I just installed this about 2 weeks ago but haven't driven on it a whole lot - car has been laid up due to oil pan gasket/motor mount/E46 ZHP rack project. First impressions though....I'm not sure if its my wonky rear brake lines (more on that later) but when i push the pedal i get about 2 inches of travel where nothing happens, a 1" or so "sweet spot", then past that, I'm about to get launched into the stratosphere from braking so hard. Needless to stay the brakes are quite powerful. 2 days after installing this someone in a CTSV cut me off and slammed their brakes on, and had I been on stock brakes I'm convinced I'd be parting my car out right now.
My setup consists of E46 M3 front rotors and calipers
E39 540i aluminum calipers
E46 325i rear rotors
225/45/17 front
235/40/17 rear
17x8.5" ET40 wheels
10mm spacer front
15mm spacer rear
I barely clear the strut tube up front...few mm - I definitely wouldn't go less than 10mm. I have enough clearance up front out laterally. However, I have the THR eyeball arms and I'm on billy sports and IE-S3 springs with E90 drop hats. I rub the inner fender lip with the outside edge of the tire preeeetty hard. I have since converted back to stock lollipops with AKG centered bushings since I feel decreasing the caster (boooo I know) should solve the problem, but I haven't had a chance to drive the car since the change. I need juuuust a bit of clearance since you can turn the wheel "past" the rubbing if you get my drift.
I haven't tried it but my next step would be going to 235/40/17 up front, but I don't think I would have enough lateral clearance of the wheel to the fender. If I rolled what little there is up front and went to a wider spacer, I think it would look like one of those mini trucks with mad poke yo, and I'm not ready to airbrush a virgin mary on my hood just yet.
In the rear, you can make it without using a spacer at all if you roll the lips a tiny bit, but you will barely clear the trailing arm. I rolled my inner fender lips almost flat and ran a 15mm spacer. It looks really good and handles great.
Things you will (probably) need:
30mm socket
36mm socket
46mm socket
Slide hammer and bearing puller attachment
Harbor freight front wheel bearing tool
I strongly recommend running wheel studs if you plan on using spacers
4-8x M12x32 bolts and lock nuts depending on if you reuse your old bolts
4-8x M10x32 bolts and lock nuts
BFH (3+lb sledge)
rubber mallet
breaker bar
beer
Front:
follow the guides you can find anywhere about getting to the front wheel bearing. If you're as lucky as me, the inner bearing race will stay put. I used a dremel to carefully cut a notch on the thicker part closer to the car, then stuck a flathead in that notch and rubber malleted away.
Next you will put the sleeve adapter, then the wheel bearing assembly, then tighten down the spindle nut. Someone correct me if wrong but I think its 210 ft/lb.
Then you will put the rotor spacer, then the rotor centering ring, then the rotor.
Some photos of the front assembly care of jb325is can be seen here:
To bolt up the calipers you're going to need to either totally remove or dremel out a spot of the dust cover. I couldn't get the dust cover bent into shape where it would clear both the rotor and the tie rod, so I just cut a piece off. The tie rod doesn't make contact with the rotor, it was just difficult to clear both with the way/shape the steel is stamped.
difference between stock and new rotor:
Rear:
follow directions you can find many places for removing wheels bearings - this job is a PITA. Messing around with getting the halfshafts in/out of the hubs took up 90% of the total time this project took.
I tried multiple tools and in the end what really worked best for me was the Harbor Freight front wheel bearing kit. It was 95$ after coupon and made the job a snap. A different bearing puller, the pipe/BFH method, and a slide hammer all failed me, but this tool made this step take about 30 minutes.
http://www.harborfreight.com/fwd-fro...ers-66829.html
You will definitely have to modify your rear dust covers as well. This is about how mine look, though I think i actually had to take a little more off the top than this pic shows
This is a good time to rebuild your halfshafts or diff, or replace your leaking output shaft seals.
I tried 500 different things and what finally got the halfshafts back in for me:
make sure they are 100% clean
Gently file in between the splines if needed with a small file
clean clean clean
turn a can of compressed air upside down and hose the hell out of the splined end for a good 20-30 seconds rotating it as you go
grease/lube the splined portion of the hub
make sure the halfshaft and hub splines are aligned (should be able to push in at least 1/2" or so by hand) and keep pressure on the halfshaft like you're trying to push it into the hub
Gently-ish circumferentially pound the face of the hub with a rubber mallet until threads are visible on the halfshaft
attach the axle nut and tighten it to pull the rest of the halfshaft in
One question I still have is what's up with the rear lines? The e30 lines are too short for the 540i aluminum calipers since the hole is on the side, not on top like the front rotors. My 540i rotors came with their original rubber line attached, which will screw into the e30 rear hardlines, however it puts a bit more stress on the line and a weird bend I'm not too keen on. At this point I have: e30 hardline -> e30 rear SS braided line -> rubber 540i line -> caliper. It's too long this way and makes a looping bend I don't like either. It's not at an acute angle or anything which is cool, but its quite long and just kind of flops/hangs out behind the shock.
