BMW e46 Big Brake Kit Upgrade

[@aanderson-46]

Good to know everything bolts up on an Xi too, usually hard to find specific info on them. Brake booster issue is a bit disappointing… nothing else seems to mention that in my research. If you end up trying out the Porsche conversion that would be super interesting to see, looks like those are shared Xi or not

[@JustAnotherE46]

Don’t act like you don’t have to fix other bs on ur car buddy 😂

[@OLearysBMW]

​@JustAnotherE46 I don't care if my E46 still has the stock expansion tank from 2001, I want big brakes baby!

[@aidenjoo7262]

Great video!!

[@Ravwski]

No need for modyfing brake's dust shields?

[@fernandovieira3974]

thx man. good job

[@IzziedeD]

hey Han, great walk through of the process. i have a Z4 3.0si coupe, and I acquired some porsche 996 calipers that will be going in with m3 csl rotors. one detail i'm trying to iron out is about the parking brake. shoes for the non-M Z4 and E46 appear to share pn's, however M coupe and E46 M3/CSL all share a different brake shoe part number. I saw that your ebrake shoe looked a bit worn, but was wondering if you could comment on how well the non-M E46 ebrake is functioning with the M3 rotor?

[@HansGarage]

I did have to adjust a little bit, make it bit more wider with the shoes and it bites just as well as they did

[@IzziedeD]

@@HansGarage Han, thanks for the insight. That gives me confidence that i'll be able to make it work as well. One thing i noticed is that aside from the shoe pn's being different between M and non-M, most of the rest of the hardware is shared. ie: the barrel adjuster, and the lever mechanisms, etc. I might try fitting some M shoes. I think the deciding factor would be whether the little rectangular lug cast into the trailing arm, that the shoes set on, is the same between M and non-M.

[@S54VR6]

Did you use the e46 rear brake sensor or did you have to use a 135 sensor?

[@HansGarage]

I used e46 brake sensor fits right on to the new brake pads

[@YNGLI]

I like big brakes and I cannot lie

[@ranermita3846]

hello han great video! where did you get the used bmw 6 pistons ? thank you

[@HansGarage]

Ebay

[@ranermita3846]

Thank you

[@erikvondieman7328]

Brass fittings are not recommended for temperatures exceeding 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

[@wladimirwerz7393]

Is it very tight on the rear with the wheels to the caliper?

[@HansGarage]

Not at all! Looks amazing though for sure

[@BMWarrior1]

how is the brake pedal ' bite' after this conversion please Han - any feedback would be great

[@HansGarage]

I would not do this project if I were you

[@BMWarrior1]

@@HansGarage Really? the original brakes were better in the end overall? Thats disappointing

[@HansGarage]

@BMWarrior1 yeap

[@oktanskioktan9372]

The biggest cost of Big brakes for my 330Ci'04 is changin' 2 sets of wheels from 17 to 18inch... 8x Michelins plus rims... If I was already on 18s I will do BbK from 335i 😂

[@anonypersona3189]

Since you switched to fixed calipers, why not go with floating rotors? Also, without the retaining screw for the rear rotors, will taking off the rear wheels risk also taking off the rotor with them? I've had to apply forceful kicks to get the wheels off on the side of the road before and I'd think in that case the rotors would come loose as well, so wouldn't a stud conversion be better?

[@HansGarage]

I've looked at floating rotors, and they look so beautiful. Definitely the next round!

[@anonypersona3189]

@@HansGarage Yeah, I was thinking from an engineering standpoint. With fixed calipers - the braking pads must be perfectly aligned with the rotors - which in theory is never the case (manufacturing tolerance stacking, wear, etc...). Floating calipers (stock E46) conform to the fixed rotors so perfect alignment doesn't matter, but fixed calipers (135i) require perfection. This is where floating rotors come into play - they can conform to the brake pad alignment on the fixed calipers. Stock 135i brake rotors are floating - and this is the reason why. When you used fixed rotors with fixed calipers (as you did), you will more than likely get uneven brake pad wear and less even braking... It wouldn't be taking advantage of the "upgrade" and may even be more of a downgrade. One of the components (caliper or rotor) should be "floating" so the system can self-calibrate and align. Either the brake pads can align to the rotors, or the rotor can align to the brake pads. I looked at a lot of other DIY's and I haven't found one that actually mentions this fact. Pretty surprising. Another consideration in doing this upgrade is the spare wheel, if you have a donut (like I do), it will no longer fit onto the front and clear the caliper, and you may need to instead carry a full size wheel (increase in weight / cost).

