Brake disc upgrade

 I was thinking of upgrading my front discs to a pair of grooved and drilled items which i can use with the original calipers

Dont really want to go the whole big brake route.

Anybody any suggestions re brands and suppliers

Regards....Aidan

CAR :E39 M5

I am using Black Diamond cross drilled discs and pagid fast road pads, much better than the originals (but they were worn out)


Miles

oops,
http://www.bmwcarclubgb.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9468&PN=1&get=last#66324 

I thought you were talking about the full Monty BBK (big brake kit) as in AP-Racing\Brembo 6-pot calipers with all the bells 'n whistles at mondello the other day & had a savage deal lined out with whats 'is face..

You're talking 345mm (13.5 inches roughly) stock E39 M5 brake discs, so none of the proper floating discs (that can be bought separately) from a brembo 'big brake kit' are going to fit too snugly inside a standard calliper [ http://www.zeckhausen.com/StopTech/consumables.htm#Rotors ] but AP-Racing's 343mm disc wont be far out, the only [potential] problem I can envisage is the caliper offset, as, if the rotor is either in/out a fraction to accommodate their particular caliper design, then it'll presumably taper under braking force from the stock calliper, overheat on whichever side is offset & subsequently warp pretty fast.. so you'd want to be pretty sure its an ok fit for standard OEM M5 brakes beforehand..

I'd tend to steer clear of all that [540i mainly] single piece cast iron muck for sale on ebay and the likes, as bmw's own two-piece floating disc design is probably of better quality and (was designed to be)less likely to warp under heat or lead to wheel bearing overheating issues..

€3K seems a wee bit saucy for some of the entry level setups (particularly as its only two discs & callipers) from the likes of www.beastpower.com.. but the story on M5board.com is that stoptech's are the only way to go if you're thinking about fronts only, as otherwise ap-racing, brembo & movit's tend to alter the braking bias towards the front wheels of the car forcing the nose to dive under braking and feel alittle 'loose' at the rear.. they advise you either get a full 4-disc BBK from whatever manufacturer for a fully balanced setup, or stoptech's on the front only - as their twin piston calliper size and therefore braking force & balance is apparently very similar to the standard M5 braking setup.

https://www.stoptech.com

cheapest place I can get them is latvia @ €2,575, which isn't bad if you knock off the price a standard set of OEM's discs were gonna set you back anyway.. and even though they're a relatively large (compared to stock) 355mm in diameter, they will allow fitting (without spacers or any of that nonsense) of 17" alloys (type 66?) for cheaper trackday rubber..

http://www.xenon.lv/lv/index.htm?id=componentin&nmbr=2244&type=5&subcat=25&maker=BMW&model=5%20SERIES%20E39&from=1995&to=2003  

here's another pricelist from germany;
http://www.lampka-motorsport.de/img/stoptech_preislist.pdf

and afew uk stockists (who aren't terribly competitive)

http://www.abbeymotorsport.co.uk  
http://www.performancedriven.co.uk  
http://www.mercedesperformance.co.uk  
http://www.starperformance.co.uk  

having said that, if you could find a pair of replacement 2-piece floating discs (from the likes of ap-racing) that can be used with oem callipers, then that's probably the way to go (money wise anyway) only its very unlikely with the M5.. in the mean time im gonna start saving for stoptechs, and grin 'n bear the warped disks & steering judder for another while.

Edited by kbannon

seems like it's the only option according to the experts ;

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=3

$2595 (roughly €2,000) from
http://www.zeckhausen.com/BMW/E39.htm

heres afew pic's of specific wheels types that the stoptechs will fit (incase anyone with another 5-series is interested)

E39_installation_photos

they'd crucify you on the shipping from the states though.. and like with everything else, you'd more than likely get screwed on duty here too.. anyone going on hols to the US shortly, who would like to be a man about the whole thing and embrace the very prospect of carrying around some extra weight in their luggage ?

I'm using Black Diamond grooved disks and BD predator fast road pads. Excellent combo. Better than the std items and a lot less brake dust too.

I'd stay away from drilled disks TBH, they dont last as long and tend to crack around the holes. I had the grooved only recommended to me by several people when I was upgrading mine.