So after a few track events some people are inclined to want larger brakes. Most late model performance oriented cars have adequate brake systems and can be improved without spending large sums of money. Basically if you can lock the brakes up on your car or reach brake threshold then you do not need a larger brake system. The most important area that needs to be addressed is thermal management. If you overheat your brakes you will experience brake fade and rapid pad disintegration. Let's face it, if you can't stop your car your day at the track is over. This can be overcome by ducting cool air to the rotors properly. If you are unsure how to do this then consult anyone with experience in this area. The other important key is to change out your stock brake fluid with a high temperature brake fluid. This increases the boiling point of the fluid and therefore has better ability to deal with the increased heat generated by track driving. It is also important to understand that all brake fluids are hydroscopic in that they absorb moisture and need to be changed at the least annually. More changes are not a bad thing and I usually do mine every four to six months.

Once you have these two areas covered you can consider moving to a better brake pad compound. Do not guess at this! Talk to the performance brake pad supplier and anyone who has the same vehicle. A larger diameter brake will not necessarily mean you will stop your car in a shorter distance then before. What it will do is provide a larger area for the pad to engage and help to manage and disperse heat. It comes down to consistency and confidence in the brake system and that is what a larger system can do. Recently I had purchased a set of track only pads from Ernie Bello for my M3. He said the Hawk HT10 would provide excellent stopping power without damaging my stock rotors. That to me is a big selling point as having to buy rotors after a track weekend can get expensive. I used them at Homestead and was absolutely amazed at how they had transformed my brake system into a major stopping force. My driving instructors were also very impressed when they learned my brakes were all but stock except for pads and fluid. After 255 track miles, I pulled the pads off and installed my stock ones and then drove home. This really transformed my driving experience as I could now consistently hit my braking points again and again.

To sum it all up, I had put 750 track miles on the pads before they were done. They far exceeded my expectation. I highly recommend you to inspect your brake system and improve them as your driving ability increases. Any good race car driver knows that races are won and lost in the brake zones. Enjoy your driving and above all be safe!
Chris

Great write-up Chris. I went the same route and has worked well so far. My driving skills has to improve dramatically before I plop down 4k on a BBK.

Let you all know AAK Motorsports is now an Authorized Brembo dealer. I will offer a 10% discount on a 4 wheel kit to High-Performance Driving Club members.

Allan, I've been looking for a brake upgrade for my E46 M3 but I don't want to swap out my ZCP cross-drilled rotors since I'm happy with them; just want a bigger caliper on all four corners. There was a company out of the UK that was supposedly selling Brembo 6-piston calipers to fit the ZCP front 345mm rotor, but they were still developing the ones for the rear. Here's the link but I just checked it and the site wasn't coming up: http://shop.speedreli...

Anyways, is there any kit out there that you know about where I can just purchase the calipers to fit my rotors? Either 6 or 4 piston. I don't need the stainless steel brake lines either since I already bought those from you.

Thanks!

Carlos, there is. UUC had Alcon make a BBK kit using the ZCP rotors. Thing is UUC will not part out the kit and it is just as costly as the StopTech, Brembo, etc.

I'm a UUC dealer so I can help you out on these but I would suggest waiting till you need new rotors.

Truthfully the ZCP rotors are not that great. They get heat stressed too easily in my opinion. I'm on my 3rd full set.

I've read about the ones you are talking about. The issue is the carrier. Also, many do not know this but the ZCP rear caliper are the same as on the M3 CSL. The rear caliper piston is oversized to compensate the larger front rotor. This is all to get the correct brake bias. When you need new rear piston dust boots you'll find BMW USA does not have a part #. I order a bunch of these dust boots if you ever are in need.

Thanks Allan, I remember going through a set of brand new ZCP rotors in one track weekend - I wanted to cry. I changed the brake fluid, brake pads, added air ducts, and removed the brake backing plates; this new set has 8 track days on them and showing very little signs of wear.

Having said that, I think I'll take your advice and wait until these rotors need to be replaced and upgrade to a bigger brake kit then. Any suggestions as to which size to go with? I'd like to do 6/4 piston but I think that may be overkill (if there's such a thing). Also, any advantages/disadvantages of going with StopTech over Brembo?

Thanks for the heads-up on the rear dust boot and appreciate the offer. I was changing my brake pads recently and realized that my front driver's side caliper needed a new boot, which I just ordered.

Carlos, there are many factors to consider when getting a BBK. First, what wheels are you using because the BBK has to fit within them. Most of the popular track wheels will not be a problem because of the offsets. Second, what's your budget? 6 pot calipers will cost more than the 4 pot calipers. Third, not all pad manufactures work with all BBKs, so if you like a certain brake pad make sure that BBK will accept the pad. Fourth, StopTech only makes one kit for the M3 w/ ZCP. Brembo, you can use any GT kit, 4 or 6 pot.