[@HansGarage]

@AnonyPersona I honestly wanted to throw this kit away. Not just because of the bleeder screw but after installing the kit, with more pistons, the brake booster can't handle and the pedal travel is way worse... So besides all the other components, I wanted to get this pedal travel issue first. Turns out there's a direct replacement with minor fabrication with porsche booster, which I bought recently. I want to get rid of this issue first and have the firm brake feeling back. Once I sort this out, I'm planning on finding a rwd e46 to transfer everything over and go on the track. I'll mention everything in that video. As for rear rotors, idk if you have this car or not but the wheel actually sit on the hub and that's why I cleaned the hub and put some anti seize to prevent from getting a wheel stuck on the hub. I do have a spare wheel instead of a donut! Man I didn't even think about having a flat and getting stuck on the road!

[@HansGarage]

@AnonyPersona BTW, not all e82 135i came with floating rotors. They did have fixed rotors with the same brake kit.

[@anonypersona3189]

@@HansGarage definitely make a follow up video on the brake booster retrofit. That's interesting. I didn't see any DIY's that mentioned that either.

[@sauber8623]

Great video! Will this set fit on e46 330cd with OEM M3 floating rotors front and rear?

[@HansGarage]

For the rear they will but you need 330cd rotors in the front

[@sauber8623]

@@HansGarage any option to stay on euro E46 M3 floating rotors front and rear?

[@HansGarage]

@sauber8623 with these brakes not sure…

[@sauber8623]

@@HansGarage Fronts 330d are 325x25 and M3 are 325x28 so quite silimar....

[@graydencornwell3845]

Do the brakes fit behind the e46 m rims?

[@HansGarage]

no idea. they do fit behind my BBS though

[@graydencornwell3845]

@@HansGarage what size is your wheels

[@HansGarage]

@graydencornwell3845 17x7.5 35mm offset

[@S54VR6]

I did this full swap on my m3 and the rear brake pad doesn't fully seat on the face of the rotor. have you seen this problem before? is there different size rear rotors ?

[@HansGarage]

No mine actually sits flush. And i had to use m3 rotor so yours should be flush as well

[@S54VR6]

@@HansGarage I think the non-M trialing arms are slightly different where the caliper mounting holes are engineered. the m3 caliper mounting holes protrude further out which explains why the pad doesn't fully seat. so rear 135 calipers are not quite compatible unless you're okay with not having the pads have a 100% contact patch.

[@elifranco19]

how do the brakes feel after switching to the 135i big brakes? is the brake pedal more stifer, loose or feel the same?

[@HansGarage]

I wouldnt recommend doing this unless you upgrade the brake booster. Better pads and tires will be better with stock set up.

[@mtauta]

@@HansGaragedo you have a video on how to upgrade brake booster? Which brake booster to upgrade to? Is it bolt on? Not much information on forums

[@HansGarage]

@erikask6156 i do not. Im hearing porsche booster conversion is the way to go but also not much info i could find. I know forsure with the stick booster its not enough for these bbk upgrade

[@Algis95]

@@HansGarage Why ? Is the pedal feel mushy and soft after installing these calipers ? Stock e46 brakes has a pretty firm/hard pedal feel.

[@cngzsn]

👍

[@billyk3632]

Mais c est magnifique Donc je peux faire pareil avec ma z4 e85 2.5? Can i do the same with e85 z4 2004? Thank you very much

[@HansGarage]

I feel like it should but can't say it does for sure

[@wladimirwerz7393]

No you can´t, because you need rear trailing arm from 330i. In front the 4-piston caliper from M140i fits Plug & Play with M3/M3 CSL rotor.

[@billyk3632]

@@wladimirwerz7393 thank you

[@cesarburnout2145]

​@@wladimirwerz7393Hi!!! It sounds fun to do it on a weekend! What year do the m3 rotors? If you have more advice about this modification it would be very useful!!! mine is z4 e85 2003

[@wladimirwerz7393]

325x28 or 345x28 from M3 or M3 e46 CSL is needed.

[@darrenboston342]

That’s not a BBK…. I’ve put the F82 M4 discs & callipers on my E46 M3. I’ve developed a fitting kit that allow the F82 M4 brakes to go straight on, NO machining of the caliper at all. Done both my 46 M3’s👌

[@HansGarage]

Big brake kit. With brackets from seems legit garage. Also no machining to the calipers. What did you do to develop a fitting kit?

[@darrenboston342]

@@HansGarage PM & I’ll so what I’ve done!!👌