So did a little research here on NAM and decide to do the R53 to R56 Front Brake Conversion (or as I like to call it the Poor Mans JCW Kit), I am not going to go into HOW TO do the conversion as this has been cover a good number of times here and other place on the web there is even a PDF file out there with basic instructions.

I just wanted to give others the Price Break-Down, in case you would like to do the conversion, and make some suggestions, these suggestion are only that suggestion!

What you NEED:

R56 Front Rotors
R56 Front PADS
R56 Front Calipers and Carriers
R56 Brake Lines*

What I suggest you add:

Stainless Steel R56 Brake Lines - *this is in place of the above
New R56 style Brake Wear Sensor**
Brake Fluid

and of course you will need tools and the various other things you would for doing a brake job.

I suggest that you not use the old lines from the R56 donor as they will be hard, and I suggest that you not buy the factory ones as you can get SS Lines cheaper and they ARE BETTER.

The **Wear Sensor can be re-used from then donor IF you get one that has not been activated (circuit broken) and you are able to get it out of the old brake-shoe without damaging it, I personally bought a new one to save the headache.

Brake Fluid - you are going to need some no matter what you are going to be opening the system, so there will be some loss due to that and to do the job right you need to bleed the system. I personally decide to upgrade to a synthetic DOT4 since I was going to be doing the work.

Prices:

Calipers, Shoes, Wear Sensor, and Rotors - these can be got for anything from a few dollars assuming you take them off yourself at a U-Pick Salvage Yard.

I had a slight variation of this and here is the prices:

Calipers $80 - eBay Salvage Units Shipped
Pads and Rotors $115.oo - eBay NEW Drilled & Slotted Units
Motul DOT4 Fluid $19.oo - Amazon Prime Shipped
StopTech SS Lines $60.oo eBay Seller
Pad Wear Sensor $28.oo Dealer (local)
Red Caliper Paint $8.oo Advance Auto
Simply-Green $4.oo Walmart (used to clean and prep for paint)

Grand Total = $314.00

I will do the labor myself and I already Painted the Calipers as you can see in the picture, I even have a set of the JCW stickers coming from a place that makes re-productions in the UK: http://supergraphicsf1.com/Mini-Cooper.html

 

Here is a shot of the Brake Stickers to complete the Poor Man's JCW Brake Conversion:

 

Did this a while back, totally worth it.

 

Yeah, I have the EBC Red pads coming in today!

 

how long did it take to do the install? just picked up a set of r56 brakes.

 

Damn easy:

take off the r53 calipers by removing the 2 carrier bolts
pull the hose from the strut
take the hose off the hard line attachment point

reverse:
attach new hose to the R56 calipers
bolt R56 Carriers to the wheel hub with the bolt you removed from the R53 carriers
bleed system

I can do it in an hour, but if you give yourself 2 you will be safe.

 

thanks.

 

Did this swap awhile back, painted calipers and used the JCW stickers also.


https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...the-cheap.html

 

Going to do the swap out in 2 weeks. Sound like I have lead on a complete set of R56 2011 S. I here it may take a master cyinder change too, anybody know?

 

It does not

 

thanks

 

Will R55 brakes be the same as R56?

 

Yes the S will have S Brakes and the Non S will have the correct caliper but not the correct rotor and carriers

 

Made the deal, what size stickers do I need ? I see there is diff sizes

 

just curious what is the going rate for a used set up with 9000miles? i was trying to find posts to find out what people sold/bought them for.
calipers, rotors, lines. never tracked. i upgraded my 56s brakes
any info would be great.

 

So can i use the r53 jcw rotors for the correct lug hole size, or does it not matter?

 

Only the early JCW rotors and some aftermarket rotors will have the smaller lug holes.

All our WMW rotors have the 14mm holes so they will work with either size lug bolts
http://www.waymotorworks.com/wmw-joh...0-r53-r52.html

 

I was just in the market for some new rotors and pads, instead of just replacing them thinking I could use a little upgrade! Neat stuff!

 

That was my though as well, just grab some bigger calipers off ebay or rockauto.

 

have you pulled the trigger on rock auto or ebay? im worried that ill order, and they wont have the carriers, and ill have to get those seperatly

 

I bought a set on Ebay they came with everything. rock auto will have them sold with and without, just make sure you get the right ones. it I've had really good luck with rock auto reman calipers, bought many.

 

I have a few questions hopefully someone that has completed this can help me out with. First will 1 can of the caliper paint to the front and rear or should I pick up 2 (and one can of clear). Secondly how many bottles of the brake fluid should I pick up for both front and rear?. I am asking because I am needed to get all of this on amazon. Lastly I am under the impression that I can use my r53 REAR brakes and tweak and paint them a little but have to use r56 setup for the front are there any thing I can use from both like pads, rotors, etc or do I need 2 buy everything in pairs of 2s like the 2 56 rotors for the front and 2 r53 rotors for the rear.. Thanks for the help

 

I would buy 2 cans of red and 1 clear. I would also buy 2 cans of brake fluid, you will need it later more than likely. The rotors from what I recall are different sizes so you will have to buy 2 and 2. I did not change my rear brake set up, they do very little of the work so there was no reason.

 

Awesome thanks for the advice. I was just planning on painting, changing pads, and rotors on the rear brakes. I have severe mini ocd so I want the rear and fronts to match also peice of mind knowing everything is "new" and matching. Any suggestions on where and what to get for rotors. I like the look of slotted and drilled but is that a bad idea? Also can you buy just 2 pads? Or do I have to buy 4? Thanks again

 

I have used ceramic pads from world pac-cheap and very good, also the better ceramics from autozone and very good