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      09-13-2018, 03:53 PM   #1
hardparker
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X5 brake upgrade for X3 or X4

I wanted to do a brake upgrade on my X3 using other OEM BMW parts and found, after some experimentation, that the last two generations of X5 brakes will work with a relatively simple spacer setup to allow the correct lateral offset.



I fabbed up some prototype spacers and sourced some proper bolts to accommodate the setup.



I'd purchased a refurbished set of E70 X5M calipers, only to find they didn't clear my 19" wheels. A lucky F10 5-Series owner ended up buying them from me.



Rather than buy new wheels and tires, I ended up with a set of F15 X5 50i two-piston calipers from the junkyard for $120 for the pair. Fifty bucks later, they were fully rebuilt with new seals, boots and paint. So, $170 for the pair of 50i calipers and my DIY time! I bought some new EBC X5 50i 365x36 rotors, along with YellowStuff pads, sold together as a kit, EBC part number S13KF1645, for $225. I added in some ECS braided stainless lines for $75. Note that the X3 brake lines and pad sensor work without issue on the X5 calipers.



The heat shield required a little trimming to clear either of the 50i or X5M calipers. Here's the uncut OEM shield.



Here it is after a little trimming with my Wiss shears.



Here are the little pie slice pieces I cut away.



An inside view for fun. Oops, I forgot to put the dust caps on the sliders in this pic! They're on there now.



Here's what they ended up looking like. Pardon the dust and filth!







After $30 in brake fluid, I'm all in at around $500 for a nice big brake setup worthy of my PS2 powered X3!

In case someone else wants to do the same, I had a batch of spacers custom milled from 304 stainless steel, with proper length grade 10.9 OEM quality bolts and sweet Nord-Lock safety washers. Check out my for sale thread and PM me if you want some.

X3/X4 to X5/X6 brake upgrade adapter kit

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Last edited by hardparker; 09-25-2018 at 05:38 PM..
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      09-13-2018, 04:58 PM   #2
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Way more cost effective than the tronik f10 m5 setup

Any difference of brake dust from partial trimming of the dust shield?

Did you clean and paint the f25 oe caliper bracket to match the calipers?

Looks way better than mine (even after wire brushing and brake cleaner) pic of when I did mine
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      09-13-2018, 05:10 PM   #3
hardparker
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I don't think they dust any more due to the shield trimming, but rather due to the YellowStuff pads. Those pads dust terribly, but hold up to heat and stop well.

You have to use the caliper bracket from the 50i setup. You need the complete calipers with brackets. I used wire brushes and brake cleaner to clean them, then painted them with silver high temp brake caliper paint.
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Last edited by hardparker; 09-25-2018 at 05:37 PM..
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      09-13-2018, 05:15 PM   #4
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I don't know why I thought that the f25 caliper brackets would even fit the larger E70 x5m calipers.
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      09-13-2018, 05:22 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E90705 View Post
I don't know why I thought that the f25 caliper brackets would even fit the larger E70 x5m calipers.
No worries. Also, the X5M calipers have integral brackets cast into the caliper bodies. The X5 50i calipers are two-piston cast iron sliding calipers, rather than the 4 or 6 piston X5M aluminum calipers on the E70 or F85. Any of those are a far cry better than the stock X3 brakes, though.
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      09-15-2018, 10:52 AM   #6
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A very clever way of mixing and matching OEM parts to improve one's brakes without spending a fortune. It appears there is adequate clearance if an F25 used 18" stock wheels (versus the 19"s).
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      09-16-2018, 08:52 AM   #7
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Nice work! I've done this stuff int he past with pre-existing kits on my other cars. Glad to see someone take the initiative to try this on their own. And to make the write-up as well!
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      09-19-2018, 07:23 AM   #8
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So we have this documented for later - can you post the caliper part numbers?
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      09-19-2018, 09:57 AM   #9
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For the 50i combo, the parts are:

1 x Caliper housing left 34116788431
1 x Caliper housing right 34116788432
2 x Caliper carrier 34116788433

I'd recommend buying used calipers from ebay, though. They average around $60 per caliper from the online auto recyclers there. The ones I bought looked in good enough condition to use, but I went ahead and bought rebuild parts from RockAuto.com and rebuilt them myself, which was pretty quick and easy.
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      09-19-2018, 10:04 AM   #10
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Here's a quick visual comparison of the F25 pad versus the X5 50i pad. You can see that the larger two-piston caliper, with its 12% increase in piston area also give a generous increase in pad area.



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      09-19-2018, 10:28 AM   #11
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Is the rebuild kit where you got the ///M covers? I'm trying to find those on eBay, not sure if they're not there or if I'm searching wrong.
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      09-19-2018, 10:51 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 335iAP View Post
Is the rebuild kit where you got the ///M covers? I'm trying to find those on eBay, not sure if they're not there or if I'm searching wrong.
No, I bought vinyl decals off of ebay and put those on over the silver paint and then clear coated over them. BTW, they're not covers, but the OEM spring clips to keep the caliper parts tensioned together. It just happened to be a convenient place to put a decal.

///M vinyl brake decals on ebay
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      09-21-2018, 08:25 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hardparker View Post
No, I bought vinyl decals off of ebay and put those on over the silver paint and then clear coated over them. BTW, they're not covers, but the OEM spring clips to keep the caliper parts tensioned together. It just happened to be a convenient place to put a decal.