The StopTech rotors are pretty expensive when it comes time to replace, otherwise you cannot go wrong with either one.

On the M3 there really is no overkill on the brakes as its a pretty heavy car. It will cost more to maintain the 6 pot over the 4 pot because of the additional pistons and the dust boots will still have to be replaced over time.

Since I may turbo the car in future I'm going the 6 pot route.

Keep an eye on those dust boots as they melt easily when the pads get low on material.

Hey, Carlos and to the other members! This is making my blood surge with anticipation.

I met Carlos at Auto SuperSheild in Boca and he tipped me over the edge to join up and track my car.
I will hopefully be a spectator at the Aug 8th event in Homestead. I desperately need some tech advice about roll bar/cage for my vert. More about that in a different post.

BTW, i am a rank novice with only one Autocross under my belt last July.

Carlos, i took your talk about brakes to heart. I removed the dust shields like you said. Looks great and the brakes will run much cooler on my 2005 BMW M3 vert.
I bought:
1) Brembo Mono Block 6 piston GP kit with 2 piece rotors. The kit for 18 inch wheels 255mm by 32mm rotors
2) Brembo 4 piston rears and rotors
3) Two liters of Castrol SRF brake fluid
4) A Pressure bleeder with a reservoir and catch can
5) four 18 x 9.5 et35 D Fprce LTW5 alloy race wheels 18.8lbs per wheel PLUS 10mm spacers so the fronts will clear the 6 pot Brembos
6) four 265/18-35 BF Goodrich R1 race tires.
7) Tire totes and felts for race and street tires.
8) Nitrogen fill
9) Real time wireless tire pressure AND temperature sensors. Monitors and displays PSI and TEMP of each tire.

On order:
1) Sparco race seats (Evo i think...)
2) Five point harness

I read where Carlos got by nicely on stock calipers, but my car weighs 400 more pounds PLUS whatever roll bar or cage i end up with... I had to go BBK. Plus i will be supercharging the car later.

So. How good are the pads that come with the Brembos? pagids? Never heard of them.To tell you the truth, i dont want them. I would rather have two sets, a full race and a low dust ceramic for the street. My street 19's are nice and i got real spoiled by my Axxis ceramic pads. I am pretty sure there are ceramic options for my Brembos.

Which track pads do i want?

My goals. Well, to learn to drive very, very fast safely under instructors. To experience some real G forces I dare not try on the street. Overcome the handicap of all my convertible weight.

I do have coil overs, custom front sway bar links, TMS adjustable Anti sway bar kit, poly FCABS,and RTABS.heavy duty rear shock mount, TMS camber and caster plates, TMS adustable REAR camber arms, intake/cat delete. headders, exhaust, software and DYNO tune by Active Autowereke. Strassentech lip, ACS rear wing (they really help with down force!)

The thought of real competion and swapping paint with other cars is a very distant thought. That will most likely happen if i decide to build/buy a dedicated track car.

Hey Chris, didn't we become friends bcause you were about to put $3000.00 brakes on a $500.00 car?

I think it is important to consider what percent of capacity your utilization of your brakes is. Since you are pushing everything much harder on the track having over capacity buys you longevity. Everyone might agree that if you are running your engine out to redline each and every shift your chances of failure are much higher. I believe the same holds true for brakes. When I first started HPDE I installed EBC yellow pads in combination with EBC cross drilled rotors. The result was spider cracks emanating form each of those pretty little holes after one weekend at sebring. I also got only one weekend out of the pads.

Next event I was wearing Wilwood 4 piston calipers on 13" slotted not drilled rotors. I run the wilwood Polimatrix Track pad (equiv. to H-10 Hawk compound). The performance difference was absolutely unbelievable.

First, I get now 4 - 5 weekends on a pair of pads,
No Cracks in the rotors
And of all my modifications by far the brakes got me the best improvement in time.
Limited slip Diff and 19 HP got me 2 secs
R-Compound tires 2 secs
Big Brake Kit 7-8 Secs (all at sebring)

Especially if you have a lower horsepower car (ok so some of you will argue that the mini doesn't qualify as LHP anymore) OK fine lets say you have a lower torque car. At the start of the straight you are at a disadvantage. However remember that the definition of acceleration is the rate of change of speed. A high torque car has better acceleration at the beginning of the track. With bigger brakes I have better acceleration at the end of the track.

This proves out in some of my videos. You will see a porsche disappear away from me leaving turn 14 at HMS and then reappear entering turn 2.

I have heard the idea of Bigger calipers on the same size rotor. I would argue same sized calipers on bigger rotors. More leverage to the advantage of the caliper, less heat to the rotor.

Thoughts, opposing views welcome, of course!