F31 sport brake upgrades
Discussion
Afternoon all,
I have a 2017 BMW F31 estate in the sport trim level, since buying it a year ago i have never been that impressed with the braking performance and always put it down to being a larger car. Again with it being an estate it is always very easy to add even more weight to it make the braking even worse. The sport comes with 2 pot calipers front and rear. The pads and disk are due replacement very shortly, my three options are:
Replace with like for like and hope that the performance just improves. Currently use a BMW independent garage that will only use BMW parts , would be reasonably cheap.
Buy the aftermarket disk and pads that will fit - again hope that the performance just improves. Would not be sure on what to get either and would probably need to go to a smaller independent garage to get fitted. Would still be reasonably cheap.
Buy an Msport set up with its large disk, pads and 4 pot calipers. My BMW independent garage can do this for me. I know it would end up being not that cost effective option but if i already need to replace the disk and pads then i would save money that way.
Has anyone got any advice on the options including if your 3 series is already a Msport. The cars a 2.0i engine and i am defiantly not treating it a sport car, i just do a fair bit of mileage including motorways. Is there a cheaper/better valve option that I'm missing? I know the cheaper option would of been to change the car to an Msport but at the time it was a deal that was getting it.
I have a 2017 BMW F31 estate in the sport trim level, since buying it a year ago i have never been that impressed with the braking performance and always put it down to being a larger car. Again with it being an estate it is always very easy to add even more weight to it make the braking even worse. The sport comes with 2 pot calipers front and rear. The pads and disk are due replacement very shortly, my three options are:
Replace with like for like and hope that the performance just improves. Currently use a BMW independent garage that will only use BMW parts , would be reasonably cheap.
Buy the aftermarket disk and pads that will fit - again hope that the performance just improves. Would not be sure on what to get either and would probably need to go to a smaller independent garage to get fitted. Would still be reasonably cheap.
Buy an Msport set up with its large disk, pads and 4 pot calipers. My BMW independent garage can do this for me. I know it would end up being not that cost effective option but if i already need to replace the disk and pads then i would save money that way.
Has anyone got any advice on the options including if your 3 series is already a Msport. The cars a 2.0i engine and i am defiantly not treating it a sport car, i just do a fair bit of mileage including motorways. Is there a cheaper/better valve option that I'm missing? I know the cheaper option would of been to change the car to an Msport but at the time it was a deal that was getting it.
mattvanders said:
Afternoon all,
I have a 2017 BMW F31 estate in the sport trim level, since buying it a year ago i have never been that impressed with the braking performance and always put it down to being a larger car. Again with it being an estate it is always very easy to add even more weight to it make the braking even worse. The sport comes with 2 pot calipers front and rear. The pads and disk are due replacement very shortly, my three options are:
Replace with like for like and hope that the performance just improves. Currently use a BMW independent garage that will only use BMW parts , would be reasonably cheap.
Buy the aftermarket disk and pads that will fit - again hope that the performance just improves. Would not be sure on what to get either and would probably need to go to a smaller independent garage to get fitted. Would still be reasonably cheap.
Buy an Msport set up with its large disk, pads and 4 pot calipers. My BMW independent garage can do this for me. I know it would end up being not that cost effective option but if i already need to replace the disk and pads then i would save money that way.
Has anyone got any advice on the options including if your 3 series is already a Msport. The cars a 2.0i engine and i am defiantly not treating it a sport car, i just do a fair bit of mileage including motorways. Is there a cheaper/better valve option that I'm missing? I know the cheaper option would of been to change the car to an Msport but at the time it was a deal that was getting it.
Our F31 has the blue Brembo 370/345mm brakes and they are superb I have to admit - I run OE M Performance discs (dimpled/slotted) and OE pads all round with HEL braided lines and Motul RBF600 fluidI have a 2017 BMW F31 estate in the sport trim level, since buying it a year ago i have never been that impressed with the braking performance and always put it down to being a larger car. Again with it being an estate it is always very easy to add even more weight to it make the braking even worse. The sport comes with 2 pot calipers front and rear. The pads and disk are due replacement very shortly, my three options are:
Replace with like for like and hope that the performance just improves. Currently use a BMW independent garage that will only use BMW parts , would be reasonably cheap.
Buy the aftermarket disk and pads that will fit - again hope that the performance just improves. Would not be sure on what to get either and would probably need to go to a smaller independent garage to get fitted. Would still be reasonably cheap.
Buy an Msport set up with its large disk, pads and 4 pot calipers. My BMW independent garage can do this for me. I know it would end up being not that cost effective option but if i already need to replace the disk and pads then i would save money that way.
Has anyone got any advice on the options including if your 3 series is already a Msport. The cars a 2.0i engine and i am defiantly not treating it a sport car, i just do a fair bit of mileage including motorways. Is there a cheaper/better valve option that I'm missing? I know the cheaper option would of been to change the car to an Msport but at the time it was a deal that was getting it.
All in; excellent brakes
If you've the budget for them; go for them, they are plug n play but ideally you get the car coded to know that it has them fitted, so the brake response is better
But once you've got the calipers and ideally braided lines - you've got discs and pads to think about too, and they're 2 piece discs all round (not cheap); with pads on top - so ATE discs / Brembo discs via Autodoc you'd be looking at c£400 for the fronts, c£300 for the rears; c£200 for pads on top...
It adds up very quickly!
