Brakes

Going fast is one thing, but you've got to have the brakes to stop, too.

Front Brakes

Whereas there are numerous choices for aftermarket brakes such as Brembo, AP Racing, Motiv, and others costing well over $2500 and up, using stock E36 M3 brakes is hard to beat for the money.   I purchased a set of used calipers for $400, new Euro E36 M3 rotors for $225 for the pair, and steering knuckles for $300 (more on this later).  For around $1000, I have the same stopping power that the 315mm x 28mm vented M3 brakes provide with the benefit of a lighter car (better braking).

The M3 calipers were painted black with high temperature engine paint as all E36 M3 calipers were raw casted aluminum in color (sorta ugly) until the '98 model year when there were painted black.  Stock Jurid OEM pads were used.  Dispite their tendancy to dust, they do stop well and are quiet.

Since the M3 calipers use larger rotors, the stock 318ti steering knuckles must be changed to M3 units.  Upgrading using aftermarket brakes such as the ones listed above not NOT require replacing the steering knuckles as they make adapters to fit the stock knuckle.  You can use M3 steering knuckles on non-M3 shock/strut housings.

Earl's stainless steel brake lines were used on the front and rear of the car and cost approximately $80 for the set of six lines (two for the front, four short ones for the rear).  One annoying thing about the installation of the new brake lines was that they used SAE tools to install whereas the entire car is metric.

ATE Super Blue was used for the brake fluid with the help of the Ultimate Garage's brake bleeding tool.  When the brakes need to be flushed again next time, I'll use Super, but the Gold color so that it's easy to determine when the old brake fluid is out.  When bleeding brakes, make sure you work from the furthest wheel from the brake reservoir to the closest one.

Rear Brakes

The rear brakes are new, stock units measuring a paltry 272mm x 10mm in size.  The hats of the rotors were painted with alu-zinc to prevent rust and were matched with stock brake pads.

The rear stainless steel lines almost requires the removal of the exhaust to gain access to the inner lines.

In General

Driving the car with this brake setup is awesome.  The M3 already has nice brakes, but putting them on a ti will suck your eyeballs out of their sockets.  They are confidence inspiring and have a great feel.  Once issue which we were contemplating was the brake master cylinder and replacing it with an M3 unit (list price of $400 alone).  However, considering the performance with the stock ti master cylinder, we're leaving it.

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