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This if you can do it. It solves both "normal" upgrade problems: Gives you proper, modern front calipers without warts (F series); and, Doesn't require you to faff around with the rears (E series) You can't colour match this combo though so you're in for a strip and powder coat (and decals), extra $. My M140i fronts are epic, yet to install the rears because of the faff.

The coding bit is piss easy, takes about 5min, you dont actually need to code them but BMW did the work to get the brake balance and feel right... so why not. The easiest plug and play is E82 135 calipers, these are the big banana brakes on my car. They bolt straight on front and rear, calipers are big but old school design (at least in the front)... only real downside from them is having to remove the caliper to change pads on the front, rears are more moden. Think the caliper was share with a few porsche models. The front rotors are same as 135, the rear are specific to the BMW performance 130 kit, but are available at sane prices (brembo) if you shop around, think I paid $120 a rotor slotted/dimpled nice rotors. Rotors for front and rear are also available from DBA so easy to get. Technically, you dont need a cert for this option. The other option for shiny big monoblock calipers is F20 M135, fronts are bolt, however the rears require some finnicking to make fit as (from memory) use E39 M5 rear disks that are modified and trimmed pads. More modern caliper, but comes with more bullshittery as was never a stock 130 option (whereas the BMW performance option is just painted up 135 brakes) Third option, which would be nice, but difficult logistically, is F20 M135i front calipers and rotors and E82 135 rear calipers with BMWP 130 rear rotors. 335i/d brakes are also an option, but are not monoblocks and are big single pot and not shiny. Arguably good option if making a cheap track car, but if cheap track car is the goal best option is probably race pads and rotors on stock calipers.... the shiney monoblocks are 90% wank factor Suspect the fronts are bolt on, not sure about the rears.

English is not the writers first language perhaps chaps😕

X

Not sure if you’ve seen my endless posts about hunting down a car, which started with an e36 and somehow got diverted to an e30. Finally bit the bullet with what may actually be a bit of a 🍋 in hindsight 😅 (I’ll explain later). A bit about the car first. She started her life in the land of the rising sun in 1988 as a 320i coupe in alpine white and migrated to the land of the long white cloud in 1997. It’s had extensive service history that I can see up until October 2018 when a m52b28 + 5spd (haven’t jacked up yet so don’t know what box) found its way in the engine bay. On viewing and a quick test drive: Pros: - Mechanically sounded and felt well: quick turnover on a cold start, idled well, power felt fine, no knocks or ticking, transmission was smooth. - Wof, reg, and also certed for engine, seats, brakes, suspension - Pretty straight body. Doesn’t look like it’s been in an accident at all. - Central locking with an immobiliser - 2dr and a slick top Cons: - Has the usual e30 imperfections: some rust / corrosion in the common spots (except for the passenger door which may end up being pandora’s box), cracked dash, and paint fade - Wiring’s a bit of a mess in the engine bay and under the driver’s dash - AC deleted - Windows only go up/down if a door is open (some problem with the wiring from the alarm apparently) After some thinking and asking around, I decided to just go for it so I bought it. Picked it up yesterday and that’s where we get to the to the potential lemon part. After a few stops and a bit of time driving around the tron (got some kai, gas, and pumped up tyres), my mate and I noticed a bit of white smoke coming out of the exhaust that kept going (noticed it when I first viewed it 1-2 weeks ago but thought it was just the cold and picked it up late arvo/evening yesterday so initially thought it was also just the cold). By this point we needed to top up the oil as it was sitting low so did that and after a few mins it went away. On the drive back my mate couldn’t tell whether or not smoke was coming out of the engine while driving (I drove the other car) but had his eyes on the temp gauge, which didn’t move. In saying that, we made it back to Auckland with no issues, even with a few moments of ‘spirited’ driving, and had no smoke coming from the engine bay when he was parking it at my place. Another worry is that this morning, I saw that the radiator had been slowly leaking coolant, at least overnight (see video below, have also put pictures of the oil cap, and the coolant reservoir cap) So it looks like the urgent things to do: - New rad (any recommendations?) - Get it to a mechanic to test if the head gasket’s blown I’ll take some photos of the car when I finish getting over the fact that I may have made such a dumb decision 😂. Cheers IMG_1161.MOV

36mm 32mm 28mm on E82 135 fronts (6 pot) , 42mm e82 135 rear (2 pot)

You got it, the good thing the 135i calipers is there is sh*t loads of pad options. The weights must be a harmonic resonance thing, they are big chunks of steel bolted to the aluminium caliper. I didnt bother weighing them, probably similar to stock brakes though for any meaningful purposes in unsprung weight - Steel Vs Ali, and the 135 rotor is two piece with aluminium hat. The the other option for the real BBK fanbois is to run E82 135 calipers up front, on adapters with E46 M3 CSL rotors. FBBK.

Will be doing the big banana upgrade on my E87, just so I'm getting this correct: F - 135i calipers / rotors / pads R - 135i calipers / BMP 130i rotors / 135i pads Plus coding for brake balance. I remember mucking around with the BMWP 6 piston brembo caliper in 2011 and wondering what the weights were for; run them on the calipers or not? Has anyone weighed the calipers out of interest?

FWIW, I suspect my rebuild of the 135i calipers I got cheap ($800?) cost more than just buying BMW Performance kit new... could do a cheaper rebuild than what I did in saying that.

Yeah, you won't end up with too many spares from that kit. Most likely -Engine Coolant Recovery Tank -Engine Coolant Recovery Tank Hose I've tried to fit in the viscous fan, but even with the thinner E36 rad I would only have had a few mm of clearance.

Control arms is a good punt at that mileage. To check at least.

The oil cap looks standard for one that hasn't been replaced. Probably best to get a leak down test done before you throw a new rad in there. In terms of radiators, since you've got a fl expansion tank, you should be able to run a 6 cylinder rad off an e36. Most common upgrade is the e36 Z3M radiator which is a bit thicker, though if your swap somehow has a viscous fan that might case fitment issues. In terms of hoses, I think I used e36 stuff for everything but the heater core pipes, and the overflow bottle, which I think are stock e30 ones, or a mixture.

Just some intel for everyone's reference!

Dude your inbox must be full...

Excellent results after a tune @ Torque Performance

Pop a 9xx Ducati in the garage with the leftover change.

Just arrived, released late last year, metal core 200 cell high flow cats. Dynoed to add 20-25 hp and 25- 30 tq at wheels over stock. Very well made, guaranteed to fit L & RHD without mods. On special last week from Turnermotorsport, US$ 429.00.

The inter cooler finally arrived via detour to Israel of all places !!! (Apparently somebody though NZ was Nazareth??!). I cannot recommend the XHP flash enough.... went straight to Stage 3 on that and never looked about about 9 months ago. I feel that sometimes this one change has made the biggest driveability enhancement :D The throttle blip in manual mode is just superb.

To make it easier you need to pull the steering rack down. Don't have to disconnet the powersteering hoses etc, just take it off its mounting spot. This will gives you heaps of room to get to the o2 sensors and vband clamps.

Final update on the car - I’ll leave this thread up to assist others. After much frustration with wiring, expensive bills that seemed never ending, it actually passed a VTNZ wof (which it then needed to fail for the cert...) and had cert booked. However it wasn’t running well and struggling when VANOS kicked in. What I hadn’t realised was that this was due to the oil pickup gradually getting stuffed full of metal filings. Queue 2 big end bearings shot, one brand new oil pickup toast, non running engine and more bills to diagnose said engine I was over it. I sold it from the workshop, never even got it back home. Learnings? Rust is balls, and M52B28 engine would have been easier.