Serie 3 brake Pads

[William Mc Fly]

Hello,

I'm gonna need to change my front brake pads soon and sadly, BMW maintenance in my country is absolutely crazy regarding to prices so i was thinking in buying this part somewhere else. This is the first time I will make this change as this is my first bmw so I went to some part pages and with my vin number found some schematics about the specific model of my pads. What got me confuse is that there is two different schematics of brake pads for front and for back brakes. Not really sure is these are different model of pads or each tire use 4 pads :/.

One schematic show part number 34 11 6 850 568 and the other one show part number 34 11 6 878 876 so I don´t know if i have to buy one of each one for each tire o just one. Kinda newbee in cars also.

Thank you for your time.

Edited by William Mc Fly on Thursday 10th January 19:31

[E-bmw]

Brake pads will be different front and rear so you will need two sets of pads.

Pads are normally sold in an "axle set" which should be 4 pads of one type for the front as one set & 4 pads of another type for the rear as the other set.

[William Mc Fly]

Yes, I understand that pads for front and rear are different but, for example, in the picture attached above, those two schematics are for front brakes. And those schematics shows different kind of pads for front brakes (marked at 1 in pictures).

[Pica-Pica]

Usually a site like that will ask you to put in your vehicle type in detail, or your VIN. That should point to the correct brake pads. Also, the site will describe the disc diameter, see which disc matches your disc diameter. Also, which calipers looks like yours?

[William Mc Fly]

Pica-Pica said:

Usually a site like that will ask you to put in your vehicle type in detail, or your VIN. That should point to the correct brake pads. Also, the site will describe the disc diameter, see which disc matches your disc diameter. Also, which calipers looks like yours?

I did that. Results showed in picture above. Two different schematics. I will check the caliper, maybe there is two different calipers for that same vin? :/

[kevd]

It will depend on the type of caliper fitted to the vehicle. The diagram on the left is showing the M Sport. 4 pot brake set up which is fitted as an option to M Sport cars (usually Blue calipers) I think it will need 19" wheels if you have this option. I believe the drawing on the right is showing the standard single piston setup used also on M Sport cars without the brake upgrade.

[Pica-Pica]

kevd said:

It will depend on the type of caliper fitted to the vehicle. The diagram on the left is showing the M Sport. 4 pot brake set up which is fitted as an option to M Sport cars (usually Blue calipers) I think it will need 19" wheels if you have this option. I believe the drawing on the right is showing the standard single piston setup used also on M Sport cars without the brake upgrade.

19” wheels come as standard with the M sport disc and calipers set up, but it can take 18” as the minimum size.

[William Mc Fly]

My car is the standard serie 3 no M package and i think my caliper is just more like the right one. It doesn't have a particular color is just grey. Kinda weird that the VIN shows to options as is confusing to buy spare parts.