///M vinyl brake decals on ebay
It's nice when things happen to work out in ways like that!
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      09-21-2018, 08:41 PM   #14
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This is very intersting, nice work. Have you calculated the difference in brake bias yet?
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      09-25-2018, 01:56 PM   #15
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This is great for wanting a good brake upgrade and being able to use oem parts! I’d like to buy a set of refurbished x5 50i calibers etc from you for my 2013 x3 m-sport if possible! Waiting to be able to pm you. Thank you for the ingenuity!
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      09-25-2018, 05:35 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bimmer ///man View Post
This is very intersting, nice work. Have you calculated the difference in brake bias yet?
Thanks. I haven't. If I have time I'll try to dig up my old brake bias calculator. I know there's a 12% increase in piston area.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowboyupatl View Post
This is great for wanting a good brake upgrade and being able to use oem parts! I’d like to buy a set of refurbished x5 50i calibers etc from you for my 2013 x3 m-sport if possible! Waiting to be able to pm you. Thank you for the ingenuity!
Yeah, PM me when you can and I'll see what I can do.
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      06-19-2019, 09:36 AM   #17
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So, stock X3 rotors?

Any issues with ABS misinterpreting the greater braking power in the front for slipping in the rear or something?

What amount of braking improvement do you actually get?

thanks
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      06-19-2019, 10:15 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by najnad View Post
So, stock X3 rotors?

Any issues with ABS misinterpreting the greater braking power in the front for slipping in the rear or something?

What amount of braking improvement do you actually get?

thanks
No, you have to use rotors to match the calipers you're going with. There are no issues with ABS performance. There are significant improvements in fade resistance under heavy braking. My X5 50i brakes easily haul my X3 down from 140 mph with no fade using EBC YellowStuff pads.
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      07-18-2019, 03:52 AM   #19
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Love this post, I want to upgrade to 20" wheels and the rotors look to small on that setup. I definitely will consider doing this if I can upgrade front and rear rotors.

So I started to do some research on realoem as the X3 has the electronic parking brake with the EMF actuator which is limited to a few models (see list here: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...34216794618%09)

The idea is that the new rear caliper needs to connect seamlessly to the existing connector for the e-brake. the f15 uses the traditional e-brake system found in the E90 with brake shoes inside the rotor, whereas this new system uses an electronic actuator to lock the rotor with the updated mechanism eliminating the need for e-brake shoes.

My concern is I want it to match the F15 rotors 5.0 rotors, so that means M6/M5 (f10/f06/f12) rotors wont work out as they are too expensive for me at this moment. All of the non M rotors seem to be 345x24. The rear rotors on my f25 are currently 328x28. The rotor meets the criteria of increasing surface area however the reduced thickness of the 345x24 causes concern about fitment and stability as I assume I will have to use washers to make up the loss of the 4mm of width.

Or, is that concern not valid as long as I use the matching caliper for the F06? I know I cannot use the existing caliper on the X3.

Thoughts on this anyone?
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      07-18-2019, 04:09 AM   #20
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Would the size difference be corrected by me simply cutting the torx bolts by 4mm? see attached pic of F06 caliper. I am hoping it is that simple but something tells me it isnt.
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      07-18-2019, 08:43 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiemyster View Post
Love this post, I want to upgrade to 20" wheels and the rotors look to small on that setup. I definitely will consider doing this if I can upgrade front and rear rotors.

So I started to do some research on realoem as the X3 has the electronic parking brake with the EMF actuator which is limited to a few models (see list here: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...34216794618%09)

The idea is that the new rear caliper needs to connect seamlessly to the existing connector for the e-brake. the f15 uses the traditional e-brake system found in the E90 with brake shoes inside the rotor, whereas this new system uses an electronic actuator to lock the rotor with the updated mechanism eliminating the need for e-brake shoes.

My concern is I want it to match the F15 rotors 5.0 rotors, so that means M6/M5 (f10/f06/f12) rotors wont work out as they are too expensive for me at this moment. All of the non M rotors seem to be 345x24. The rear rotors on my f25 are currently 328x28. The rotor meets the criteria of increasing surface area however the reduced thickness of the 345x24 causes concern about fitment and stability as I assume I will have to use washers to make up the loss of the 4mm of width.

Or, is that concern not valid as long as I use the matching caliper for the F06? I know I cannot use the existing caliper on the X3.

Thoughts on this anyone?
Thanks for taking an interest. I have all the parts but haven't had the time to install them. I've done measurements and parts lookups to determine that the 345x24 rear rotors will work with F10 rear calipers. But which? There are 345/24 rear rotor fitments for both the SUVs and the cars. Each has a different offset. From the measurements I've done, I went with the sedan rear rotors because it seems closest to the X3's offset.

I'm not sure when I'll get around to swapping them on. I just pad swapped the rear a few months ago, so there's no immediacy to it for me. If you want to stop by and help me turn wrenches some weekend, let me know. ;-)

Here's a copy of my notes:

2009-2016 550i rear calipers
EBC YellowStuff DP42089R pads
Bendix PRT6318 rear rotors
X3 rotor height = 2.799", center offset = 2.40
X5 rotor height = 3.09", center offset = 2.618 (.218" or 5.54mm inboard)
550i rotor height = 2.72" center offset = 2.248 (.152" or 3.86mm outboard) (This is what I went with.)

550i GT height = 2.72" (this is the 370mm rotor, caliper different, or bracket needed)
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Last edited by hardparker; 07-18-2019 at 08:51 AM..
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      07-18-2019, 08:48 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiemyster View Post
Would the size difference be corrected by me simply cutting the torx bolts by 4mm? see attached pic of F06 caliper. I am hoping it is that simple but something tells me it isnt.
No, the bracket itself is what would need to be changed for offset. You can typically only space outwards. Spacers do that easily. I'm hoping none are needed for the combo I'm going with. Otherwise, I'll try the X5 rotors or make spacers.

BTW, the "Brake upgrades from other BMW models on F10" thread in those forums is great info for us. https://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1488894
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