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Re: Best thing is to fix the imbalance... (archive)
[ Follow Ups ] [ M5 (E28) Message Board ] [ Msg. Board FAQ ]
Posted by Rod on July 20, 2001 at 10:45:55:

In Reply to: Re: Best thing is to fix the imbalance... posted by Mark W on July 19, 2001 at 23:57:49:


Good points James. Rundel, if you are going to upgrade your front brakes look at the 850i front brakes. They are the best BMW factory upgrades out these for the E28s. Also you can sell your M5 front calipers to the other E28 guys on the E28 board. You might even come out ahead.

Mark W
'85 M535i
'88 535is

The reason the fronts warp is because they are doing all the work. The E28 M5 brakes are poorly balanced. Get 1990+ E32 (750 or 740) rear calipers, also the same as E34 540i/M5 rears. Then get E34 540i/M5 vented rear rotors. Or you can use any other E34 rear calipers and rotors (525i, 530i, 535i), but they are not vented. Vented rears would only be necessary if you fly down mountain roads or track your car.

I put Hawk HP Plus pads on the front of my M5, and they shocked me at how good the car brakes now with just the front pad upgrade (rear didn't go--broken bleeder nipple, long story). I have 540i rear calipers and rotors to install now, and hopefully I can get them done this weekend.

James
james_535@yahoo.com
88 M3
88 M5


I would caution that the 850i came with 2 different types of calipers. Early years have a single piston and later years came with the same Brembo 4 piston caliper as the 840. Also there is a 345x32mm rotor and 4 piston caliper that comes on the Euro 850Csi and 95 M5 that is much better than the 840/850 Brembo 324x30mm rotor and 4 piston calipers. Also if you don't upgrade the rears to M5/540 rotors and calipers you will be omitting the biggest upgrade possible.

I suggest you upgrade the rear first. From there you will find the brakes to be more than adequate.

Again, the M5/M6 300x30mm rotor is the same design as the E-34, M5 315x28mm rotor. The E-34 M5 does not have a problem with warping rotors. I am sure it is because the, 300x20mm rotor and larger caliper piston, rear brakes makes the brake bias more toward the rear by about 5%. Also do not install the most aggressive front brake pad material you can find in the front. That will also bias the brakes toward the front increasing the tendency to warp front rotors regardless of the series BMW thay are from. For the street I used the OE M5/M6 front pads and E-34 M5 rear pads and the performance was excellent!!!
Rod...



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