318ti five lug conversion

[hoveringuy]

All e36 caliper rebuilds are the same, Ate sells them through worldPAC and Advance Auto Parts has (had?) them from TRW.

That's good to know. Google searching I found a lot of references to the dealer can't get rebuild kits for the ti and they are not listed by Pelican. I'll blow the piston out today and take the seal to my local auto parts place. I may get lucky.

edit: Piston came out, it's 34mm and has some pitting. Anyone sell just the pistons?

[hoveringuy]

So, I learned that the 318ti and regular e36's have different size pistons in the rear. The 318ti has 34mm pistons and the e36 36mm.

If you're going the 318ti route just go ahead and get regular e36 rear calipers as well. You will still need the 318ti carriers.

On to my current problem...

I was happy to put my e36 caliper back together with their 36mm pistons and the 318ti carrier.

I was very proud of myself until I got them on the trailing arm and realized that the brake hose mounting is different on the e36 calipers! They are oriented 90degrees off. I have a choice of either getting the proper hose orientation or getting the bleed nipple on the top.

You can see the where the hose attached at the end of the rectangular section. On the 318ti it points towards the hard line.

What to do?? Any 90 degree fittings available? Alternately, do they bleed with the bleed nipples down??

[Spaz]

AFAIK you Run each calipers on the opposite sides of the car. With the Bleed nipple down, connect a clear hose then bleed the brakes so you can visually see if all the air gets out, and less of a chance of more air being introduced to the system.

:)

[hoveringuy]

AFAIK you Run each calipers on the opposite sides of the car. With the Bleed nipple down, connect a clear hose then bleed the brakes so you can visually see if all the air gets out, and less of a chance of more air being introduced to the system.

:)

You would be draining fluid from the bottom of the cylinder, leaving the air at the top.

In practice, how well does it work?

[Spaz]

You would be draining fluid from the bottom of the cylinder, leaving the air at the top.

In practice, how well does it work?

I figured that, but after thinking about this last night, if i had to go about it this is what i would do.

1. Hook up brake lines calipers on opposite sides of car.
2. Do not mount the caliper to the carrier
3. Rotate the caliper so the bleeder valve is sitting right side up.
4. Use a block of wood to hold back the piston.
5. Bleed Brakes
6. Bleed Brakes again, make sure the air is out, you don't want to pull them back off again.
7. Push back in caliper piston if needed (with the bleeder CLOSED).
8. Complete assembly of the rear brakes.
9. Bed in pads :)

[hoveringuy]

So the current state of the art is that in order to use the e36 non-318ti calipers I need to mount them on the opposite side in order to use the stock hose. The bleed nipple is on the bottom and I need to stand on my head whenever I want to bleed the brakes....





Option two. Go to local hydraulic shop and fabricate a couple of hoses for $40 that let me mount the calipers in the proper position so that bleeding doesn't become a hassle. The brake line *may* need to be removed to remove the caliper, but that's it.



Parts used:

(2) BQ4511 Tube Nut 10x1mm x 3/16
(2) HF02 Fitting-universal ext 3/16 bundy tube
(2) HFMF05 Fitting- Female 10x1mm European (DPS)
12" 1/8" brake hose

$40, assembled and pressure tested to 3000psi

[Mossman]

So the problem is stock brake lines aren't long enough to reach the bottom input when you swap from side to side? Those lines look slick, and good to know that regular e36 calipers have slightly bigger pistons, should help with brake balance a little for those who use e36 m3 front brakes. I don't track my car so I haven't had any complaints with my m3/ti setup but I'm sure others might, front locks up way before back in my experience.

Has anyone checked to see if e36 m3 calipers fit in ti carriers? I kinda doubt it cuz people would do it but I have both so I'm gonna check that soon

[hoveringuy]

So the problem is stock brake lines aren't long enough to reach the bottom input when you swap from side to side? Those lines look slick, and good to know that regular e36 calipers have slightly bigger pistons, should help with brake balance a little for those who use e36 m3 front brakes. I don't track my car so I haven't had any complaints with my m3/ti setup but I'm sure others might, front locks up way before back in my experience.

Has anyone checked to see if e36 m3 calipers fit in ti carriers? I kinda doubt it cuz people would do it but I have both so I'm gonna check that soon

The problem is not only that the stock lines aren't long enough, but if they were longer they wouldn't be able to make the 110 degree turn without kinking.

I think if your fronts are locking up that's good, but you may have room for much more braking power in the rear, too! How much are you leaving on the table?

[Mossman]

I don't drive the car that hard (well I work the engine hard, not so much the brakes). Anyways it's a convertible, hopefully I'll hit autoX with it this year and see what it can do, but I gotta say with e36 m3 front, ti rear, regular street pads, ABS deleted, it stops like the hand of god and can lock up tires at 30-40 It feels like, although I try not to :) Running 215/40/17 nitto neogens which are great tires y'all btw

[Spaz]

Looks proper and great steve. Thats the best way of fitting those calipers, no monkey business like i described :P