[Stück]

Since having considerably upgraded my 535i's performance with a Pure Stage 2 turbo, Mission Performance Stage 3 flash tune, and all of the other "full bolt on" supporting mods you's expect I found myself overwhelming the front brakes factory spec'd regularly.

Just a few highway pulls following by briskly dropping anchor would leave the front end shaking so violently under braking I'd often elect to just not brake

Obviously this needed some attention. I considered doing the OE M5 front brake upgrade but I felt people were just asking too much for the used calipers. The rotors were pretty expensive too, but that I don't mind so much. I also considered Stoptechs kit for our cars but again its just mega expensive and at the end of the day this is really just a daily driver.

I do need it to slow the hell down once in a while though

I elected to retofit the front brakes from a 550i onto the car. Everything is direct bolt on with no modifications needed.

I purchased a pair of brake new brake discs, which have directional cooling vanes. 535i discs are NON directional.



Looking at the picture you're going to to think these rotors are "the same size" and you wouldn't be wrong, but you wouldn't be right either. What BMW did was keep the rotor at 348mm diameter, but reduce the size of the aluminum bell to allow the friction surface to move inward. They also added to the disc's width, 36mm wide vs 30mm wide on the 535i.

The calipers are also very similar at a casual glance, but the 550i unit again is larger, wider and reaches further inward to clamp a brake pad that is ~35% larger in surface area than the 535i pad. I somehow lost or deleted the pad comparison picture, sorry.



The calipers both utilize the same 60mm size piston so no hydraulic changes are needed.

The brake dust backing plate does not require any adjustment, and the original brake hose worked as well. The calipers were donated by a wrecked 7500mi '15 550i that met its demise.

Overall braking torque is noticeably increased, and with the Michelin P4S rubber I run the car drops anchor at a moments notice. I've had this setup about 2 months now and have been quite pleased with the cost effective upgrade.

[.BMW.]

Great info Stück!

[Stück]

Just after a much needed wash, you can see how close the further inboard caliper is to my concave BC's

[remmib]

Bigger brakes always look cool.

[Proimport]

Nice write up thanks for the info I might have to do that to my 535i.

[ezaircon4jc]

I assume the stock M Sport wheels will clear the calipers...

[lsturbointeg]

[Surly73]

Originally Posted by Stück

Overall braking torque is noticeably increased, and with the Michelin P4S rubber I run the car drops anchor at a moments notice. I've had this setup about 2 months now and have been quite pleased with the cost effective upgrade.

Any concerns with altering the Front/Rear bias of the car? Does the 550 have a different bias valve than the 535, or does it count on being more nose heavy to balance things out?

[thakid22]

Originally Posted by Stück

Just after a much needed wash, you can see how close the further inboard caliper is to my concave BC's

Umm... Isn’t that tire mounted inside out/backwards? Gotta watch those tire shops... Looks like that tire needs to be mounted the other way on that rim.

[ey2001]

Originally Posted by thakid22

Umm... Isn’t that tire mounted inside out/backwards? Gotta watch those tire shops... Looks like that tire needs to be mounted the other way on that rim.

Wow good eye

[Stück]

Indeed it is lol, I'm aware of the issue I'm just too busy to go by Discount and have them fix their shit.

[thakid22]

Originally Posted by Stück

Indeed it is lol, I'm aware of the issue I'm just too busy to go by Discount and have them fix their shit.

Glad you you know about it. Carry on!

[thakid22]

Originally Posted by ey2001

Wow good eye

Lol. Thanks!

[.BMW.]

I did this aswell yesterday, but the Euro spec version of 535 and 550 brakes. Which means I went from 348x36 rotors to 374x36, both directional 2-piece rotors.

Details and part numbers in this thread: f10.5post.com

Visual comparision of the rotor sizes.

[f10_will]

I retrofitted f10 m5 brakes on my 535 xdrive

[Tevzadze2.0]

Originally Posted by Stück

Since having considerably upgraded my 535i's performance with a Pure Stage 2 turbo, Mission Performance Stage 3 flash tune, and all of the other "full bolt on" supporting mods you's expect I found myself overwhelming the front brakes factory spec'd regularly.

Just a few highway pulls following by briskly dropping anchor would leave the front end shaking so violently under braking I'd often elect to just not brake

Obviously this needed some attention. I considered doing the OE M5 front brake upgrade but I felt people were just asking too much for the used calipers. The rotors were pretty expensive too, but that I don't mind so much. I also considered Stoptechs kit for our cars but again its just mega expensive and at the end of the day this is really just a daily driver.

I do need it to slow the hell down once in a while though

I elected to retofit the front brakes from a 550i onto the car. Everything is direct bolt on with no modifications needed.

I purchased a pair of brake new brake discs, which have directional cooling vanes. 535i discs are NON directional.



Looking at the picture you're going to to think these rotors are "the same size" and you wouldn't be wrong, but you wouldn't be right either. What BMW did was keep the rotor at 348mm diameter, but reduce the size of the aluminum bell to allow the friction surface to move inward. They also added to the disc's width, 36mm wide vs 30mm wide on the 535i.

The calipers are also very similar at a casual glance, but the 550i unit again is larger, wider and reaches further inward to clamp a brake pad that is ~35% larger in surface area than the 535i pad. I somehow lost or deleted the pad comparison picture, sorry.



The calipers both utilize the same 60mm size piston so no hydraulic changes are needed.

The brake dust backing plate does not require any adjustment, and the original brake hose worked as well. The calipers were donated by a wrecked 7500mi '15 550i that met its demise.

Overall braking torque is noticeably increased, and with the Michelin P4S rubber I run the car drops anchor at a moments notice. I've had this setup about 2 months now and have been quite pleased with the cost effective upgrade.

Which caliper is the 550 caliper , the one that reads 60/30? On the right . Didn't catch that part

[BimmerHausPerformance]

DUDE! I wonder if this is what happened to me... look at my fiasco with my brakes and how I had to grind my calipers and pads down to fit onto the larger sized center hub. I bet I had 550 DISCS! Can you check out my thread @stück?

[BimmerHausPerformance]

Link for reference... https://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1726542

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by BrowBMW

DUDE! I wonder if this is what happened to me... look at my fiasco with my brakes and how I had to grind my calipers and pads down to fit onto the larger sized center hub. I bet I had 550 DISCS! Can you check out my thread @stück?

Discs? You mean calipers right? You commented on your thread that you seemed to have 7 series calipers. The 550 and the 7 series share the same calipers in the US, so you would be right.

If you had the larger 60/36 calipers, then ordered the 535 rotors with the larger hub, makes sense that it rubs. It looks like you already had the full 550 brakes and kinda undid the mod.

[BigJay1six1]

Hello guys, I’m doing the g30 brake upgrade soon, which a gathered all the parts. But I was also wondering if I can retrofit an f10 550 rear calipers and if so what exactly do I need thanks in advance any info is greatly appreciated