Do the e12 / e28 calipers bolt onto the 320/323 hubs ? I know about the Volvo upgrade, but I'll still have enough swept area to get myself out of trouble with a bimmer upgrade. It's also a time sensitive issue.

Will I have any m/c or booster problems with the larger calipers?
Do the e30 calipers bolt up to the 323 rear ?
Thanks for any information.

The E30 Rear calipers do bolt up to the rear trailing arms and hubs off a 323.

You will need a E12 master cylinder (preferred) or use a T to feed the Volvo calipers in front. You will need to slot the Volvo calipers to ensure that you will get the full use of the pads for stopping.

One of the guys on the list wrote an excellent write up on the Volvo calper upgrade with pictures. Do a search for it on the forum.

a link is in the faq thread.

Besides having larger pad surface area, the volvo calipers are cheaper and more common than the e12 calipers.

E12's don't fit. They have a 3.5" mount spacing and the 320's have a 3.0". The 2002 4 piston calipers should bolt right on, but I don't see much use in it. They only fit non-vented rotors.

E12's don't fit. They have a 3.5" mount spacing and the 320's have a 3.0". The 2002 4 piston calipers should bolt right on, but I don't see much use in it. They only fit non-vented rotors.

Hey Layne, any way you could machine some adapter plates for the volvo front break upgrade so we don't have to grind them?

No, not really. It's so close to fitting that there's no room for any adapter. For what you'd spend on that you could get some custom rotors that eliminated the problem and were bigger and better anyway.

No, not really. It's so close to fitting that there's no room for any adapter. For what you'd spend on that you could get some custom rotors that eliminated the problem and were bigger and better anyway.

Yeah, this is true. I was actually researching the issue abit, and the volvo upgrade is by far the most price effective for this. And even if you do the upgrade, keeping the rear drums is in your best intrest, due to the fact that you will still have a working E-Brake and not have to spend 200$ on a wilwood ebrake system :). Besides, with constant care, and tightening you can keep the rear drums pretty well in check. My E-Brake only has 4 inches of travel before its to the point where you will break your arm trying to pull it up any more.

Oh and the break booster from a 528/525e would be good for our application as well :).

Oh and the break booster from a 528/525e would be good for our application as well :).

You must be thinking of the master cylinder, there would be no reason to change the booster. Actually lots of master cylinders fit, all the way up to the 750iL's 25mm bore. I kind of want to ditch the booster and go with dual master cylinders, but we'll see what happens.

You must be thinking of the master cylinder, there would be no reason to change the booster. Actually lots of master cylinders fit, all the way up to the 750iL's 25mm bore. I kind of want to ditch the booster and go with dual master cylinders, but we'll see what happens.

No, i mean brake booster. Lol, if you are doing a M50B25 Swap, this is the only brake booster that will fit this car and the e30 when you try to shoehorn it in there :). Same for a S38 engine?

i think you mean a brake servo, which is part of most master cylinders. the servo is the only thing the boosts brake force making braking lighter on your feet. it uses vacume from the intake manifold. twin master cylinders are best as he said. then you can get brake balence just as you like it. sometimes a master cylinder change is reqired as more pot calipers often have larger overall capacity in caliper, so in extream cases you could have foot on floor and the master cylinder has pushed out all its fluid but the disc caliper pistons have only started to move against the disc. if u use a larger capacity master cylinder it will mean the brakes will come on with less pedal movement, but will also be heavyier.

i think you mean a brake servo, which is part of most master cylinders. the servo is the only thing the boosts brake force making braking lighter on your feet. it uses vacume from the intake manifold. twin master cylinders are best as he said. then you can get brake balence just as you like it. sometimes a master cylinder change is reqired as more pot calipers often have larger overall capacity in caliper, so in extream cases you could have foot on floor and the master cylinder has pushed out all its fluid but the disc caliper pistons have only started to move against the disc. if u use a larger capacity master cylinder it will mean the brakes will come on with less pedal movement, but will also be heavyier.

Thats when you get this = http://www.wilwood.com/Products/006-MasterCylinders/003-HVAMC/index.asp

When i do my brake upgrade i am going to be using this however. It is a tandem system, which has the proportioning valve built in, with remote resivuors for front and back. :) http://www.wilwood.com/Products/006-MasterCylinders/008-CRTMC/index.asp

im pritty sure e21 has something like this as standard, two cylinders one for frount one for rear, just not ajustable. bmw did it as a safty feature being a more expensive car, where most cars used single cylinder. il have a look in manual

yeah standard one is 1.89" frount 0.75" rear
" the tandem master cylinder incorpatrates double acting pistons which separatly supply frount and rear brakes. the system also incorparates a brake force limiter which reduces the hydralic pressure to the rear when predetermined pressure is exceeded. this has the effect of improving the avalible brake force avalible to the front. the vacume servo unit is operated by a direct hose link to the engine inlet manifold and its action boosts the foot pressure." source haynes

Rocket, both of those have a 1" bore, the same as the 25mm 750iL cylinder you can get for much less money. This is more like what I have in mind: http://www.wilwood.com/Products/005-PedalAssemblies/002-FSMP/fsmtmc/index.asp

Jag, booster is the american word for servo. It's the same thing.