[Asiann]

I wonder who's the maker of BMW brakes and how they are comparable to Brembo brakes?

[NewMoses]

Originally Posted by Asiann

I wonder who's the maker of BMW brakes and how they are comparable to Brembo brakes?

I have Brembo GTP's on my Porsche and I just finished driving a 335i HARD. Beautifully engineered braking in the 335. My Brembos are not antilock, but they are fade proof and well designed. The 335 brakes are grippy and sensitive under normal conditions. My dealer asked me to do a full force panic stop from 100 MPH and change lanes while stopping. (We were on an empty access road) The 335 stopped quickly with no lockup and I was able to steer easily with very little body roll and no loss of control. The 335 braking and suspension are beautifully engineered. This will be a very safe car to perform emergency maneuvers with.

[Park2670]

Those calipers look very similar to the M5/M6 except a bit smaller.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by Asiann

I wonder who's the maker of BMW brakes and how they are comparable to Brembo brakes?

Most Calipers are made by Continental Teves
Brake discs come from places like TRW, Brembo, Fagor Ederlan ect ect
335i pads are TEXTAR ( some other E90 have JURID fronts )

Whats good depends on what you want, a street setup, a racetrack setup or a all rounder

[PiperD]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

You have to factor the stopping distance for above.
335 hauls large mass to a shorter distance

... my point being that BMW didn't fit the 335i with larger rotors because it's a heavy car. The 328xi is pratically the same weight as the 335i yet it keeps the same diameter rotor as the 328i. Why shouldn't the 328xi have the same stopping distance as the 335i? (provided stopping distance is indeed different)

Really, it's just a way to distinguish the models. With the larger engine BMW also gives you "sportier" brakes, whatever that means: fade resistance, pedal feel, etc. But in practical terms the larger brakes are in no way essential.

[NewMoses]

I think more than a few 335's (including mine!) will find their way to the track. The big brakes will be important.

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by PiperD

... my point being that BMW didn't fit the 335i with larger rotors because it's a heavy car. The 328xi is pratically the same weight as the 335i yet it keeps the same diameter rotor as the 328i. Why shouldn't the 328xi have the same stopping distance as the 335i? (provided stopping distance is indeed different)

Really, it's just a way to distinguish the models. With the larger engine BMW also gives you "sportier" brakes, whatever that means: fade resistance, pedal feel, etc. But in practical terms the larger brakes are in no way essential.

I agree...

[geoff2010]

I think the decision to have larger diameter rotors was simply that of an enhanced bling factor

[Joe Bimmer]

Originally Posted by NewMoses

I have Brembo GTP's on my Porsche and I just finished driving a 335i HARD. Beautifully engineered braking in the 335. My Brembos are not antilock, but they are fade proof and well designed. The 335 brakes are grippy and sensitive under normal conditions. My dealer asked me to do a full force panic stop from 100 MPH and change lanes while stopping. (We were on an empty access road) The 335 stopped quickly with no lockup and I was able to steer easily with very little body roll and no loss of control. The 335 braking and suspension are beautifully engineered. This will be a very safe car to perform emergency maneuvers with.

Pretty ballsy request from the dealer on a test drive. He must have had confidence in your driving ability. I took my M3 up to 110 in a 45 zone with my salesman...negotiating was easy once we got back to the dealership. He was so scared.

[gohawks23]

Bigger=even more brake dust to clean...

[Robin_NL]

Originally Posted by NewMoses

Big calipers and rotor have almost NOTHING to do with stopping distance.

Brakes transfer kinetic energy into thermal energy. With aggressive driving, it's easy to overheat small brakes and boil the brake fluid giving a "spongy" brake feel. Big calipers and rotors serve as a heat sink. It's that simple.

I more than doubled the size of the calipers on my track car. The stopping distance is unchanged, but my brakes never overheat and get spongy. If the 335i has a shorter stopping distance, it is most likely due to a bigger tire and thus, a bigger contact patch.

Totally correct too. Tyrecontact/surface/stoppingdistance.
What kind of trackracer do you have?

[ScheerSpeed]

more weight and faster needs more stopping power

[mikem]

Originally Posted by bmwexecutive

Honestly, I don't know why a big engine automatically means you need big brakes. My 330i can get up to the same speed as any 335i, it will just take longer. Brakes aren't for stopping acceleration. They're for stopping speed. So a 330i and a 335i is the exact same in that aspect. Just because I've got a bigger engine under the hood doesn't mean I need bigger brakes with a car that can go just as fast. If I'm going 130MPH in my 330i, I'm going to need all the braking power I can get should I need to stop in a hurry. I don't know the exact number but traveling 130MPH, I'm guessing you'd need at least 300 to 400 feet of room to get back down to 0, ABS fully active the entire time. Anyone know exactly? All I can say is that you might need some new tires after braking that hard that far. The tires would probably melt or something. Haha.

Stopping distance at 130 mph would be more than double this, in fact about 800-1000 ft. As the speed increases the overall energy the brakes need to dissipate increases exponentially.

[AJ M2 comp]

Originally Posted by mikem

Stopping distance at 130 mph would be more than double this, in fact about 800-1000 ft. As the speed increases the overall energy the brakes need to dissipate increases exponentially.

Hmmmm that sounds really high to me.

I will try it on the way home from work.

I should be able to hit 130 on the 99 in downtown Seattle during rush hour no problem.

I will let you guys know how it works out later on tonight.

[bmwexecutive]

Originally Posted by NewMoses

My dealer asked me to do a full force panic stop from 100 MPH and change lanes while stopping. (We were on an empty access road) The 335 stopped quickly with no lockup and I was able to steer easily with very little body roll and no loss of control. The 335 braking and suspension are beautifully engineered. This will be a very safe car to perform emergency maneuvers with.

Your dealer would have to be just ASKING to be fired if he gave you a request like that. I was doing 85MPH ABS braking at the BMW Performance Center and THAT was incredibly intense. No way he's letting you do that on a brand new car. We seized the brakes of a Z4 while we were doing this. And emergency lane change? Unless you're a pro race car driver, I don't think so. Last time I checked, access roads are no bigger than two lanes. To do an emergency lane change at those kinds of speeds, is like having a death wish.

For the rest of you, just imagine driving 100MPH and then in an instant slamming your steering wheel with your full force to one direction. You would surely loose control of the car.

[bmwexecutive]

Originally Posted by AJ 335TT

Hmmmm that sounds really high to me.

I will try it on the way home from work.

I should be able to hit 130 on the 99 in downtown Seattle during rush hour no problem.

I will let you guys know how it works out later on tonight.

*AJ on evening news as cause of 26 car pile-up*

[Ray]

Originally Posted by greginaz1

Bigger=even more brake dust to clean...

I thought brake dust was genrated from the compound of the pads. Small pads with softer compound can create more then a larger pads with harder compound.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by NewMoses

My dealer asked me to do a full force panic stop from 100 MPH...

What dealer and on what road?

[NewMoses]

Originally Posted by ThreeThirtyEye

What dealer and on what road?

He's a friend. Don't want him to get into any trouble.

[NewMoses]

Originally Posted by Robin Hood

Totally correct too. Tyrecontact/surface/stoppingdistance.
What kind of trackracer do you have?

It's a 1983 Porsche 911 with a '98 Porsche motor (100 extra HP). Suspension redesigned for the track, Brembo GTP's. It needs a much better driver than me to test it's limits. It's light and fast and a little scary.

I tried to add a picture but it won't load.

[NewMoses]

Ah, here it is;

[Ray]

Mmm! 930 Targa! What kind of bumpers(aero kit) are they?