What is everyone else doing?
Complete rear, you can kind of see what I mean with the lines:
Finished product:
My setup consists of E46 M3 front rotors and calipers
E39 540i aluminum calipers
E46 325i rear rotors
225/45/17 front
235/40/17 rear
17x8.5" ET40 wheels
10mm spacer front
15mm spacer rear
I barely clear the strut tube up front...few mm - I definitely wouldn't go less than 10mm. I have enough clearance up front out laterally. However, I have the THR eyeball arms and I'm on billy sports and IE-S3 springs with E90 drop hats. I rub the inner fender lip with the outside edge of the tire preeeetty hard. I have since converted back to stock lollipops with AKG centered bushings since I feel decreasing the caster (boooo I know) should solve the problem, but I haven't had a chance to drive the car since the change. I need juuuust a bit of clearance since you can turn the wheel "past" the rubbing if you get my drift.
I haven't tried it but my next step would be going to 235/40/17 up front, but I don't think I would have enough lateral clearance of the wheel to the fender. If I rolled what little there is up front and went to a wider spacer, I think it would look like one of those mini trucks with mad poke yo, and I'm not ready to airbrush a virgin mary on my hood just yet.
In the rear, you can make it without using a spacer at all if you roll the lips a tiny bit, but you will barely clear the trailing arm. I rolled my inner fender lips almost flat and ran a 15mm spacer. It looks really good and handles great.
Things you will (probably) need:
30mm socket
36mm socket
46mm socket
Slide hammer and bearing puller attachment
Harbor freight front wheel bearing tool
I strongly recommend running wheel studs if you plan on using spacers
4-8x M12x32 bolts and lock nuts depending on if you reuse your old bolts
4-8x M10x32 bolts and lock nuts
BFH (3+lb sledge)
rubber mallet
breaker bar
beer
Front:
follow the guides you can find anywhere about getting to the front wheel bearing. If you're as lucky as me, the inner bearing race will stay put. I used a dremel to carefully cut a notch on the thicker part closer to the car, then stuck a flathead in that notch and rubber malleted away.
Next you will put the sleeve adapter, then the wheel bearing assembly, then tighten down the spindle nut. Someone correct me if wrong but I think its 210 ft/lb.
Then you will put the rotor spacer, then the rotor centering ring, then the rotor.
Some photos of the front assembly care of jb325is can be seen here:
To bolt up the calipers you're going to need to either totally remove or dremel out a spot of the dust cover. I couldn't get the dust cover bent into shape where it would clear both the rotor and the tie rod, so I just cut a piece off. The tie rod doesn't make contact with the rotor, it was just difficult to clear both with the way/shape the steel is stamped.
difference between stock and new rotor:
Rear:
follow directions you can find many places for removing wheels bearings - this job is a PITA. Messing around with getting the halfshafts in/out of the hubs took up 90% of the total time this project took.
I tried multiple tools and in the end what really worked best for me was the Harbor Freight front wheel bearing kit. It was 95$ after coupon and made the job a snap. A different bearing puller, the pipe/BFH method, and a slide hammer all failed me, but this tool made this step take about 30 minutes.
http://www.harborfreight.com/fwd-fro...ers-66829.html
You will definitely have to modify your rear dust covers as well. This is about how mine look, though I think i actually had to take a little more off the top than this pic shows
This is a good time to rebuild your halfshafts or diff, or replace your leaking output shaft seals.
I tried 500 different things and what finally got the halfshafts back in for me:
make sure they are 100% clean
Gently file in between the splines if needed with a small file
clean clean clean
turn a can of compressed air upside down and hose the hell out of the splined end for a good 20-30 seconds rotating it as you go
grease/lube the splined portion of the hub
make sure the halfshaft and hub splines are aligned (should be able to push in at least 1/2" or so by hand) and keep pressure on the halfshaft like you're trying to push it into the hub
Gently-ish circumferentially pound the face of the hub with a rubber mallet until threads are visible on the halfshaft
attach the axle nut and tighten it to pull the rest of the halfshaft in
One question I still have is what's up with the rear lines? The e30 lines are too short for the 540i aluminum calipers since the hole is on the side, not on top like the front rotors. My 540i rotors came with their original rubber line attached, which will screw into the e30 rear hardlines, however it puts a bit more stress on the line and a weird bend I'm not too keen on. At this point I have: e30 hardline -> e30 rear SS braided line -> rubber 540i line -> caliper. It's too long this way and makes a looping bend I don't like either. It's not at an acute angle or anything which is cool, but its quite long and just kind of flops/hangs out behind the shock.
What is everyone else doing?
Complete rear, you can kind of see what I mean with the lines:
Finished product:
Comment