5 lug vs 4 lug

[bmw325is]

I currently have a 94 325is in my back yard and am looking to get an e30 and transplant the m50 into it..

Now i am also looking into adding the 5 lug suspension to the e30 (94 325is has brembo brakes). But after looking, it looks like i may need e36 m3 parts for this to make it worth it.

Basically i am not too worried about wheel selection etc, on the e30. I am more worried about braking ability. I plan on tracking the car when complete and am wondering if the 4 lug will be able to handle it or if it is really worth going through the 5 lug swap for the extra braking power.

Any input is appreciated.

[Danny]

4 lug does fine on the track, but I wouldn't mind M3 brakes on my car.

[Stephen]

Have you looked at massive brakes?

[e30s52]

4 lug is fine for brakes now. If you really want 5-lug and bigger brakes you can get e36 m3 5-lug or just buy massives kit.

[ZM Blue Devil]

chances of you out growing your brakes even with an m50 is unlikely, if you do go with Massive and you are golden.

[Stephen]

Im going to go m50 soon with any luck. My axxis pads and brembo blanks should do the trick

[e30s52]

Im going to go m50 soon with any luck. My axxis pads and brembo blanks should do the trick

They will be fine. If you plan on going turbo down the road you should get massives kit.

[SA E30]

I'm not sure I agree.

In my old car on the stock BMW Blanks, Hawk HP Plus Pads, Motul RBF 660 fluid. I would go through pads and discs like crazy. A set of pads lasted roughly 3 track days, and about 300km road driving. I also kept cracking discs.

This was all on my lowly M20 2.9lt stroker. Although I did drive the car really really hard on track. I'm still not sure the standard stuff will stand up to the task.

[Wh33lhop]

I'm not sure I agree.

In my old car on the stock BMW Blanks, Hawk HP Plus Pads, Motul RBF 660 fluid. I would go through pads and discs like crazy. A set of pads lasted roughly 3 track days, and about 300km road driving. I also kept cracking discs.

This was all on my lowly M20 2.9lt stroker. Although I did drive the car really really hard on track. I'm still not sure the standard stuff will stand up to the task.

Solution: Massive kits. Good pads are cheeaaapppp for Wilwoods too.

There is also the option of the FD calipers/redrilled Corrodo rotor conversion if you don't mind doing some fab work or finding adapters.

[etxxz]

massive only the front. i wonder what benefits the 318ti rear brakes bring to the picture.
i've biased a lot braking power away from the front and into the rear and it works awesome on the track. i'd be interested in a comparison..

[Aptyp]

it's a 14mm in diameter bigger surface difference and rear pads are about 10% larger in contact surface. That's that.


I don't know how to tell people this: but with e36 m3 fronts and z3 rears, my seatbelts knock the air out of my passengers when I surprise them... they are MUCH better brakes than e30 m3. They are also better than Korman +2 BBK, which uses corvette calipers. I am yet to track them, but this 5-lug setup is amazing. (I also have 25mm master cylinder and SS brake lines, if that's not cheating).

[MR 325]

To those who are saying they don't need bigger brakes... I encourage you to take a ride in my E30 with E36 M3 front and M Coupe rear and tell me how the brakes work. ;)

[etxxz]

the stock brakes will surely brake just as hard...they won't last nearly as long at the track. i have e36M/318ti on track pads, slotted rotors and racing fluid. I have yet to experince brake fade, even at sebring which IMO is brutal on brakes... and i'm rocking an s52 (25mm booster/MC)

my comment was more regarding the impact of rear brakes on our cars. I've heard e30'ers at the track say they use chap pads on the rear because they do all the braking with the front. i've biased a lot of braking power away from the front and into into the rear because i feel the e36M fronts overpower the hell out of the 318ti (f.piston vs r.piston wise) I still have the stock limiter valve for the rear line though.

[Aptyp]

^
u don't have ABS?

[nando]

there's no reason to do 5 lug just for the brakes. you can get bigger brakes cheaper for 4 lug anyway.

the stock brakes can brake hard as other people have said, but they just do not last as long. the rotors are small, and thin. I got about 2.5 track days out of mine with HT10s before they started losing their power, which isn't bad, but my car isn't especially fast nor am I an expert driver. it also trashed the rotors, and partially melted my front outter CV boots.