Quote:
Originally Posted by paulGT3
I really want to have an adult conversation here. PLEASE. My question is REAL and I want to know why BMW makes this compromise in this, one of the three most important attributes with sport cars, acceleration, braking and handling.
And for your information I have TWO BMWs in the garage right now(of four including an M).
WHen talking best brakes in the world BMW never enters the conversation if you are honest with yourself.
Now can somebody answer my question. I dont want a pissing match or flame war. I just want to know BMWs reasoning behind this. Do I have to go to a Porsche board to ask?
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You are right about the BMW brakes not being in the same league as other manufacturers (my Audi has eight piston Brembos that are good for maybe 5 laps before they overheat). But honestly that's not a function of the Brembos not being up to the task, it a function of Audi's poor heat management of the braking system.
There are two real disadvantages to the stock BMW brakes. One is the rubber insulators that the guide pins are mounted in. They allow flexing of the caliper and uneven pad contact. It's the first thing I replace and will be done on my new M3 within a month of buying it. See the second link in my post above.
The second is more subtle, and can only be fixed by replacement. The stock BMW calipers are heavy. Multi-piston calipers are significantly lighter. However, 99% of the people that buy multi-piston brake upgrades also buy oversized rotors which defeats the advantage of the lightweight caliper. The best brake upgrade for a BMW M3 (BAR NONE) is a performance friction upgrade using stock size Performance Friction full floating rotors. Those rotors are significantly lighter than the stock BMW rotors. Anything else is just posing. [forgot to say the PF upgrade is with new calipers]
Hope that helped out.