Massive Brakes for E30

[2002maniac]

Does anybody run this BBK with Rota 15x8 wheels ? I just want to make sure they fit OK over the brakes/calipers before I order the wheels. I am deciding between 15x8 et20 or 16x8 et20 and would rather not go with 16s unless 15s just don't clear them.

Thank you!!!

I just printed and cut out the profiles for the SL street and race kits and checked them on a 15x8 rota slip. They both fit with at least 1/2" clearance. The way they designed the wheels for our low offset, we have tons of room for brakes.

You owe me ;)

[alexbaby88]

Does anybody run this BBK with Rota 15x8 wheels ? I just want to make sure they fit OK over the brakes/calipers before I order the wheels. I am deciding between 15x8 et20 or 16x8 et20 and would rather not go with 16s unless 15s just don't clear them.

Thank you!!!

whats the offset of the rota wheel?

[Jean]

I just printed and cut out the profiles for the SL street and race kits and checked them on a 15x8 rota slip. They both fit with at least 1/2" clearance. The way they designed the wheels for our low offset, we have tons of room for brakes.

You owe me ;)

Thank you man! :) This is good to know.

Now to find out if Kosei K1s fit and i'll be set on the type of wheel to get

[Massive Lee]

Jean. As great as K1s are, or may I say "were", they will be more difficult to source month after month. The BMW fittings are getting discontinued. There may be a few sets out there, but for how long? Check with Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 wheels as they have enough room for the race kit. Wheels are available in black, white, silver and now anthracite.

[Jean]

Lee, any suggestions on where to order them from , what offset fits the e30s best ?

Thank you.

[Massive Lee]

A friend of mine just bought a set from HMS Motorsport after waiting for 5 months. Perhaps they have some more. Bimmerworld and VT Motorsports also sell them. Offset is 25mm which is e30-correct. For less offset, 3mm spacers are available.

[trent]

call HMS and ask for JAY FLOWER he is the bizz bomb.

[Massive Lee]

BTW a friend of mine just got his TD PR from HMS after a 6 months waiting period. Not their faults, but let's say that the importer could order twice what they currently import and still sell them. So, grab a set while they are in stock.

[alexbaby88]

Well I bit the bullet and have ordered the street kit for my E30 from Massive Brakes! So far, the correspondence with Lee has been clear and quick. I ordered the complete kit including hats, lines, Wilwood Superlite calipers and rotors. I can't wait! I will provide pics when I recieve them and give guys the review on installation and performance. Stay posted!

Any updates / reviews of your new brakes? Pics?

[Massive Lee]

Felix was very courteous to send me pictures of his Sport kit install, which requires to remove the heat shield (for extra cooling air), cut the upper heatshield bracket (to make room for the caliper bracket), and voilà. Felix was lucky to be using SKF calipers with the small depression where the flange meets the rotor hub (see discussion in the tech section - all hats that do not fit your FAG hub will are replaced, free of charge - all my hats in stock have already been machined to fit any hub from any brand.

Felix is using 16" x 7.5" Borbet wheels. Calipers clear the back of the wheels by about 1mm. I recommended Felix to use a thin 3mm spacer.

Heatshield is removed first.


Tab is ground off.



The countersunk bolts are graded and very strong. But do not torque beyong 80ft.lbs.



Time to install the stainless set screws


Calipers and rotors perfectly centered. Rotor is about 3mm away from the steering balljoint. This is as inward as any rotor can be installed. Same with the Race kit. e30 kits are very difficult to design and make everybody happy.


Final installation. If one day Felix decides to upgrade to the "bigger" Superlite forged caliper because he has changed his wheels, it will be a simple unbolt - bolt back together. NDL and Superlite are 100% interchangeable.


The thick stainless steel bracket has about 3mm worth of adjustment. It is now time to adjust it so that the brake pads are flush with the rotor, or perhaps a bit more "in" to clear the rim.



Here is what lurks under the hood


Thanks very much to Felix for sending some pictures. It will certainly help other e30 owners when installing their kit.

[passdanachos]

Sorry for the long delay. I have been really busy. I was going to put the brakes in myself but it turns out that the mechanic that is doing the engine swap wanted to do it for free. He was interested in seeing how the brakes worked out too! So I dropped them off last week and he started the install today. We ran into some problems already! The hats Lee has sent doesn't fit the hubs! Damn it! So right now I am waiting for a response from Lee......

I am sure it is a minor hiccup and Lee will fix this soon......

[passdanachos]

Wow. I emailed Lee the situation and he responded in no time. He offered to replace the hats with the proper fitting ones, no charge and including all the shipping within 72 hours. Damn. Only if my mechanic was this fast!

Thanks Lee!

[passdanachos]

So I got the car back with the brakes installed. There were a few hiccups but nothing that Lee couldn't help us with. All in all the brakes went in really smoothly, my mechanic was a little upset with the way he had to grind and remove tabs to install the brakes but it all fit eventually. It was a really tight fit, I ended up using 5mm spacers.

One issue I am having with the spacers is the car shakes at 100 km/hr. I think it has to due with the wheels being no longer hub-centric because the spacers take up the hub thickness and the wheel no longer aligns with the hub. Is there a solution to this?

As for the performance, we had some issues with bleeding the brakes, probably due the lines being completely drained. But once that was up and running, they worked great. All in all I am really pleased with the way the installation went. The brake response is really smooth and unlike my stock rotors, the Wilwood didn't fade noticably under repeated heavy braking. Lee was really helpful, he replied to every email promptly and had an answer for every question I posed. I would recommend anyone to upgrade to Massive!

Check out the website of my car! It is the 1991 red BMW 318is/S52 on this website:

http://www.cgmotorsports.com/

[Massive Lee]

Thanks very much for the good word. It does happen that from time to time there are glitches in the installation, but I will always be prompt to reply. As some of you may remember, I (and a few customers) were surprised by the discrepency in hub designs between SKF and FAG (even FAG is not consistent, some hubs have a recess, some don't). I hope I have resolved the problem to every customer's satisfaction. It was the only glitch is several years.

When installed and properly adjusted, the calipers should be perfectly centered with the rotor (it may be off, by a max of 0,2mm). The height of pad can be adjusted to fit your specific pad. Not all suppliers are indeed following Wilwood's specs. By exemple, Performance Friction pads are missing about 2,5mm of pad compound on the outer perimeter. Which is why the range of adjustement on the bracket is 3mm.

I also wished I could have designed a kit that did not require to cut an unnecessary tab, but hey, there was no other way to fit a lug mounted caliper under those wheels.

Also, as a side note when it comes to picking the right piston size for calipers, here is basically how it goes.
If you intend to upgrade the front end, but want to keep the rear end stock and don't want to use a proportioning valve, then I suggest to use 1.38" piston calipers. You will keep the original balance and pedal feel. If you install front 1.75" without upgrading the rear, then a proportioning valve will be needed if you race the car. Not needed for a daily driver. With 1.75" piston calipers, I highly suggest a 25,4mm MC to retain a stock brake pedal travel and feel.

If you are building a racecar, and want to upgrade the rear later, then I suggest front 1.75" piston calipers and rear 1.00" or 1.12" piston calipers. And 25,4mm MC.