BBK upgrade, Thoughts?!

[SoloEuro]

hey fellow enthusiasts,
I recently had my car in the dealership to replace my ignition coil and gasket valve covers, but my buddy who works in the service department informed me that I have to get my brakes replaced soon, specifically the rear ones. (less than 3k left on them)

Since I will have to do the rear, I might as well do the fronts, and however ECS sells the BMW Performance BBK setup, it's only for the fronts. Do you guys have any suggestions on an affordable BBK setup? I've looked at UUC/Wilwood, stoptech's and brembos, but the latter two are a bit more pricey and probably out of my range.
Now this is more for performance than looks, but I would prefer to find a set where the calipers are yellow/black lettering.

Thoughts? Suggestions on these or any i've missed?

Before this is asked, why BBK and not OEM? I know right now it will be more expensive, BUT, if i were to get all of them replaced at my dealership with labor, i'm sure it would be a lot more. So I'd rather get BBK and install them myself, like I helped out with when my brother redid his setup on his M3. I also drive a couple of streets were people like to stop for NO apparent reason. So i would like the extra/quicker stopping power.

Thanks in Advance guys!

[mimalmo]

Unless you track your car, you'll likely never benefit from a BBK upgrade. BBK's are all about fade resistance and the ability to stand up to the heat and wear & tear seen on the track. Those are conditions you'll never see on the street unless you're Brian Spilner.

[Hornung418]

BBK wont stop you any quicker than OEM. In fact they work better when they're hot. So a typical DD situation would have no effect in stoppage times.

Courtesy of Gingerbread...

[danewilson77]

But damn if a BBK doesn't look good though.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[UdubBadger]

I can tell you from owning them the bmw performance brembo pistons have been known to crack apart after a day at the track.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...ight=shattered

[UdubBadger]

my suggestions are to buy some high quality perfomance pads, slotted rotors and just have your calipers powdercoated if you need the look. There is more than enough stopping power there.

[az3579]

BBK wont stop you any quicker than OEM. In fact they work better when they're hot. So a typical DD situation would have no effect in stoppage times.

Courtesy of Gingerbread...

I beg to differ.


That is all.


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[zj96sc]

BBK wont stop you any quicker than OEM. In fact they work better when they're hot. So a typical DD situation would have no effect in stoppage times.

I beg to differ.


That is all.

You may beg to differ, but it is pure physics and has been proven.

If a stock system can engage ABS at speed for a single stop (which a healthy stock system can), that is the end of the discussion - this is the limit of deceleration, limited by tire adhesion. More torque from bigger brakes is irrelevant. Nevermind the fact that improperly engineered BBKs typically only modify the front brakes and this throws bias and balance completely out of the window (along with ABS pressure dynamics designed for stock calipers) which opens its whole own can of worms.

The second you talk about more than 1 stop or any tracking, this analysis is irrelevant and BBKs will eventually gain the edge - increased thermal capacity, therefore better fade resistance, better modulation, better pad wear, etc etc.

For a DD application, you will probably get more from playing with pad compound and tires than a BBK. For heavy use (tracking) a BBK will get you what you need.

From StopTech's own white papers:

By increasing the effective caliper piston area and the rotor effective radius, these two factors work together to increase the 'mechanical gain' of the front brakes, building more torque for the same pressure, everything else being equal. So, from a bias perspective we are not pushing the vehicle toward instability, but rather just the opposite - we are underbraking the rear axle! The obvious impact would be an increase in stopping distance - probably the one thing the new owner was actually hoping to reduce. Ironic.

Contrary to popular belief, the real reason sports- and racing cars use big brakes is to deal with heat. Period. There has been a bunch of stuff published which will disclaim this, but when you look at the braking system from a design standpoint, making them 'bigger' doesn't fundamentally do anything for stopping distance. It's all about the heat.

[derbo]

I can tell you from owning them the bmw performance brembo pistons have been known to crack apart after a day at the track.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...ight=shattered

Sadly this is merely the ceramic piston. From what I can tell its from track pads that hold higher heat and trackdays. Had I read about this before I jumped the gun I probably would've went 6piston Stoptech instead..LOL But now I am going to replace those ceramic capped pistons with the stoptech alum pistons.

[UdubBadger]

good idea