Alright this weekend I'm going to install the JCW Brake Kit with some ATE super blue. Any notes not stated in the bentley manual I should know? and what do you guys think of later upgrayyed-ing to factory cross-drill's for looks only obviously.

To do a full bleed and fill how much fluid should I buy?

I'm also thinking about s/s lines but do I go with r53 or r56 s/s lines.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

Need some more info, like what year your car is, and maybe some info about the package you're going to install.

 

Right on,

04 MCS, I'm adding the JCW factory brake kit, as far as I knew there was only one for R53's.

 

Are you tracking your car? If not ATE and SS lines are a waste of time and money. You'll never take advantage of them driving on public roads. And if you use ATE you'll have to flush more often. It's more hygroscopic and doesn't last as long as regular brake fluid.

 

The car might see a couple of auto-x events a year with some mountain driving. Its got 102k on it so nothing too outrageous.

I had a chance to pick up goodridge s/s line for $50 so I figured WTH. What fluids would be recommended for my set-up if ATE is "waste of money"

 

If you are going to do AutoX, then it is worth getting the SS lines and using ATE.

My point is if you aren't doing anything to really heat up your brakes, you don't need a high temp fluid like ATE. But if you use it, you'll need to flush it much more often than the OEM brake fluid. I would say for every AutoX event and every 4-6 months otherwise. With OEM you can go 12-18 months or more without replacing fluid because it's far less hygroscopic (generally true for lower temp brake fluids).

My point was if you just drive on public roads, doing SS lines and using ATE is gaining you nothing. In that case, the OEM brake fluid is perfectly adequate.

I have SS lines and use ATE on my M3.

 

Thanks for the info, how do you feel about the cross drills that are available for it? Also how much fluid should I get to do a complete flush/fill? I thought I heard 2 qts.

Oh yeah congrats on the new mini, will you get it today?

 

On my M3, I can do a flush/bleed with a quart of ATE. I leave just enough of the old fluid in the reservoir to bleed out and have it topped up correctly when I'm done.

Crossed drilled look cool, but can cause you to get some brake squeal. I don't think the factory JCW rotos are slotted/drilled & I plan to leave them.

My JCW arrived in port today. It still has to get to the VDC where it will get driving lamps fitted, them on a truck to MINI of St. Louis. I expect it there around the 8th or so. I'm at the end of a lease that ends Nov. 1. As a result I won't pick up my JCW before 9/16 so that my first loan payment falls in November (my last lease payment is October).

 

One thing to be very careful about the cross drilled rotors, is cracking. I've seen pics of Mini's with cracked cross drilled rotors after a track day.

 

Cross drills are off my list. That was easy, I've never really read anything positive about them anyway and that saves me about $250 bucks. The only draw is aesthetics but I'm still running s-heavies for right now so you wont see them anyway.

Thanks for the help guys

 

I'm collecting the parts to put jcw brakes on my 2006 S convert. I've got 2007 S calipers and ss lines, but I can't find any rotors with holes for my 12mm lug bolts (except the expensive dealer ones). Is it safe to run rotors with 14mm holes on a car with 12mm lugs, or does someone sell bushings for this application?
What are others doing? Everything I've read about putting 07 brakes on earlier cars calls them 'bolt on'.

 

Heres the diagram for the 01-05 JCW Brakes from realoem.com



They state pn# 34116768933

for the disc maybe check pelican $102, bimmerspecialist.com $98, morristown or somewhere else for that part.

 

One Can of ATE is enough. I like my drilled & slotted JCW rotors No cracking after two SCCA auto-x classes and one Phil Wicks Driving Academy (track).

 

PlayPlay,
Is it my imagination, or do you have 12m studs in 14mm holes on those rotors? What year is your car?

 

I just took a look at my R53 (stock) brakes, and it appears the holes in the brake rotors are quite loose, so I can't see any reason why running R56 rotors with looser still holes would make any difference.
I can't imagine the single tapered screw alone could take all the shear, so I guess the claims that the rotors/wheels on Minis are actually held by friction are true. Go figure.

