M6X swap boosterless brake setup

[Madhatter]

have you got the fronts to the point where they lock up all the time? what size cylinders did you go with? if you are really struggling, you might have to change master cylinder sizes for the fronts.

[36brua]

Get a remote bias adjuster. It bolts on to the end of the balance bar and you can make adjustments with a knob.

Wilwood make a proportioning valve with the correct M10x1.0 threads too.

Thanks I have that valve installed (removed stk valve) no effect .
Just ordered the remote bias adjuster. Pretty sure I have bar out ow whack and can adjust master cylinder pedal length to clevis. As mentioned by others and as you know it is soooo handy to work on. Appreciate your input

[Madhatter]

Get a remote bias adjuster. It bolts on to the end of the balance bar and you can make adjustments with a knob.

Wilwood make a proportioning valve with the correct M10x1.0 threads too.

[36brua]

[quote=strang3majik;4400721]I have it mostly adjusted now, but I'm still not exactly happy with the pedals...plus its impossible to get the supplied hardware to seal, copper washer and all.

But I have e46 m3 front brakes and e46 325i rear brakes.

How did you correct the bias problem ? I have too much front using e36 frnt E30 M3 rear. not looking forward to resetting balance bar/ masters . garaistic/wilwood set up. Thanks

[Madhatter]

Yeah. Mine is all custom work, I've built a few now, but I only do them when I have the car here so I can guarantee everything lines up perfectly as I cut and drill the plate for the box myself (so sometimes I need to just massage a hole to get it to line up 100% properly).

I've used the tilton pedal set, to make adjustments you can go in under the box, in front of the pedals. The most difficult part is getting a spanner on to the lock nut on the clutch pushrod. Once its free you can just turn them by hand though. You can see one of the lock nuts on the pushrod in this pic.



This is off my actual car, one of the first ones I started (then have removed a couple of times to make things perfect, so I copy it now with any others I have made/fit).





I also bearing mount the throttle pedal, so no more bushes and wear/play to worry about.

[strang3majik]

what brakes do you have ?

I have it mostly adjusted now, but I'm still not exactly happy with the pedals...plus its impossible to get the supplied hardware to seal, copper washer and all.

But I have e46 m3 front brakes and e46 325i rear brakes.

Madhatter...I see you didn't use the Garagistic pedal bracket. Your's looks much cleaner and more accessible to make adjustments.

[Madhatter]

why aren't you guys adjusting the height of the pedal by screwing the threaded pushrod into the clevis? can't you do that with the wilwood balance bar?

If you pay attention to the drawings, the balance bar is NOT to be offset in the rest position. It should be pretty level.

BMW use metric fittings, wilwood and tilton cylinders don't. If you used factory brake nuts and bent the hard lines to suit, they will still have M10x1.0 brake nuts. You need an -3 to M10x1.0 adapter. Earl's make some, 989534ERL is the part number. Just check to make sure your wilwood masters are the -3 ones as they also do them in 1/8" NPT, but the short tilton masters are -3.



In the end, as I was making new lines I decided to ditch the adapters and just buy some new -3 flare nuts. Nothing wrong with adapters, they just made the fitting stick out about another inch from the master cylinders.



From building a number of pedal boxes to fit into E30's, I was always a little worried about the thickness of the metal used in some other pedal boxes I have seen. First car I did the firewall flexed a WHOLE LOT, that was using 4mm plate. I ended up removing it later and rebuilding it, 4mm plate was ok to form the box part of the pedals, but for the plate that mounts to the firewall I used much thicker 7mm stuff that made a lot of difference. I use a cross brace between the legs of the box which sits snug up under the cut out for the battery box area in the firewall (you can just make it out in the photo above). I originally figured for added stiffness we could drill through the plate and the flat section in the battery area, then bolt both together, but I've made the boxes so robust nobody has seen the need so far.

[36brua]

I have the setup and I highly dislike it. I had to adjust my brake pedal about 3/4" higher than my clutch pedal so the brakes grab sooner, and I can't seem to get enough adjustment in the balance bar to bias the brakes towards the front enough.

Hind sight I would have gone with Tilton pedals or the remote booster setup.

what brakes do you have ?

[strang3majik]

I have the setup and I highly dislike it. I had to adjust my brake pedal about 3/4" higher than my clutch pedal so the brakes grab sooner, and I can't seem to get enough adjustment in the balance bar to bias the brakes towards the front enough.

Hind sight I would have gone with Tilton pedals or the remote booster setup.

[Jean]

Kevin - thanks for the write-up. I am little concerned with this "You have quite a bit of travel before the brakes start to grab." Any way to reduce the dead travel?

[sticksdaman]

Rather than start a new thread, I'll post my question here.

What specific brake like adaptors are needed to connect the e30 brake lines to the wilwood master cylinders?


I have the 90º optional fittings from garagistic, but it seems like they wont fit the standard e30 sized brake like nuts? I didnt see anything listed about needing additional adapters in the garagistic write up and I cant find any specific details regarding which adaptors, if any, are needed.

Second question. Since I'm deleting the ABS, is it possible to re use the lines running to the ABS and route them to the front and rear calipers directly? I dont mind buying and bending new lines, just looking for insight from someone who actually has done the conversion.

[sticksdaman]

Thanks 36brua!

I was leaning in that direction, this was the one I used on my m52 swap a few years back, but wanted to be certain before I ordered the part.

[36brua]

Anyone have a definitive answer regarding the throttle cable or the brake switch?

I may have overlooked this info elsewhere?

I have 86 E30 M60
Throttle Cable E34 # 35411161881 same as commonly used on M/S 5x swaps
This was used with the garagistic/wilwood pedal arrangement / modified throttle arm.
again using the bracket from garagistic Stop light switch.. Used from' 86 w. 'round' body earlier were square ??

[Stvstr]

Can anyone provide a quick explanation of why the wilwood/garagistic dual master cylinders produce more brake line pressure than a dual circuit 17 mm Porsche 914 master? I feel like I'm missing something about these brake setups and would like to understand it better before I buy parts.

[sticksdaman]

Anyone have a definitive answer regarding the throttle cable or the brake switch?

I may have overlooked this info elsewhere?