Discussion
Can anyone help? I want to change the brakes on my E36 328 track car. I've been told that you can put E46 330 front discs and calipers straight on (provided you have 17" rims). Does anyone know if this is true or do yo need some kind of caliper bracket to make it work? Also does anyone know if you can put the current 328 front brakes onto the rear? Cheers
e36, e46, e90 discs are the same part (number) so yes you can put the discs on as they are the same. i cannot see any benefit in fitting the e46 calipers as i expect they are the same as well.
rear discs i think are vented and are the same part (number) whether e46 or not, i suspect that you can put the front disc/caliper set up on to the rear but would question why you would want to do this as it won't make much difference as the braking force to the rear would be the limiting factor and would not be able to make use of the supposed extra stopping power. It barely makes use of the existing set up.
If you want more stopping power you need to upgrade your discs/pads calipers to a competition spec allied to an bigger master cylinder.
rear discs i think are vented and are the same part (number) whether e46 or not, i suspect that you can put the front disc/caliper set up on to the rear but would question why you would want to do this as it won't make much difference as the braking force to the rear would be the limiting factor and would not be able to make use of the supposed extra stopping power. It barely makes use of the existing set up.
If you want more stopping power you need to upgrade your discs/pads calipers to a competition spec allied to an bigger master cylinder.
Jerry Can said:
e36, e46, e90 discs are the same part (number) so yes you can put the discs on as they are the same. i cannot see any benefit in fitting the e46 calipers as i expect they are the same as well.
E36,E46 and E90 front discs are not the same part or even share the same part number!.E36 328i Front ventilated disc:
SIZE: 286mm x 22mm
PART No.: 341 111 654 55
E46 330i Front ventilated disc:
SIZE: 325mm x 25mm
PART No.: 341 011 660 71
E90 330i Front ventilated disc:
SIZE: 330mm x 24
PART No.: 341 167 646 45
The calipers are not the same part either:
E36 Brake caliper:
PART No.: 341 167 581 13 or 14 (left or right hand side).
E46 Brake caliper:
PART No.: 341 167 658 81 or 82 (left or right hand side).
Jerry Can said:
rear discs i think are vented and are the same part (number) whether e46 or not
NOPE:E36 Rear ventilated disc:
SIZE: 276mm x 19mm
PART No.: 342 111 652 11
E46 Rear ventilated disc:
SIZE: 320mm x 22mm
PART No.: 342 011 660 73
(All part No.s from: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/ )
Jerry Can said:
i suspect that you can put the front disc/caliper set up on to the rear but would question why you would want to do this as it won't make much difference as the braking force to the rear would be the limiting factor and would not be able to make use of the supposed extra stopping power. It barely makes use of the existing set up.
If you want more stopping power you need to upgrade your discs/pads calipers to a competition spec allied to an bigger master cylinder.
This part I do agree with. If you want more stopping power you need to upgrade your discs/pads calipers to a competition spec allied to an bigger master cylinder.
To carry out the E46 330i brake conversion you need the 330i discs, calipers and carriers. You also need to replace the standard servo and master cylinder with one from an E36 M3 to counteract the extra brake fluid in the system (with the standard servo and master cylinder the brake pedal can feel very spongy and soft, loosing a sharpness to the feel of the brakes).
There are a couple of issues with this conversion that some people have found:
1) The E46 330i brake parts (calipers and carriers), can be hard to find secondhand as a lot of E36 owners have carried out this conversion. Subsequently, the parts are still quite expensive secondhand due to demand.
2) Some E36 owners (especially in the USA for some reason), have found that the conversion upsets the front to rear brake balance too much for their liking.
3) The conversion is not going to give that much superior braking compared to the standard set up, especially when it comes to serious track use. For normal road use the advantage of the conversion over the standard set up is probably more a placebo effect with drivers believing they are stopping a lot quicker than they really are. The standard brake set up is easily capable of locking the brakes up several times in a row before brake fade is encountered and the limiting factor to braking is actually tyre grip (hence the reason why tyres with 8mm tread stop a lot quicker than the same tyre with 2mm of tread).
As Jerry can has said, for serious track use, you really need to invest in a proper, balanced, competition set up and change the brake fluid to a competition spec to avoid boiling the fluid + change the brake hoses to braided pipes.
Big brake kits can cost big money but if your using the car for serious track use, you really don't want to be cutting corners when it comes to the brakes!.
The E46 330i looks the part fitted to the E36 but in reality they're almost more about show (by filling the space in the wheel), than actual braking ability, especially when compared to a proper BBK set up.
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