[N0Chill 335i]

Hello all, looking for some help figuring out what my next move should be.

I purchased a set of the 2 pot blue M Sport rear calipers to replace my stock, ugly ones on my 335i. My questions are fairly simple, I've done research and haven't been able to find any answers about this rear only retrofit.



1. Can these calipers be bolted on directly to my 330mm rotors or do I need to upgrade them to the 345mm rotors?

2. If I do have to upgrade to the 345mm rotors in the rears can I also keep my 4 pot front calipers and upgrade from the 340mm to the 370mm rotors? I don't want my rear rotors to be wider than my fronts, but I'll rock it if I have to.

I'd prefer to keep the 340mm front, 330mm rear if these can just bolt on. But I wouldn't mind doing the 370mm front, 345mm rear upgrade in the future when I do drilled/slotted and ceramic pads.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Domotron]

im pretty sure they bolt up directly but i think you will have to upgrade your rotors to 345mm

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by N0Chill 335i

Hello all, looking for some help figuring out what my next move should be.

I purchased a set of the 2 pot blue M Sport rear calipers to replace my stock, ugly ones on my 335i. My questions are fairly simple, I've done research and haven't been able to find any answers about this rear only retrofit.



1. Can these calipers be bolted on directly to my 330mm rotors or do I need to upgrade them to the 345mm rotors?

2. If I do have to upgrade to the 345mm rotors in the rears can I also keep my 4 pot front calipers and upgrade from the 340mm to the 370mm rotors? I don't want my rear rotors to be wider than my fronts, but I'll rock it if I have to.

I'd prefer to keep the 340mm front, 330mm rear if these can just bolt on. But I wouldn't mind doing the 370mm front, 345mm rear upgrade in the future when I do drilled/slotted and ceramic pads.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'll start by saying nice move on picking the brembo rears, it will make the car look so much better.

Now I gotta be a tad bit hard on ya...
You say you did research about this rear upgrade only and couldn't find anything...I say you didn't look hard enough ...it's on here, very specific step by step on what to do and how to do it.

And no you cannot keep the 330mm rear rotors you must upgrade to 345mm.

If you truly look again on the f30 forum for it and can't find it I'll be nice in my next reply and provide a link . I'll give you a hint, search my name and threads I've started .

[Domotron]

Originally Posted by Dejan_

I'll start by saying nice move on picking the brembo rears, it will make the car look so much better.

Now I gotta be a tad bit hard on ya...
You say you did research about this rear upgrade only and couldn't find anything...I say you didn't look hard enough ...it's on here, very specific step by step on what to do and how to do it.

And no you cannot keep the 330mm rear rotors you must upgrade to 345mm.

If you truly look again on the f30 forum for it and can't find it I'll be nice in my next reply and provide a link . I'll give you a hint, search my name and threads I've started .

Thanks man exactly the info i was looking for haha

[Bee Pee]

OP

Ref your 2nd point, you will need to change your calipers to 6cyl m sport blue brembos to switch from 340 to 370 rotors

BP

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by Bee Pee

OP

Ref your 2nd point, you will need to change your calipers to 6cyl m sport blue brembos to switch from 340 to 370 rotors

BP

This as well must be done good point.

[N0Chill 335i]

Excellent. So keep the 340mm fronts and upgrade to the 345mm rears.

Lol. Trust me, I did research but I used Google to get a few more sites in the mix. Maybe they clogged up the search on that side. I know for next time to just stick within the forums itself. If you could post the link, that'd be very much appreciated. Also read some conflicting info about some members needing to code the car and others saying it was perfect from day 1.

Thanks to everyone that chimed in.

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by N0Chill 335i

Excellent. So keep the 340mm fronts and upgrade to the 345mm rears.

Lol. Trust me, I did research but I used Google to get a few more sites in the mix. Maybe they clogged up the search on that side. I know for next time to just stick within the forums itself. If you could post the link, that'd be very much appreciated. Also read some conflicting info about some members needing to code the car and others saying it was perfect from day 1.

Thanks to everyone that chimed in.

Fair enough I just had to give you some grief lol.

As for what others are saying and not saying and telling you even after coding it's not correct because the rotors sizes on the F30 are smaller up front 340mm front 345mm rear I'll elaborate. With all things anywhere especially on forums take it all with a grain of salt. Many will spew our things and not even give it a thought or have any personal experience.

