BMW Performance Brake Experience (not 56k friendly)

[Zeros and ones]

Purchasing Experience:

So I was looking to buy the BMW Performance Brake Kit for my e82 128i. The brakes are good but I knew I can do better and I didn't want to shell out the money for a proper BBK from Brembo, Stoptech, Mov'it or the such. Plus the car is still under warranty and I like the idea for not paying for pads, rotors, and such on my car.... yet! So I get into contact with Dan and the purchase of the new brakes are on the move.

Dan was very helpful with me and helped me out every step of the way. He even gave me an AWESOME! deal on the brakes. Made the purchase and in 1 week and 3 days they were in front of my door. Man was I excited!!!!

Now the decision is... should I install these myself or get a dealer to do it? I decided to go with the dealer... not that I haven't intsalled brakes on BMW before but it is less headache on my part, I had better things to do with my time and the car was due for service anyway.

Remember: because this is for a 128i the rear calipers is still single piston.

Dealership Experience:

I go to the BMW dealership on Calabasus in CA. As soon as I walk in, I get greeted by my Service Adviser (SA). I sit down and we go over everything that needs to be services on the car. I than mention that I have the BMW Performance Brake kit ready for installed. My SA tells me that they can not do it but after much debate, my SA ask the shop foreman if it can be done he give the ok. My SA said they will call me when the brakes are ready to be installed and will not do anything till they have my ok.

The next day I get a call from my SA. He says the full install is going to take 5 hours. Told him no cause per instruction from BMW it says 3.5 hours. After a while he said that the best he can do is to charge me for 4 hours. I said ok that is fine. Than he hits me with this...

BTW because we are installing new calipers in we need to do a complete flush if your system twice, take the car out for testing to make sure the ABS is going to be working correctly and to make sure there is not air in your system. Continues on with, we need to flush it the first time after when we take out the old brakes and than flush it one more time after we install the new brakes. Talked to the shop foreman and to the head mechanic and both said that it has to be done and that if it does not they are liable if anything happens. I ask how much it would cost and was told about $250 per flush.... WHAT!!!!! Total job would have ran me $1200

I than quickly told me SA adviser that they do not need to install the BMW Performance Brake Kit but continue on with exactly what the services called for and that I will install the brakes myself.

Later that day, I get a call back from my SA adviser tell me seems that the head mechanic over looking your car again came to me and said that 2 flushes is not necessary and we can get by just bleeding the system. I pretty much responded with that is great but I am not paying $1200 to get this installed. He than continues to tell me oh that will not be necessary and that the best he can do for the cost of labor is 4 hours. I said... well let me think about it and call you back with my decision.

So I called them back and said... ok... i'll give you guys a half of an hour more than needed from what the instructions call but I will not do more than $700 for the install.

(Note: yes I know 700 is way to much already but they really seemed to want my business and they really did go out of there way as opposed to other dealers I have dealt with)

My services rep responded with... you got a deal but I am doing this because it is you. I wouldn't do this for anyone else. I started to laugh over the phone and responded with "I'm sure you wouldn't"

Ultimate Driving Experience:

Now the car is back in my hands. She looks wonderful. She was washed, wax, and all dressed up nice! I was very pleased when I get her back. But now.. my initial impression of the brakes. OMG!!!!! They are gorgeous!!! I really couldn't stop staring at them. So I hope in and go for my first drive.

I instantly notice how heavy these are and how much heavier the steering feels on the car. I couldn't imagine it was that much of a difference. I was blown away from the weight. But in the back of my mind it made sense why that was. So I continued on and within the first time hitting the brakes I could tell how much smoother the car stopped and how much less pressure I needed to use on the brake peddle to stop the car. I was amazed on how much more responsive these brakes are over the stock breaks on the car.

After the initial brake in period the manual tells you to drive the car before you notice the full effects of the brakes (200 Kilometers), I decided to have some fun with the car. I think some hard braking was calling my name. O----M-----G------, the first time I hit those brakes hard, my head almost came in contact with the steering wheel and the car came to a complete stop. I was not expecting for that to happen. I seemed to have under estimated these brakes and was not fully prepared for the awesomeness that these brakes have to offer. But the biggest down side... is that they dust like crazy!!!!

I went on a couple of canyon runs here in CA and was super pleased. The brakes held up very well but I can see why plenty of guys that track there cars would rather upgrade there brakes. I did feel some brake fade when doing the runs but nothing on my part that was critical that I needed to stop right away but the bite for the most part was still there.

The smoothness, the instant reaction, how quickly the car just wants to stop is amazing. I can only imagine how a true Brembo BBK would perform. at the end of the day, these breaks are great to have if you are daily driving. Can get you out of hairy situations. If you want to track them... it is possible, but I wouldn't.

Price point that Dan sold them to me was excellent... but I wouldn't pay dealer $2400 for them. Won't lie though, kind of kicking myself in the but for not picking them up a year ago when they were going to $1000.

Overall rating for them on daily use 9/10

Here are some pictures of what they look like now on my car:

Front:


Rear:

[Focusedintntions]

Glad to hear your happy so far

[NYC6]

Do a proper brake brake in procedure to get best results. The most important thing to remember is not to stop the car till the rotors have cooled sufficiently. Do the braking where you can get 5-6 hard stops till the brakes fade then continue driving w/o braking for 15-20 minutes. I found that out the hard way 15 years ago.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5942969_break-brake-pads.html

Swapping fluid to a high temp racing fluid will prevent fade on the street when pushed very hard. A quality fluid like Motul RBF600 is compatable will the OE BMW fluid and works great. Also dont forget the 128 doesnt get the extra brake cooling the 135's get due to your foglights. The lack of airflow will make them fade a little more quickly. The more air you can supply brakes the better. Even the aftermarket BBK's benefit from improved cooling. Glad to see another satisfied 128 driver who appreciates the better brakes.

[Zeros and ones]

Originally Posted by NYC6

Glad to see another satisfied 128 driver who appreciates the better brakes.

thanks for the pointers. Always appreciated... I just wish us 128i would have been able to get the two piston calipers in the back instead of the single.

Other than that.... these breaks are awesome

[NYC6]

Originally Posted by Zeros and ones

thanks for the pointers. Always appreciated... I just wish us 128i would have been able to get the two piston calipers in the back instead of the single.

Other than that.... these breaks are awesome

Glad to.
Having more pistons in the rear isnt the issue though. Its the small size of the rotors that fail. A rotor needs mass to absorb heat. The larger the rotor, the more heat it can soak up, the better the braking. Thats what brakes do, they turn motion energy into heat to stop the car. An 11.8" rotor is a piss poor heat sink for a performance sports coupe. For repeated hard stops that is. For normal street driving they're OK.
The BMW Brembo performance kit rotors are larger and thicker and are better heat soaker uppers with the added benefit of multi pistons and are much larger heat sinks in themselves. All good things.