper pistons are smaller to balance the stock rear brakes.

Pedal feel is StopTech. Both the front-only and the 4-wheel StopTech kits give better pedal feel than the Brembo kit. Use of a more aggressive pad (such as Pagid RS421) will improve the Brembo pedal feel, but it's still much softer than the StopTech.

Aesthetics is controversial. Some folks like the Brembo logo better than the StopTech logo. Some folks don't like that the Brembo rear calipers and rotors are smaller than the front whereas the StopTech calipers and rotors are the same size front and rear. (Rear pistons are smaller.)

Installation is a tie. Neither kit is easier or harder to install. StopTech instructions are better, since they are specific to the car. But if a professional installer is doing the job, he/she won't read instructions! There is a little extra wire splicing and soldering on the Brembo kit when you defeat the pad wear sensors. Or you can just coil them up and tie-wrap them out of the way. The stock pad wear sensors plug right into the pads on the StopTech brakes, retaining the dash warning for low pads.

Consumables the advantage goes to StopTech. I wouldn't give this category much weight if the car is only street driven, as your rotors should last a very long time. But for track driven cars, a spare set of rotors, hats, and float hardware (pre-assembled) is $899 from StopTech and nearly $2,000 from Brembo. Street pads for the StopTech are $73/set and are the same front and rear. For Brembo, street pads are $119 in front (or $259 if you choose the Pagid Blue RS421 pads I have on mine!) and $122 in back. A wide variety of track pads are available for both, although it gets a bit more challenging to find matched front and rear track pads for the Brembo, since the pad shapes are different.

[howler]

Dave:
Thank you for the excellent detailed information concerning the BRembos and Stop Tech brake systems.
I have two questions though:
1. Can you use the pad wear sensors with the Brembo system? The Dinan site notes "sensor provision". I guess that would still light up the dash.
2. Have you had any experience with the Ferodo pads?

I ordered the Dinan package back in early October (20% savings on all Dinan mods.) and plan to have it installed with the Dinan headers, stacks, throttle bodies in mid November when the headers come in, so I will give you my opinion concerning the pedal feel then.
Again, thank you for your professional opinion concerning both systems.
Regards,
Bob

Originally Posted by DZeckhausen

I agree absolutely. I sell that system too (the Brembo branded one). In fact, it's the system I have on my own car, but with different pads. I went with Pagid RS421 Blue instead of the Hawk HPS to firm up the pedal. I also went with slotted rotors instead of drilled.

If you want to hang on to your stock M5 wheels, it's the only option. 3mm spacers front and rear and you're good to go. The StopTech 4-wheel kit simply does not fit under the stock rear wheels. It fits the front wheels with no spacers, but that doesn't help if you're going for the 4-wheel kit.

So neither kit is a slam dunk. You need to make two columns and decide how important each category is to your decision.

StopTech wins on price. Normally it is $4995 and Dinan/Brembo is $6090. With my sale, StopTech is $3995. Dinan was 20% off during their terrific anniversary sale as long as they installed it for you. Their 50 units of expensive labor may offset some of your savings.

Brembo wins on wheel fitment for the 4-wheel kit. With 3mm spacers all around it will fit factory M5 wheels.

StopTech wins on wheel fitment for the front-only kit. No spacers required at all.

Balance is a tie for the 4-wheel kits. For the 2-wheel kit, StopTech wins since the caliper pistons are smaller to balance the stock rear brakes.

Pedal feel is StopTech. Both the front-only and the 4-wheel StopTech kits give better pedal feel than the Brembo kit. Use of a more aggressive pad (such as Pagid RS421) will improve the Brembo pedal feel, but it's still much softer than the StopTech.

Aesthetics is controversial. Some folks like the Brembo logo better than the StopTech logo. Some folks don't like that the Brembo rear calipers and rotors are smaller than the front whereas the StopTech calipers and rotors are the same size front and rear. (Rear pistons are smaller.)

Installation is a tie. Neither kit is easier or harder to install. StopTech instructions are better, since they are specific to the car. But if a professional installer is doing the job, he/she won't read instructions! There is a little extra wire splicing and soldering on the Brembo kit when you defeat the pad wear sensors. Or you can just coil them up and tie-wrap them out of the way. The stock pad wear sensors plug right into the pads on the StopTech brakes, retaining the dash warning for low pads.

Consumables the advantage goes to StopTech. I wouldn't give this category much weight if the car is only street driven, as your rotors should last a very long time. But for track driven cars, a spare set of rotors, hats, and float hardware (pre-assembled) is $899 from StopTech and nearly $2,000 from Brembo. Street pads for the StopTech are $73/set and are the same front and rear. For Brembo, street pads are $119 in front (or $259 if you choose the Pagid Blue RS421 pads I have on mine!) and $122 in back. A wide variety of track pads are available for both, although it gets a bit more challenging to find matched front and rear track pads for the Brembo, since the pad shapes are different.

[DZeckhausen]

Originally Posted by howler

I have two questions though:
1. Can you use the pad wear sensors with the Brembo system? The Dinan site notes "sensor provision". I guess that would still light up the dash.

The Brembo brakes have no provision for using the stock BMW pad wear sensors. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are the pads for the StopTech and Brembo/Dinan brakes:



As you can see, the pad shape chosen by StopTech for the ST40 caliper has a cutout at the top of the backing plate and in the pad material to allow the sensor to plug right in. The two different pad shapes used by Brembo for their 4-wheel kit have no such cutout. I'm not sure what Dinan means by "Sensor provision" so we'll just have to wait and see. Perhaps they managed to get some Ferodo pads made up with sensor cutouts. If that's the case, then you'll need to be sure you only get replacement pads from Dinan and it could complicate the use of race pads.

FYI, the pads shown above are Hawk HT10, Performance Friction 97, and Axxis XBG respectively.

2. Have you had any experience with the Ferodo pads?

That depends on which pads they picked. I have Ferodo DS2500 on my rear Brembos now.