Remember this and I've done a considerable amount of research on this and you'll see my link I'll give you. The M235i and M135i come standard from the factory with 340mm 4 piston brembos up front and 345mm 2 piston rear brembos. So does the track package 228i/328i/428i. Only way you get standard 370mm rotors up front (blue calipers) is a 335/435 or higher series. Or unless you opt to purchase the M performance BBK-yellow, orange, red then obviously all cars get 370mm front-345rear slotted/dimple rotors.

So anyway with that being said how would it not work in that retrospect when cars from the factory leave with 340 front 345 rear. I've had people tell me it's a different chassis the DSC will be thrown off....yeah ok... and there are quite a few that have done this swap and nothing negative to report but some bruised knuckles from the intall .

Here is the link, tried true and tested by me for over 8 months on what you're about to do. I did FDL code only the rears to 345mm and left the front and never did I have one issue. Not under load, not under track use, not under insanely hard almost accident avoiding stops.
http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1273765

Good luck. Follow the link and it'll take you where you need to be .

I've also since upgraded my fronts to the BBK yellow 370mm rotors only cuz it was too good for a deal to pass up and I could never perfectly match the Phoenix yellow paint up front and it drove me nuts. So I run the full yellow OEM M-performance BBK now.

[roll_the_dice]

for all those interested...here is a comparison picture I have posted in the past showing the differences in the M sport (340mm) front caliper vs the M performance (370mm) front caliper.

You can see the arc is larger on the M performance (yellow) 4 pot calipers making them stand taller and allowing the 370mm rotor.

[Jadar]

Yes precisely good pics. The caliper mechanical function itself does not differ just houses a larger rotor. Also the 370mm rotor does not have more surface pad grab area, it's the same as every rotor but the drum and hat are larger.

[N0Chill 335i]

Tons of good information coming out of this thread. My plan was to only upgrade the front rotors if I could. They're not at all a MUST DO for me. I'm gonna contact R1Concepts and get some pricing on drilled/slotted 340mm fronts and 345mm rears with ceramic pads. From my research so far that should run about $700. I'll be powder coating the calipers for another $300 or so. So all in it will be $1400 ish before install which I can do myself.

I think I can live with that.

[roll_the_dice]

Yes, a lot of good info in this thread. I originally bought a set of M sport front calipers then found a good deal on an M performance set. That is when I snapped the photo of the difference in the calipers.

I media blasted the gold/yellow off and powdercoated them Porsche yellow. I love the look over the standard non M sport brakes I had. The 370 rotors really fill the wheel nicely.

[N0Chill 335i]

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

Yes, a lot of good info in this thread. I originally bought a set of M sport front calipers then found a good deal on an M performance set. That is when I snapped the photo of the difference in the calipers.

I media blasted the gold/yellow off and powdercoated them Porsche yellow. I love the look over the standard non M sport brakes I had. The 370 rotors really fill the wheel nicely.

Pics brother. We need to see that.

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by N0Chill 335i

Pics brother. We need to see that.

Here is a pic I took last week after I installed the brakes. I am going to do a photoshoot soon. There are more of the powder coating of the brakes here in my build thread. I powder coated them myself.

[N0Chill 335i]

Looks awesome. I approve this message.

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by N0Chill 335i

Tons of good information coming out of this thread. My plan was to only upgrade the front rotors if I could. They're not at all a MUST DO for me. I'm gonna contact R1Concepts and get some pricing on drilled/slotted 340mm fronts and 345mm rears with ceramic pads. From my research so far that should run about $700. I'll be powder coating the calipers for another $300 or so. So all in it will be $1400 ish before install which I can do myself.

I think I can live with that.

While I am all for the rear upgrade and having done it already, but I also recently went to the OEM m-performance BBK with the 370mm up front. What I am trying to say is be cautious with the pricing on just the rear upgrade. I will try to elaborate.

I started out just like this thread wanting nice looking calipers (painted) while trying to save some cash. All in all I made that thread in the link posted above. It all works no doubt. Buying the things you need to paint the calipers properly can get away from you really quick.
I purchased the rear calipers from a kit I split with a member on here (he purchased it) , he kept the front kit I got the rear for $450 plus shipping roughly $25.
Rear rotors I sourced cheapest I could find from BMW of Bridgewater $287 345mm rear blanks.

