What kind of brakes should I get?

I have a 2001 330Ci Convertible.

I am looking to upgrade to cross drilled rotors and I'd like some red brake calipers. Can anyone give me ideas of where I can purchase these and what are average costs?

Thank you!

By the way... I don't do any racing with my car or anything like that. So I don't want to go with super expensive Dinan parts... It's more for cosmetic reasons...

I'd get a kit from these guys. I've been using their pads for years and they're awesome!

http://www.performancefriction.com/p...s-catalog.aspx

My neighbor has a set on the front of his E36 M3 LTW and loves them, but says the rotors don't last long enough. If you're moving to this kind of brake kit, you need to have funds to support the performance or don't bother.

EDIT: Then just paint your calipers red. VHT Caliper Paint is $8/can.

Thanky ou Jeff! I don't want to just paint the current brakes. I want it to look cleaner. When I painted my car/Powdercoated my rims there was the option to powdercoat the calipers but I think I rather spend the money on new calipers and rotors... I don't race but I drive more on the aggresive side.

Originally Posted by vinniefigs

Thanky ou Jeff! I don't want to just paint the current brakes. I want it to look cleaner. When I painted my car/Powdercoated my rims there was the option to powdercoat the calipers but I think I rather spend the money on new calipers and rotors... I don't race but I drive more on the aggresive side.

The stock brakes can handle anything you can dish out on the street. Red or painted calipers look kind of dorky on anything but a supercar with carbon rotors in my opinion. Money spent on better swaybars would be a better investment IMHO.

BBKs (Big Brake Kits) *start* at around $2500....exactly HOW cool do you want to look ?....OEM (stock-type) brakes are more than you`ll ever need for street driving, and you can get all 4 corners (pads and rotors) for under $350.
Stock calipers are puny little suckers....IMHO, it`s quite anal to draw attention to them by painting them *red*....leave `em alone, or paint `em black.

Best to post this question on http://e46fanatics.com/

Originally Posted by SJBimmer

The stock brakes can handle anything you can dish out on the street and at the track!

Kid, you ain't gonna get anything that looks good without wasting thousands of dollars on a big brake kit.

I painted mine black so they disappear from sight. Best $8 I spent on the car.

Originally Posted by vinniefigs

I have a 2001 330Ci Convertible.

I am looking to upgrade to cross drilled rotors and I'd like some red brake calipers. Can anyone give me ideas of where I can purchase these and what are average costs?

Thank you!

lol

Originally Posted by jvr826

I painted mine black so they disappear from sight. Best $8 I spent on the car.

+1.

Off topic, I saw a ferrari with ceramic brakes the other day, it looked amazing!

Like this, bet them babies are not cheap to replace!

Originally Posted by smolck

+1.

Off topic, I saw a ferrari with ceramic brakes the other day, it looked amazing!

Like this, bet them babies are not cheap to replace!

ONLY $8,000 (yes......eight *thousand*) a set....wanna set ?

Originally Posted by Fast Bob

ONLY $8,000 (yes......eight *thousand*) a set....wanna set ?

say it aint so...

Mr Blurry is on fire tonight!

Have you ever handled a carbon ceramic brake disk? I was at an ALMS race at Laguna last year and Chevrolet was there with a bunch of cars and one was the ZR-1. They had bits and pieces of it on display and one section had brakes, traditional iron vs the carbon ceramic. It was amazing to feel how light those rotors were.

I know from research (yeah, a boy's gotta dream!) that a Porsche GT3 can be optioned with CC brakes for about $9k extra. However, replacement cost as I've read at rennlist... was in the $20k range. AYFKM? Even big spenders in that class of car opt out and go for iron when their first brake job is due.

I, of course, would find the rotors cheap on the Interwebs and DIY it in my garage with a paperclip, rubber band, and some hair gel... as would you Smolck.

Since you've got a 330, go for these:
http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-330...nce/ES2137045/
http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-330...nce/ES2137046/

Probably the best performing rotors you can get for a 330 (w/o getting a BBK) and the price cannot be beat

Oem

Bavauto sells a brake cover that looks like a BBK. I think they're about $200 for the set. Give you the look without the price and probably an easy install. And you get to keep your OE brakes which work real well for everything but actual racing.

Originally Posted by Fast Bob

ONLY $8,000 (yes......eight *thousand*) a set....wanna set ?

Yes please. Do they come with a 458 wrapped around them?

Originally Posted by jvr826

I, of course, would find the rotors cheap on the Interwebs and DIY it in my garage with a paperclip, rubber band, and some hair gel... as would you Smolck.

Man, I don't think I have near the skills to utilize those kind of brakes as you would. But I can certainly figure out a way to make them fit!

Originally Posted by vinniefigs

I'd like some red brake calipers.

Since you don't want to spend money on larger calipers, you could just open up Microsoft Word and print out a sign that says "look at how tiny my stock calipers are!!!"

Then stick that sign in the side window of your car.

That accomplishes exactly the same as stock size red calipers.

Originally Posted by TerraPhantm

Probably the best performing rotors you can get for a 330 (w/o getting a BBK) and the price cannot be beat

Why do they perform better than the solid offerings? And how much better?

The price is intriguing and since they're floating, I could see they may run a bit cooler. People I know who run/ran drilled rotors and track pads complain the holes get full of dust and clogged up fast. What's your experience in this regard?

Originally Posted by jvr826

Why do they perform better than the solid offerings? And how much better?

The price is intriguing and since they're floating, I could see they may run a bit cooler. People I know who run/ran drilled rotors and track pads complain the holes get full of dust and clogged up fast. What's your experience in this regard?

My cross-drills don't get dust in them at all, not floating, zimmermann front rotors stock rears...I love em, better than stock IMO. They don't over heat like my stock rotors did and it seems like they don't chew up the pad as much...Braking surprisingly smoother as well.

on that note...I had a question regarding breakpads - I did a little bit of searching on ECS and found these http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-325...g/OEM/ES10359/ -

My question: What do these brake pads have that stock pads don't?

Currently, I notice that mine tend to skip a little bit when I brake (mistakenly) over pot holes or railroad tracks. Problem or Norm and can upgrading to after market pads stop this?

Originally Posted by theruined

They don't over heat like my stock rotors did

Do you track your car frequently ?

Originally Posted by jvr826

Why do they perform better than the solid offerings? And how much better?

The price is intriguing and since they're floating, I could see they may run a bit cooler. People I know who run/ran drilled rotors and track pads complain the holes get full of dust and clogged up fast. What's your experience in this regard?

They're a couple of pounds lighter than an OEM rotor as well. The hats are aluminum. I bought two complete sets (front and back) at that price.

They're still in the garage, have not installed them yet. I did open one and they are very well made. Can't recall the OEM, but I am almost positive it's not Zimmerman or Brembo - which I was expecting.

Useless factiod: I can buy Brembo rotors for my MGB for $19ea.

Originally Posted by Fast Bob

Do you track your car frequently ?

generally speaking, almost every time I park it...yea - use my IR thermometer as well as my car struggled with radiator problems about a year ago and now it's just a habit...quick 1-2-3 check

Originally Posted by theruined

generally speaking, almost every time I park it...yea - use my IR thermometer as well as my car struggled with radiator problems about a year ago and now it's just a habit...quick 1-2-3 check

He meant track as in "racetrack". I think old Bob-O is hinting at the fact that we have some very highly skilled drivers on here that can tear up a track with the best of em, and none of them have ever indicated that the stock rotors weren't up to the job.