brake conversion

[79aggie]

Anybody ever try to do a brake conversion upgrade to a wilwood or brembo calipers?

 

[kasbatts]

Ireland Engineering do kits

http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E9-E3-brakes.html

 

[79aggie]

Cool, I just have to find the right caliper, (120-5957-RS) I think, and get a carrier fabricated. Easy peasy.

Thanks

 

[Polariscsl]

From my experience there really isn't much point - if the standard ones are working properly with decent pads and fluid you shouldn't have any issues.

 

[rb1971]

I have the Ireland big brake kit on my car, works very well.

 

[BarryG]

I had the guys at Mesa rebuild mine. they send them out to http://www.centricparts.com/ ... Got them back in less that a week and that gave me time to do some other work on my car.

Without abs on our cars if you get into a spot where you need to mash on them and they lock up and your coupe stays straight. your OK drive on

 

[BarryG]

PS

John's car is Badass fast... so when you go fast you need to stop fast.

 

[kasbatts]

Its been a while since I last used mine, the last time was at a track day about 6 yrs ago just before the rebuild started but they worked very nicely.
I have rebuilt the whole system, dot 5 fluid and new rotors, the pads are performance street aftermarket pads for a Mitsubishi Evo 6,7,8 or something???
these are larger than the E9 pads so the brake shop just cuts and reshapes the pads to fit the e9 caliper, seems to work very nicely, did lots of laps of the track and had no brake fade at any time.

However, the bigger the brakes the better, there is no doubt about it, its all about friction and leverages, the only down side I see to having really impressive brakes on an e9 is the car will probably fold in half if you have to stop it to fast!

 

[Polariscsl]

I would normally be the first to advocate the likes of AP and Alcon having fitted them to other BMW's. I however maintain that the e9 system is unusual in that when functioning perfectly the balance and power of the oem brakes is just about perfect. Add in a set of uprated pads, decent fluid (rbf600) and stainless lines and any issues with fade are removed as well. I would be happy to race on mine without any further mods.
If it were me and I was desperate to improve things for the sake of it - I would be looking at better designed mono block calipers from the tier one brands like AP.

 

[uwulff]

willwood on E9

I have the Ireland big brake kit on my car, works very, very,well.

 

[deQuincey]

From my experience there really isn't much point - if the standard ones are working properly with decent pads and fluid you shouldn't have any issues.

+1
unless you pour a coulpe of hundreds of horses more on the engine bay :twisted:

 

[AceAndrew]

+1
unless you pour a coulpe of hundreds of horses more on the engine bay :twisted:

Yep, really depends on application. I think that would be self evident!

for example, here's a couple more coupes running IE kits that actually need it ....

http://www.iemotorsport.com/gallery/v/car-of-month/July+2012+-+Arthur+Porter+-+E9+CSL/

And Mike's hotrod
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/innovators-building-electric-car-speed

 

[Rek]

Picking up on this old post. I looked at the Willwood kit on Ireland Engineering and they are single circuit. For anyone with this or other single circuit systems, are there any issues on getting rid of the dual circuit? It would simplify the spaghetti under my bonnet at present.

 

[Mike Goble]

I'm a Pastafarian so I will always have spaghetti under my bonnet...

 

[Ohmess]

Picking up on this old post. I looked at the Willwood kit on Ireland Engineering and they are single circuit. For anyone with this or other single circuit systems, are there any issues on getting rid of the dual circuit? It would simplify the spaghetti under my bonnet at present.

Rek dual circuits are a safety feature. If all the fluid leaks out of a single circuit system, you have no brakes. Back when the cars I drove were literally falling apart as I drove them, I wore the rear shoes on my drum brakes down so far that the piston in the slave cylinder extended past the end, causing the loss of all my fluid. Because this was a single circuit system, I lost my brakes. So, of course, after removing my rear wheel and identifying the problem, I drove home shifting the transmission and using the handbrake! Ah, to be young again.

 

[Rek]

Thanks, it's what I thought. Modern BMW's only have a single circuit so obviously confidence in brake parts has increased.

Has anyone used the Willwood brake bias valve in place of the original?

http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/item/wwvalve.html

 

[Belgiumbarry]

yes, i'm interested to what options we have.... as i'm breaking rims in the rally.
I have the big Wilwood brakes but those need 16/17" wheels…. and than you have low profile tires. I use 245/40/17.
Now those are 62,78 cm height , which is the biggest you can put in the spare wheel well.... so that's the max diameter.
Keeping that diameter i see options :
1) I could go 225/50/16 , keep the Wilwood brakes , but doubt that's enough difference to be safe....
2) Better would be 225/55/15 , must change to smaller brakes ( oem or kit ??? ) , and less choice in tires…. i think. Must verify.

 

[Rek]

I also have 245/40/17 on the rears
I have 205/45/17 but had used 225/45/17 prior to this.

I don't race mine so no risk from tyre profile. I also use a sealant and air pump rather than carry a spare.

Are the Wilwood brakes worth the investment?

 

[Belgiumbarry]

i can't compare it to oem as i have Wilwood from the start.... my '70 2800 CS had not vented rotors, a reason we changed .
Can't say i'm happy with them… they came with pads not reaching the outer contour , leaving a border outside and wearing the pads not level … very strange.
Due chimmy i had them machined , now with the right dimension pads , they were good for a time , but chimmy starts again….
This all on not that many miles… just some rallys. Ok, perhaps we use them harder.
I wouldn't buy them again….

 

[Rek]

Thanks for the advice.

Is there an upgrade from BMW parts, either of the same era or later? If there is a thread on this, please refer me to it.