Paint from scratch wizard in a can was $30. I ended up painting the calipers 3 times. Big issues with the aerosol canned paint. Ended up buying an actual 24oz can of 455 phoenix yellow paint $100 plus the kit and guns to paint the calipers properly $89. It can all take up alot of time and effort to get the desired effect.
At the end of the day the whole project would run you roughly $900-950. I really recommend splitting a kit with someone needing the front kit and dont pay over $375 for the rears. There is even a set for sale now in the f30 classifieds for a comical $600. Remember they get the front calipers, nice 370mm rotors, pads and sensors. All you get is calipers, pads and sensors. Even though I paid $450 at the time IMO its just not fair for the$1250 shipped and they end up paying $700 for a bad ass front brake kit.

Now you mention powder coating and it can get pricey. The $1400 is very realistic that you estimated after you powder coat.

In come those ebay yellow BBK deals going for $1250. What made me ditch all of my time and hard work? Two things...
One day pulling out of my garage to wash my car my neighbor comments "hey brakes look good, but are the fronts a bit darker? different color? are they heat stressed?" made me instantly question everything...I am a bit OCD.
Two, the killer deal I ran into on ebay from an actual BMW dealer. $1139 OEM yellow BBK shipped. Yep I said new yellow BBK for $1139. I didn't even think twice.
Took delivery, sold the rears on here since I did not need them for $350 plus shipping.

Basically what I am trying to say whatever path you choose, think it over and there is a fine line not to cross or the rear upgrade only becomes unworthy. I know the red and orange kits are a lit more money but even if you buy the yellow ones off ebay, powder coating them will still be cheaper and you get 370mm rotors
Learn from my mistakes. Even though I ended up getting the entire BBK kit for $1139 look at what I had to go through to get there. I still ended up paying more. But this is why we have these forums to pay it forward . I will also leave everyone with this...are the BBK 370mm/345mm better than what I ran originally track tried 340mm/345mm? NO...absolutely not..It really is the same performance rotor for rotor pad for pad feel. The BBK is purely aesthetic. Flame suit on... but Ill take on the argument I have tried both in all situations. Happy modding.

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by N0Chill 335i

Looks awesome. I approve this message.

Yeah he did a great job, his car is just pure awesome especially with the M3 wheels.

[N0Chill 335i]

After you mentioned your full upgrade I looked into that as well. I'd still end up getting the whole set powder coated as I'm going an untraditional color route... Lol. They will be a green similar to this.



Now we're back up to $1500ish. Then I'm sure the upgraded​ rotors will be another $300 or so for drilled/slotted all around. Add another $250 for ceramic pads and $100 for stainless steel brake lines. Now I'm up to $2200ish... Which isn't that far off from $1400ish in the grand scheme of things. Are the 6 piston 370mm fronts worth the additional $800?

This is why I hate modding, it's a slippery slope. But I love it so much. You're giving me more to mull over and debate. These won't go on the car anytime soon so I'm thankful for the information and perspective. I learned a lot from my previous build and now I'm all about doing things right the first time. I just need to figure out which course is the "right" one.

[N0Chill 335i]

Did a little more research and it shows they do come with dimpled/slotted rotors for the front. However, this link says 4 piston calipers. Don't I already have 4 piston front calipers on my 335i? Now I'm thoroughly confused. Lol. Or did they mean to put 6 piston?



Edit *Reread the thread. The calipers for the 370mm are still 4 pots just designed differently to fit the larger rotors. Got it now.*

[roll_the_dice]

Originally Posted by Dejan_

While I am all for the rear upgrade and having done it already, but I also recently went to the OEM m-performance BBK with the 370mm up front. What I am trying to say is be cautious with the pricing on just the rear upgrade...

Agree 100%...with your entire post!

[roll_the_dice]

I love green calipers...

One thing to remember with powder coating if it is a candy color...the candy colors require multiple coats of different colors to achieve the desired transformation....I am doing a set in candy red for a friend and I had to do chrome first then the candy red, then clear...that may cost more to do it. Just ask price for whatever color you choose.

[N0Chill 335i]

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

I love green calipers...

One thing to remember with powder coating if it is a candy color...the candy colors require multiple coats of different colors to achieve the desired transformation....I am doing a set in candy red for a friend and I had to do chrome first then the candy red, then clear...that may cost more to do it. Just ask price for whatever color you choose.

I have a local shop that does all of my work. They did the wheels on my e92.







Idk if I'm going with this EXACT color, but it will be close to make sure I get that pop.