If you do mainly motorway mileage and you don't hoon the car; personally I'd go for ATE discs, ATE ceramic pads via Autodoc, get HEL braided lines and do a full fluid flush & refill and that will improve your braking... The ATE ceramic pads are superb; excellent bite from cold and hardly any dust. Plus ATE are OE as well
I would just refresh the stock stuff tbh.
The M Sport brakes aren't THAT much more powerful until you stamp on them at high speeds. Around town they don't feel too dissimilar on the pedal due to fighting the torque converter anyway.
You will also need the bigger Master Cylinder from the F80 to go with them (standard fitment on factory equipped M sport cars) otherwise you're not getting the full benefit of them.
The M Sport brakes aren't THAT much more powerful until you stamp on them at high speeds. Around town they don't feel too dissimilar on the pedal due to fighting the torque converter anyway.
You will also need the bigger Master Cylinder from the F80 to go with them (standard fitment on factory equipped M sport cars) otherwise you're not getting the full benefit of them.
Cheddarbang said:
I would just refresh the stock stuff tbh.
The M Sport brakes aren't THAT much more powerful until you stamp on them at high speeds. Around town they don't feel too dissimilar on the pedal due to fighting the torque converter anyway.
You will also need the bigger Master Cylinder from the F80 to go with them (standard fitment on factory equipped M sport cars) otherwise you're not getting the full benefit of them.
FYI the F8x MC is only on LCI F3x cars and even then it's not needed - there's little to no difference between the pre-LCI and LCI MC and the brake upgrade will work with both perfectly fine; it's the coding that makes the most difference; in adding 2NH so it enhances the brakes response; but that's itThe M Sport brakes aren't THAT much more powerful until you stamp on them at high speeds. Around town they don't feel too dissimilar on the pedal due to fighting the torque converter anyway.
You will also need the bigger Master Cylinder from the F80 to go with them (standard fitment on factory equipped M sport cars) otherwise you're not getting the full benefit of them.
And I agree; better discs & pads on the current set up with refreshed fluid and lines will be best bang for buck
Not sure what brakes you've got as I don't recall a 2-pot option for the fronts (if you have the last 7 digits of your VIN to hand you can use RealOEM to see what was fitted and available options).
I don't know whether that's just coding, or different master cylinder, but the initial response is much quicker on the 335d and they don't fade on hard hoons where the 340mm option started to feel a bit vague after 30 mins of
But that usage would be considered abnormal, so the 340mm/4-pot upgrade would be plenty for a 320 (but I don't think it's a simple swap as there's probably different backing plates and mountings for front & rear, and different hub size/handbrake for the rears). Not what I'd call a cheap option though.
Maybe a sportier pad, new discs and a brake fluid service would be the cheaper/simpler first step?
- standard for the 316-330 models was large single-pot on front & rear with 300x23mm disc front & 300x20mm rear
- 2NH option for the 316-330 models was a 4-pot front / 2-pot rear with 340x30mm / 345x24mm discs
- standard for the 335/340 models was 4-pot front / 2-pot rear with 340x30mm disc front & 330x20mm rear
- 2NH option for the 335/340 models was 4-pot front / 2-pot rear with 370x30mm / 345x24mm discs
I don't know whether that's just coding, or different master cylinder, but the initial response is much quicker on the 335d and they don't fade on hard hoons where the 340mm option started to feel a bit vague after 30 mins of
But that usage would be considered abnormal, so the 340mm/4-pot upgrade would be plenty for a 320 (but I don't think it's a simple swap as there's probably different backing plates and mountings for front & rear, and different hub size/handbrake for the rears). Not what I'd call a cheap option though.
Maybe a sportier pad, new discs and a brake fluid service would be the cheaper/simpler first step?
I have double checked on that Realoem website, others are correct with the front brakes being 4 pots with part code 34116799465 and 66 for left and right. Rears are 2 pots.
I have had brake fluid changed on Wednesday and they do already feel better. I might try just replacing oem with oem parts and see if that was good enough
I have had brake fluid changed on Wednesday and they do already feel better. I might try just replacing oem with oem parts and see if that was good enough
One thing I found is that using organic material brake pads instead of ceramic gives better feel - strangely the rear pads made a huge difference to initial bite.
Can't comment on any change in fade characteristics because I haven't been to Milton Keynes recently but I'm guessing there's a sizeable trade off? Other than wearing quicker obviously.
Either way for a road car I'm enjoying organic pad bite and feel 🤷♂️
Can't comment on any change in fade characteristics because I haven't been to Milton Keynes recently but I'm guessing there's a sizeable trade off? Other than wearing quicker obviously.
Either way for a road car I'm enjoying organic pad bite and feel 🤷♂️
mattvanders said:
I have double checked on that Realoem website, others are correct with the front brakes being 4 pots with part code 34116799465 and 66 for left and right. Rears are 2 pots.
I have had brake fluid changed on Wednesday and they do already feel better. I might try just replacing oem with oem parts and see if that was good enough
As said; I find the OE BMW pads really good with my Brembo brakes set up on the F31 - maybe try the OE pads via Cotswolds BMW (or see which BMW dealer / BMW direct are selling them for the best price on eBay - look for new old stock too that some resellers have) and partner them with Brembo or ATE discsI have had brake fluid changed on Wednesday and they do already feel better. I might try just replacing oem with oem parts and see if that was good enough
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