318i E36 Brake Upgrade

[Bradley1500]

I’m looking to upgrade the brakes on my 318i E36 convertible.

Currently it has 286 x 12mm solid front discs with single piston calipers and 280 x 10mm solid rear discs with single piston calipers.

328 E36’s have 286 x 22mm vented front discs with single piston calipers and 276 x 19mm vented rear discs with single piston calipers.

328 E46’s have 300 x 22mm vented front discs with single piston calipers and 294 x 19mm vented rear discs with single piston calipers.

My plan was to fit the E36 328 calipers, discs and pads to my car then further upgrade the front discs to the 300mm ones from the E46 as I know this is a popular bolt on upgrade.

Would it also be worth fitting the rears from the E46 too?

At the same time I’m planning on fitting braided brake lines and changing the fluid to a performance oriented one.

The brakes will need to fit underneath 17-inch wheels so I can’t go too large on size, I believe the 300mm discs are near the limit for 17-inch wheels?

With these upgrades would I need to change anything else at all, master cylinder or servo maybe?

Any help appreciated!

[Dannbodge]

If you want easy bolt on I'd go for the E36 328 bits, they will fit under any size wheel and are perfectly capable brakes for normal use.

I've got M3 evo ones on my 328i (315mm discs and bigger calipers) and they fit fine under 17" wheels and probably under some 16"s.

If you need to change master cylinder, the M3 one fits and is larger in size.

[Bradley1500]

Thanks for the reply.

So the 328 E36 bits all fit on and don't need any other modifications? Sounds good to me.

[BritishRacinGrin]

Why do you need to upgrade the brakes?

[Dannbodge]

Bradley1500 said:

Thanks for the reply.

So the 328 E36 bits all fit on and don't need any other modifications? Sounds good to me.

I would have thought so.

Might be worth checking part numbers on REALOEM to make sure.

[Bradley1500]

Dannbodge said:

I would have thought so.

Might be worth checking part numbers on REALOEM to make sure.

Thanks. Going to start searching for all the bits I need now.

BritishRacinGrin said:

Why do you need to upgrade the brakes?

Slowly upgrading everything on the car.

The car was the right spec I wanted but lacks any real performance being a 318i. I've already upgraded the suspension and next on my list are the brakes. Once all that is done then I can finally look at getting some more power from it.

[Jabosoc]

E46 330i 325mm front discs bolt straight on with the correct calipers and carriers, they also fit under 17" wheels. That'd be my choice.

As I'm running 16" wheels I went for the 300mm jobbies.

[Bradley1500]

Jabosoc said:

E46 330i 325mm front discs bolt straight on with the correct calipers and carriers, they also fit under 17" wheels. That'd be my choice.

As I'm running 16" wheels I went for the 300mm jobbies.

They bolt straight on? I heard the 330 brakes needed modifications to fit hence looking at the 328i 300mm ones instead.

[Jabosoc]

Bradley1500 said:

They bolt straight on? I heard the 330 brakes needed modifications to fit hence looking at the 328i 300mm ones instead.

They do indeed. A friend of mine uses them on his E36 323i track car.

You just need the calipers, carriers, discs and pads. Some people also upgrade to an M3 master cylinder but my friend has not felt the need to as yet.

[Bradley1500]

Jabosoc said:

They do indeed. A friend of mine uses them on his E36 323i track car.

You just need the calipers, carriers, discs and pads. Some people also upgrade to an M3 master cylinder but my friend has not felt the need to as yet.

Appreciate that, thanks!

Another avenue to investigate.