I was wondering if anyone has done a Porsche BBK conversion on their car. If so what was the approximate cost? Is it better value than, say going with a Wilwood BBK? Any issues on the install? Where would be the best resource to get them?

Thanks

 

I don't know of anyone that's done it, but it sure would grab some looks! I would be most worried about parts cost down the road with Porsche.

Financially, it would probably make more sense to buy a Wilwood kit from TCE performance.

 

Well that answers that my question then. Thank you sir!

 

The Porsche brakes would look really interesting, but the change out might be a PIA...

It seems there would be a lot of custom work to make them fit. Then there is the price...Porsche parts have never been known to be cheap. MINI parts are expensive enough, Porsche will be 2x more. There might be a compatibility issue with the size of the MINI master cylinder as compared to the piston size in the Porsche calipers; the master cylinder needs to be matched to the calipers on all 4 wheels. The rotor size front to rear will also be an issue. Porsche has most of its weight in the back and can take advantage of that with large brakes back there. The Porsche rear brakes would not be functional in the MINI; too much brake in the back will make the car swap ends.

Wilwood make several MINI compatible kits that will bolt right in; even a 6 piston caliper that will fit the JCW rotor that looks fantastic, IMHO. Price is right too and parts are readily available. As for value, the Wilwoods have it all over the Porsche parts. Other options would be the JCW brakes or the Brembos or the new GP 6 pot brakes. Even these would be a better value than the Porsche parts.

 

I tend to agree. And not so much for business reasons but for hassle and functional reasons; the MINI requires some much smaller piston sizes than a Porsche does due to its very small master cylinder. Fitting big, or multi piston calipers to the car and not having them properly paired with the necessary mc will lead to terrible pedal feel and response. Will they stop better just because they say Porsche on them? Not a chance. Maximum braking torque will always be tire limited. The amount of work necessary to do this would be (and I'll say 'is' as I do believe it's been done on another forum) well beyond the level of the daily driver enthusiast.

Funny...looking back nearly ten years now, at one time I had compiled a huge list of companies who were (or going to) produce kits for this fine car. At one time I think there were upwards of ten offerings! Today that qty has dwindled down to the survivors. Why? Because the ones left standing knew what they were doing- both from a functional design as well as a reality price point.

 

Looks like someone has done it:

http://statigr.am/p/426240746300608278_292735738

 

never mind the brakes.. I want a hood like that....

 

It has been done on 2 1st gen MINIs so it can be done, but no one has tried on the 2nd gen platform. Clearly putting on porsche bbk is more show than anything, but you can save more by getting proper bbk that's intended for our gen MINIs

 

Ha ha that hood is crayyy zeeeeeeeeeee

 

Figured someone would search it out. Don't recall that pic but yes it looks pretty cool!

 

I did it on Koopa. It was a very long process, a lot of custom work. Do I think its worth doing? Not for everyone. For me? Yes. The stopping power is pretty impressive but I did it more than anything because I already has a set of 996S calipers to work with. If you want to take your car to a shop to get this done its not going to be a bargain. You are much better off getting one of many already available BBKs. I don't have any graphs or any tests to show you how much better the braking is but I can tell you by driving it. Here are the few pics that I have. Hard to get more pics right now since I'm out of the country. The car took a whole RS theme so the brakes were perfect for this.

 

BTW... GTT UK made a kit for the R53 that supposedly worked for the R56. I tried to get info from them but there was no info or help or advice. I couldn't buy brackets from them or even custom rotors... I could buy the entire BBK for a ridiculous amount of money and expensive shipping or I could go kick rocks. I kicked some rocks and fabbed my own kit.

 

Impressive
Did you have to do anything with the master cylinder?

 

Thanks. I remembering scouring through searches for days and found someone in the UK who used the E46 M3 MC on his R53S that did the Porsche BB upgrade. I thought it may be something I would need so I kept it in mind. When I re-checked all my measurements and specs of everything I had, I realized the JCW BBK was not much different from the Porsche kit I put together. I went over to Westchester BMW/MINI and they had a JCW BBK there. After taking a look at everything and with the help of one of the advisors there (a good friend of mine) we thought we would try using the stock MC (like the JCW BBK) and make adjustments if necessary. In the end the stock MC has been good so far. It has been clamping very nicely and progressively. No mush, no fade. Maybe the R53S guy needed an upgrade anyway because the R53 brakes are pretty mushy as stock. There have been a few R53 guys who have retrofitted the R56 MC on their cars to have a more progressive feel.

 

Never mind the Porsche BBK, do you have a bunch of pictures of that custom painted MINI? What a cool color!!!

 

Thanks man. I wish I had more pics but I'm out of the country. The car is Signal Green. There is a lot of details on the car to be an homage to the RS. My mother sent me this pic the other day. My father with my little niece... if it was anyone else on the hood we'd have a problem lol. Will have to get Koopa some GP2 goodies soon

 

Is that a LS-swap Porsche in the background too

That's a really cool color. Totally unique.

 

That's my old girl. She's a wild one. Sad to see her just sitting there. Had her redone in Atlantis Blue. I love unique colored cars as you can see lol.


Last time I drove her she looked like this:



[IMG][/IMG]



Here she is with the Clubbie