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Brembo BBK Install & Review
As many of you know at Brecus Motorsport the month of March we had a grand opening sale on Brembo Big Brake Kits. We decided to install the kits on our personal cars. Recently we had the chance to install and bed in a GT 355mm 4 piston front kit on an E39 M5. The next day we experienced the difference in performance from OEM brakes first hand at an autocross test and tune track event.
First we pulled the wheel and began to disassemble the stock calipers off the stock rotor.
First we pulled the wheel and began to disassemble the stock calipers off the stock rotor.
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These things really look great…
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Cleaning it all up for a perfect mounting of the new hardware.
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Next we mounted the Brembo slotted discs and torqued them to spec.
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Bolting up the new calipers was super easy... a direct fit.
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Next we bled the system and we decided to go with the high temp racing fluid as we will be tracking this car.
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After the first bleed we put the OEM wheels back on the car and to our surprise both front wheels fit without any spacers. There can be slight manufacturing differences in the production of wheels but these OEM front wheels cleared by approximately 1-2mm without any spacer. We decided to use a 3mm spacer regardless just to play it safe.
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Here we are looking with a flashlight and measuring how far the wheel cleared without the spacer.
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All in all the install was rather simple and took about 2 hours. One of the amazing differences was the weight between the OEM components and the Brembo BBK. We could not believe how heavy and clunky the OEM brakes were! After the install we took the car out and slowly removed the protective film on the rotors and then brought it back to the shop for a final bleed down of the system. After the final bleed we took the car out for the final bedding process. We followed the 30 min of driving and bedded the kit in according to Brembo spec by slowly bringing them up to temp and letting them then cool.
The next day we had the chance to experience the difference in stopping power and performance out at the track. Let us start out by saying that we were blown away at the level of braking power this upgrade gave the Brecus M5. After the initial install and bedding we had realistically only driven the car two times before heading out to the track. The street performance was smooth yet quiet and the pedal was strong and firm. After a few laps the pedal is now even more firm and very strong when applied! The larger rotors, bigger pistons, bigger piston bores, and the narrow annulus caliper all help create more leverage to eliminate the "spongy" feeling of the stock brakes. So essentially you barely have to touch the brake pedal for a medium level of performance. The pedal feel alone is a huge boost in confidence. The heat management is incredible. After a run we measured the heat temp on the discs and they only reached around 200 degrees fahrenheit after each run. There was another racer whos BBK discs were almost 400 degrees! There was approximately 3-5 min in between runs on this course. Everything about the Brembo GT kit is designed to improve the heat management within the braking system. The huge pads, which are very thick, allows them to absorb more heat. The discs have directional vanes that work to keep rotors cool. The steering on our M5 felt drastically more responsive as well, with less unsprung weight we have no doubt the car handled better as well.
All in all the install was rather simple and took about 2 hours. One of the amazing differences was the weight between the OEM components and the Brembo BBK. We could not believe how heavy and clunky the OEM brakes were! After the install we took the car out and slowly removed the protective film on the rotors and then brought it back to the shop for a final bleed down of the system. After the final bleed we took the car out for the final bedding process. We followed the 30 min of driving and bedded the kit in according to Brembo spec by slowly bringing them up to temp and letting them then cool.
The next day we had the chance to experience the difference in stopping power and performance out at the track. Let us start out by saying that we were blown away at the level of braking power this upgrade gave the Brecus M5. After the initial install and bedding we had realistically only driven the car two times before heading out to the track. The street performance was smooth yet quiet and the pedal was strong and firm. After a few laps the pedal is now even more firm and very strong when applied! The larger rotors, bigger pistons, bigger piston bores, and the narrow annulus caliper all help create more leverage to eliminate the "spongy" feeling of the stock brakes. So essentially you barely have to touch the brake pedal for a medium level of performance. The pedal feel alone is a huge boost in confidence. The heat management is incredible. After a run we measured the heat temp on the discs and they only reached around 200 degrees fahrenheit after each run. There was another racer whos BBK discs were almost 400 degrees! There was approximately 3-5 min in between runs on this course. Everything about the Brembo GT kit is designed to improve the heat management within the braking system. The huge pads, which are very thick, allows them to absorb more heat. The discs have directional vanes that work to keep rotors cool. The steering on our M5 felt drastically more responsive as well, with less unsprung weight we have no doubt the car handled better as well.
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Another E39 M5 owner and racer was out at the track and racing beside us but with OEM brakes. He had the opportunity to ride along with us on a couple runs and he could not believe the sheer bite and stopping power of these Brembo brakes. They allowed us to get into the corners faster and thus out of them as well. We were discussing how we had heard over and over how a BBK didn't really make much of a difference above OEM for a few stops. But I can assure you that theory was put to rest. At Brecus we never sell or recomend a product to any customer that we would not or do not use. Its safe to say we can confidently recommend the Brembo GT series of brakes to anyone considering a BBK.
Aaron Breeden