 

Alright my jcw brakes came in the mail so they will go on along with the goodridge s/s lines and rear rotors I picked up this weekend. I'll post pics here shortly.

I ended up not going with the cross-drills and I'm still debating the ATE fluid but I've got a couple of days to figure that one out. All in all its been a good week for my car. I added the cabrio braces, painted the side marker lights smoke, custom made a fiberglass air diverter, blackout beltline, all new rotors and brakes and a bunch of goodies to come in the next week including my custom reat seat delete with storage compartments.

I feel like I have a new car and its only 103,000 miles young

 

Yep those are the Texas Speedwerks 14mm to 12mm conversion studs. I have a late year 2006 MCS so my holes were 14mm.

 

ih8cornnuts: I just returned the ss goodridge brake lines I was told would fit my R53 with R56 calipers. The ones they sent had 90 degree ends and banjo bolts (included) that would work with my stock R53 calipers, but not my R56 (same as jcw) ones. Goodridge told me they don't make lines to put jcw calipers on my 2006 R53.
Did you just buy 2007 MCS lines, like I told them to send me?

 

No I ended up buying the R53 ones and I still havent gotten around to installing the kit yet. If it needs R56 than I'll look into those otherwise its the stock lines.

 

If this thread is general JCW brake Qs, then I need some help with a sqealing issue.

I have the factory installed JCW brakes and recently 'upgraded' to Hawk ceramic pads all around to reduce dust. And yes the dust is significantly down from OEM, but I have developed a squeal with light application from the front.
1. with heavier application, there is no squeal.
2. 14K miles on the my '06, the rotors are in great condition
3. they stop fine with no chatter or vibration
4. Yes, I used grease as indicated in the Bentley, not BMW grease but that purple Loctite stuff you get in little packets at the auto parts store.
5. Since the squealing began I have removed the front pads, re-scuffed the rotors and pads, and that worked for about 200 miles, now back to squealing.

Is this what I should expect? Please tell me no!

Help please...............

 

Um...not sure. I've heard of other pads squeaking with slight pressure. Usually pads for more aggressive braking requirements. Anyone else?

 

Aggressive pads squeak - just get used to it. I used to "play tunes" with my 911 brakes going down into the parking garage...

 

Well it took an extra month to find the time for the install but there in. I added the goodridge s/s lines I bought as well. The stock R53 lines worked with the JCW kit and everything went smooth and easy. The pedals a tad soft but we'll see if the bedding fixes it. I didnt have a pressure bleeder so I did it old school. If it doesnt fix I'll buy the motive bleeder and do it again.

I also painted the valve cover red which is trick looking but a PITA to do.

 

A couple of autox events a year and mountain driving don't necessarily warrant ATE. On a car that sees that kind of duty, I usually use a good off the shelf brake fluid. Valvoline synthetic does the job w/o requiring to be bled as often. Keep in mind that a lot of the high performance brake fluid has a high dry boiling point but often has a lower wet boiling point than OTS brake fluid.

Here is a quote from Stoptech on Brake Fluid:
For high performance street car use, the wet boiling point is at least as important as the dry. DOT 3 DOT 4, and DOT 5.1 brake fluids are ether based and, as such they are hygroscopic in nature - i.e. they adsorb water at every opportunity. Since water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) the adsorbed water dramatically lowers the boiling point of the brake fluid. A minute amount of water suspended in the fluid decreases the boiling point as much as 1/3. Damn!

And here is alink to the full article:
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp...fluid_1a.shtml
Highly suggest spending some time on their site reading about what brake engineers have to say on various performance braking options and questions.

 

I used either Napa's dot4 or one of the other dot4's I cant remember now. But the soft pedal is gone and the brakes feel great. I'm just out of the bedding/light use mileage so this week I'll have to carve it up around the lake.

Thanks for the info