So You Want To Upgrade To a BBK (Big Brake Kit) Pt. 1
- Brian Pandji
- Mar 11, 2021
- 7 min read
It's that glimpse of red or yellow peeking through.
Or the glimpse of that kit that becomes obvious as your wheels spin.
It's your big brake kit.
Or commonly known as your BBK.
Every E46 M3 owners wants it. Yeah, we could stick with the stock OEM disc rotors and plain old silver color ///M marked brake caliper, but what's the fun of having a sports performance car when your brakes and your brake colors don't show?
Ever since supercars like Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche colors their brembo brakes, it has been more and more popular to either paint your calipers or upgrade your caliper to a bright shiny color. Typically it would be the same color as your car, but for that extra attention grabber, we like to go for a different color. Yellow on a blue car, red on a black car or green on a ... you choose what floats your boat.
If we can get the wheels to have a bigger "window" to look into what's behind it, the better. If we can upgrade the rotors into cross drilled, or slotted or cross drilled and slotted, then it would be golden.
Oh the things we do to make our car looks nicer and performs better. I'm a noob, and I don't currently race, and have not thought about bringing my car to the track (yet), but the call to increase stopping power and aesthetic looks to my car, is such a temptation call.
But what does it entail, to upgrade your E46 M3 into a Big Brake Kit (BBK)?
Since BMW did not release the E46 M3 with a BBK, the process to upgrade the OEM brake caliper into a Brembo one, can be quite a hack. Especially if you want to save some money for upcoming, unexpected repairs. And we all like to save money.
Here are some options available to you if you are interested in upgrading your brakes to a BBK:
Get a Stop Tech / Brembo Plug and Play Big Brake Kit. No brainer here. If you are willing to spend at least $5000 to upgrade your front and rear brakes and rotors, then this is the way to go. Stop Tech makes one of the BBK kits as they are created specifically for your car. They say that you can also only get the front set as the front set is able to dramatically improve your stopping power as it manages the brake bias with your stock rear. Just the front set would cost you $2400 (including all the adaptors and rotors). If you want it all ready and prepared for you, this would be the way to go.
Get a new Brembo caliper that will be a direct fit to the E46 M3. They may not be the caliper that is intended for your car but with the right adaptor, it will fit your car's rotors just right for about half the price.
Get a used Brembo caliper from eBay / other sources and retrofit it (update the caliper parts). This solution is the one that most E46 enthusiasts do, because we like to save money for unforeseen repairs and. With this solution, we may spend even less money than #2. It may cost you some additional time, and effort researching but in addition to saving cost, it may also teaches you some patience and creativity as you find the right part for your car.
For me, I decided to choose door #3.
Here's why:
It saves me money
I am not in a hurry
It's fun to retrofit
If you are with me and willing to get your hands dirty (literally and figuratively), I am going to share a bunch of my wins and struggles in this series of articles that may help you make a decision on what caliper you want to get, and how to get it on your car.
Choosing The Right Brembo For Our E46 M3
This is probably the trickiest, most research intensive portion of this whole project that I had to do. There are A LOT of caliper options from a variety of cars that you can retrofit and adapt to the E46 M3. It really proves why our car is one of the most popular BMW because in addition to having a big community, it is also a creative community that is willing to research and share their finding with each other.
According to buildjournal, the most comprehensive blog site containing repairs, maintenance and tips for BMW performance cars, there are a few different options an E46 M3 owner can use to upgrade their current brakes.
Rear Setup
Porsche 996 Brembo Brake Rear Caliper
This is the easiest choice you will ever have to make ... because it is the only option! I was not able to find any other retrofit as perfect as the Brembo caliper that came from the Porsche 996 / Boxster S.
Front Setup
This is where it can get confusing. Compared to the single option rear setup, the front setup is a buffet platter. Buildjournal and a few other forums, have suggested a few different option for the Front setup. Since the front setup is most important for stopping power, it is important that we choose an option that fits best for how you will use the car.
There are about 5 different options you can choose from when choosing a BBK kit for the front of our E46 M3. They are all good option and except for the 996 option, they are all a direct fit with the help of adaptors. But when you consider their availability, pricing options, the rotors that they use, and the brake bias with the 996 combo on the back, these options can make your head spin.
More about these Front Caliper setup and installation:
But I don't track my weekend car ...
Because buildjournal authors are experienced race track drivers, their blogsite categorizes and prioritizes them based on brake bias. Again, the true function of a BBK is to for maximum stopping power in the race track. But since my M3 is currently a weekend warrior, my priority list is a little different.
Here's what I consider (and you should too!) when choosing the FRONT brake caliper retrofit for our E46 M3:
Most minimum alterations. Braking is a very important part of driving. If you are a street driver like me, then yeah perhaps we don't need the ultimate stopping power from our brakes, but it can't only look good, it must also perform well. When your brake caliper needs to be shaved or altered in order for it to work, then it may not be the right option for you.
Brake Bias. Because these Brembo calipers come from different cars, and some are non-BMWs and possibly front and rear calipers may be different, bias of these brake power may be different. Brake Bias gets amplified when you are on the race track, but since we are typically on the street, brake bias may not be too obvious. But still, it is important to have a brake bias that is as close as stock.
Price. I keep on going back here and I don't mean to sound like a cheapskate, but if this is your weekend car (like me) and it's at least 14 years old, you need to be a little bit of a penny pincher. The right brake caliper for your car will be the one that is affordable.
The option to upgrade. Yes I know that we are already upgrading our brakes, but there are actually even more room to upgrade. You can upgrade your rotors, your brake lines, your brake pads. If you want to be race ready, then there are a lot more you can do. But I want the option to be able to upgrade, I don't want to have to go directly to the top because that is the only option the caliper would fit.
Familiarity. Some of these brembo calipers that we will be retrofitting are made for other cars. Again, because BMW did not produce the E46 M3 with a Brembo caliper (unlike the more modern BMW generations), we are using brake calipers made from other cars. They are still brembos, but designed for other cars. To me, it is important to be familiar with what car that is. Preferably it would be a car that is more superior than my car.
Available parts. For a weekend car, we could probably stick with the same brake pad for a while. We will enjoy it's longetivity in comparison if we were to track it. But still, when the time comes when we need to change the brake pad, I don't want to have to research for it. Ideally, I'd like to be able to search on FCP Euro or ECS Tuning for the parts.
Based on the considerations below, I have made my own conclusion that the happy medium for me would be ... The Aston Martin DB9 Front Caliper!
Here's why the Aston Martin DB9 Front Brembo Caliper is the best solution for me:
No machining or alterations needed
The adaptor from VagBremTechnic allows installation on stock (325mm) or an upgraded rotor (345 mm). Upgrade as you go!
Price point is smack dab in the middle between the most common 996 caliper and the best bias solution of E31 or the ultimate 6 piston solution of the 135
Who doesn't know the James Bond car and who doesn't want a piece of it on your M3
Probably finding parts for the Aston Martin brake caliper wouldn't be as easy as inputting into the FCPEuro search bar, but it's still easier to search than a classic E31 or the Megane that is unavailable and unheard of in North America
So there you have it. My two cents and my plan when upgrading my E46 M3 to a BBK.
Front caliper: Brembo Caliper from an Aston Martin DB9
Rear caliper: Brembo Caliper from a Porsche 996 / Boxster S
Here's the full breakdown of what will be needed for this option
What do you think?
Tell me in the comments what option will you choose?
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