Best retrofit for M3 brakes?

[pbonsalb]

So around $1000 USD shipped, plus probably $400 for brackets, plus probably $200 for pads, plus $50 for hoses equals around $1650. 360mm-380mm lighter weight aftermarket 2 piece rotors would add about $1000. It does work out to be cheaper than current new BBK prices and would be even cheaper if you bought stock E90 or F80 rotors.

I am refurbishing a used Stoptech ST60 kit (new paint, lines, pistons, seals, boots, hats, pads and 380mm rotors). I will have a little under $2k in it and the calipers will still be used. Used is an option but takes some patience and requires some work.

[shimmy23]

Originally Posted by Captain Caveman

Ebay (no surprise)

Are these authentic? Aren't there a bunch or chinese rip offs going around or was that just the 4pot versions?

[Captain Caveman]

Originally Posted by shimmy23

Are these authentic? Aren't there a bunch or chinese rip offs going around or was that just the 4pot versions?

Of course. They are OE on the Alfa Romeo Giulia & Stelvio Quadrifoglio. The Brembo GT 6 pot calipers, fake or not, use a bigger pad and have different piston sizes. This caliper is only used on the Alfa Romeo, Maserati GT & Ghibli and 2013-2014 Mustang GT500 (lug mount version). It's a slightly smaller caliper designed primarily for 360mm discs.

[pbonsalb]

I wonder whether they are much better than the 6 piston bmw calipers made by brembo and used in the 135i — the calipers that bmw removed when making the 1M and replaced with E9x M3 calipers?

[marconi118]

the Alfa calipers look almost like the C63 AMG ones?!


what is the benefit of the Alfa ones?
Fit on smaller rotor?

[pbonsalb]

You can put big calipers on smaller rotors. The BBK makers sell the same 6 piston caliper (perhaps with piston size changes) for use with rotors in the 360 mm range and rotors in the 380 mm range. The brackets space the caliper.

Some calipers may be narrower, for narrower rotors. Stock front are 360x30. Aftermarket or ones from Alfa or Mercedes may be 32, 34 or 36. Carbon could be even thicker.

[Captain Caveman]

Originally Posted by marconi118

the Alfa calipers look almost like the C63 AMG ones?!
what is the benefit of the Alfa ones?
Fit on smaller rotor?

The Alfa/Maserati Brembo caliper is designed for a thinner and smaller diameter disc, and have a smaller pad than the W204 C63 AMG caliper. The Alfa Giulia uses a 360x32mm disc and the AMG uses a 36mm disc. The AMG caliper also has a larger piston area which is not compatible with the stock M3 master cylinder.

[Captain Caveman]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

I wonder whether they are much better than the 6 piston bmw calipers made by brembo and used in the 135i — the calipers that bmw removed when making the 1M and replaced with E9x M3 calipers?

These Brembo calipers are used by most high performance car makers on their higher end vehicles, usually over 500+ BHP (Aston, AMG, Maserati, Audi RS, Shelby etc). So yes, they are FAR superior to the stock E92 M3 single piston caliper with tiny brake pad!

[UnicornM]

Best disc/pad for street use with the Alfa caliper 6 pot? OEM 360mm or does someone make a bracket for the M4 380mm disc?

That and the M4 rear oem BBK should make for a good retrofit.

[pbonsalb]

If you are getting full sweep on the rotors, that looks like a pretty good brake setup at a pretty good price!

[Epoustouflant]

Subscribed.

[Captain Caveman]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

If you are getting full sweep on the rotors, that looks like a pretty good brake setup at a pretty good price!

Yes you are. The Alfa calipers are designed for a 360mm diameter disc, which of course is the same as OE E92 M3 disc. Only tiny difference is the Alfa uses a 32mm thick disc, which is well within tolerance of the caliper.

[Captain Caveman]

Originally Posted by UnicornM

Oh didn't realize there was a bracket for the 380mm disc, only lists 360mm version? I'll contact them.

My daily driver has EBC yellow stuff pads (6 pot front/4 pot rear) and I'm quite familiar with the characteristics of that pad. So I'm looking for something similar. Ferodo DS2500 was another, but do they do them for the Alfa 6 pot?

The bracket is basically the same size/offset etc, just with an extra 10mm on the mounting points for at the wider disc.

Ferrodo, EBC and all the major pad makers make a pad for the caliper as the pad shape is quite widely used I believe.

[UnicornM]

Yeh just spoke to Stewart said it was couple of shims.

So I guess I'll get a complete front and rear M4 setup, switch the front calipers to the Alfa 6 pot (sell off the M4 fronts) only thing I dread is the damn unions up front. I'll start soaking them every other day week before I attempt this mod lol

[Camnyc]

does anyone have the part number for the alfa calipers?

[marconi118]

380mm m4 rotors with megane RS 4 pot brembo calipers fit tight (but fit) under 18" OZ alleggerita and M4 18" wheels

unfortunately they don't fit under BBS CH 18"

This could be useful for track junkies, with 18" slicks or semis

I don't know if M4 calipers fit under BBS CH? and Alleggerita

Are the megane brembo calipers better than M4 ones? the M4 ones are 2 pieces bolted, the megane are one piece, more rigid for suer

[pbonsalb]

Are the Megane 4 piston brembo better than the Alfa Romeo 6 piston brembo? I would not think so. They might be cheaper, though.

[Redd]

All Brembo calipers have the word 'brembo' embossed somewhere at the top of the caliper, even the OEM ones. M4 and Megane calipers are made by Brembo and have this embossing. This is also how you look for fake Brembos, 95% of knockoffs don't have this embossing (but nowadays the higher end fakes do).

The Alfa ones don't, and are not made by Brembo. That doesn't mean they're fake tho. So take that at face value.

IMHO monobloc is more marketing than performance. There are tons of two-piece calipers out there that outperform monoblocs.

[Captain Caveman]

Originally Posted by Redd

All Brembo calipers have the word 'brembo' embossed somewhere at the top of the caliper, even the OEM ones. M4 and Megane calipers are made by Brembo and have this embossing. This is also how you look for fake Brembos, 95% of knockoffs don't have this embossing (but nowadays the higher end fakes do).

The Alfa ones don't, and are not made by Brembo. That doesn't mean they're fake tho. So take that at face value.

The Alfa ones have the Brembo logo/symbol embossed on the underside of the caliper and they ARE made by Brembo. See here:



Part numbers here:

[marconi118]

I don't say that the megane calipers are better than the alfa ones.

Yes 6 pots are better. I went the Megane route because I got them for cheap.

Do you know if the Alfa caliper with 380mm M4 rotors fit under some 18" wheels?

380mm 6pot brembo with 18" slick should be top for the track

[Captain Caveman]

Originally Posted by marconi118

I don't say that the megane calipers are better than the alfa ones.

Yes 6 pots are better. I went the Megane route because I got them for cheap.

Do you know if the Alfa caliper with 380mm M4 rotors fit under some 18" wheels?

380mm 6pot brembo with 18" slick should be top for the track

The Brembo GT 6-pot caliper with 380mm discs does fit under some 18" wheels, so you should be ok with the Alfa Brembos as they have a very similar profile. It will come down to the inner barrel profile on the wheels, and whether they have a lip or not.

[Makaveli7]

Originally Posted by Captain Caveman

Cool - that would be amazing to see. So the F10 caliper is essentially the same basic design, just heavier and less sculpted or machined than the GT6? Be cool to see pics!

Here you go bro - F10 m5 CCB calipers and disks fitted on the Z4m 5 years ago, still running strong

Excuse the bad quality stickers