My 03' JCW R53 is in need of some new pads and rotors, so I thought now would be a good time to do some upgrades. This car is a daily driver (with over 200K on it), so it's not a track car. Looking for something better than stock....but not a full on BBK. What's the best brake upgrade for the money on these cars? Any larger oem rotors/calipers off of another car that would fit in a 17" wheel, and give better braking? Or am I better off to just go with new oem rotors and pads and call it good? I'd like to keep it under $1500 if possible. Maybe a front BBK is doable for that much?

Should I just buy an oem front caliper and rotor kit for an R56? That should bolt right up...right?

Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

What is it that you're wanting to accomplish?

If you just need new brakes, just buy a new set of pads and rotors. I've had great experiences with powerstop z23 and z26 (and z36 to be fair) brakes, they're priced well and work great with fairly low dust. Their rotors have a nice coating on them so your hubs don't get rusty.

BBKs are mainly for increasing thermal capacity, for track use. There's certainly some advantage to increased leverage from a larger rotor, and maybe some.clamping force benefits from multiple pistons, but in general, a BBK isn't going to stop shorter than a good set of pads on regular calipers. Typically the tires will give way and you'll be into ABS before you run out of clamping force on the rotors.

Unless you just want to mod the car and this isn't just a maintenance item, get some decent pads and rotors and rebuild the calipers and be done.

 

Big boy brake kit bbbk. 13”wilwood or bust. Best 2 grand I spent: of course others with a I have to ask my wife budget will state the r56 jcw brakes are fine but again 13” or bust

 

If it was a track car...maybe. But I'm not ready to dump $2K into my daily driver for a BBK like that. I think the R56 S calipers and rotors will be a pretty noticeable improvement over the stock R53 parts.

 

Since you’re looking for a moderate upgrade, the “poor man’s JCW” R56 S upgrade for a 1st gen MINI is definitely an option to consider.

The cost difference should really only amount to the R56 S calipers with carriers and new front brake lines since your probably already replacing the pads and rotors. If your existing calipers need replacement or rebuilding, and if your old lines needed replacing or you were going to upgrade to stainless lines, the cost difference for the upgrade could be close to $0.

Here’s a thread on NAM with a lot of info: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...rakes-kit.html

 

Yep. I saw an R56 S kit form Power Stop that comes with new pads, rotors, and calipers...for around $340. That's a pretty good deal.....just need to add the R56 braided lines.

 

Yeah no worries. Mine was a street car too. Just wanted the best I could get and again out of everything else including TVS link or rmw bvh it was the best purchase I thought. Amazing feeling and confidence.

 

My friend who has an R55 Clubman S upgraded his front brakes to the Brembo BBK from a JCW and sold me his front calipers, lines, carriers and rotors for a reasonable amount. Wasn’t looking to upgrade, but it was a great deal and well, it’s a safety thing, right?

What my son and I noticed is that the brake pedal travel is a little different. The factory setup, the pedal is firm with no gap from the moment you start pressing. The R56 calipers take a small amount more pedal travel to engage. Seems to be common feedback.

Over time, we’ve gotten used to it, but initially I was a little disappointed. Would do it again? Sure if the price is right.

 

I'm running R1 Concepts drilled/slotted rotors w/ceramic pads on my MC40. Reasonably priced and work great for a DD.

 

https://www.mini2.com/threads/finally-a-budget-big-brake-option-cheap-ish.358441/

https://www.minibrakes.com/

This is what I did. I bought brand new calipers, etc and I was still right at 1500.00 fwiw. Used calipers are dirt cheap and easy to refinish. How that helps.

 

My 2 cents is if it's just daily driven, stay with stock calipers and upgrade pads and discs. I have the R56 front calipers on my car because I was getting brake fade on track with my stock calipers, but I think the pedal feel is a littler better with the stock calipers than the R56 calipers, there's slightly less MC movement for the same amount of brake pad movement. That said, I'm pretty happy with the R56 caliper upgrade. I bought R56 calipers off of rock auto. They're rebuilt OEM calipers (the even have the MINI casting marks) and they come powder coated red.

 

You saved me with that comment. Thanks!

 

I bought my R56 calipers (Nugeon), rotors (Centric), and Pads (Ceramic Bendix) off Rock Auto for less than $200. The calipers were closeout and suspiciously cheap but it is the OEM molding and working fine. If needed, I can always rebuild them for way less than I'd pay otherwise. I spent around $70 for WMW stainless R53/R56 conversion lines, which made the job super easy - everything is bolt-on. Mine were not red but I had a lot of fun making them look like JCWs for another $30 or so (decals and paint). If you're looking for a project that won't cost much more than just replacing what you have, I recommend it.

 

A BBK is something I have been considering for some time on my R53. I haven't yet mainly because of $$$ and the fact that I just feel more comfortable with big brakes than I really NEED them. My R53 JCW came with the upgraded brakes from factory, which is awesome, but they're still a little lackluster compared to some of the most modern brake options. The one option that is super well documented especially on this forum is putting on R56 JCW brakes. They bolt right on with some upgraded stainless brake lines and fit under just about any stock wheels. They are bigger, and 4 piston, and are really pretty easy to acquire in the grand scheme of things. If I were to pull the trigger on a BBK, I would want to keep mine as OEM as possible, while also going as big as possible. If I'm trying to go bigger, why not go biggest? I would put on the GP2 calipers. Its much less common, but has been documented on this forum a time or two before if you dig deep enough (I'll try and edit this post with some links if I can dig them up). They bolt right on and fit under almost all 18" wheels, and select 17s. If you wanted to do this and save a WHOLE bunch of money, the BMW 135i performance brake kit are the same caliper, just needing a adapter mounting bracket, and the brake line fitting cast to the caliper being spun the wrong way, nothing that a 90 degree fitting cant fix. These calipers do have an issue with pistons cracking during serious use, but there are nice stainless rebuild kits that make them totally cherry. They are 6 pot and if you have ever driven a GP2, you will likely agree the best stock brakes ever fitted to a MINI. Not sure if this is something that aligns with your hopes/dreams/interests, but I figured I'd drop it in here if it's something you'd want to do more digging on. Happy wrenching!

EDIT: Here is a link that shows a member, Arori, who posted a photo of this GP2 6 piston upgrade on his R53. It has a little more info in the thread as well regarding master cylinder changes to accommodate the mod. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-question.html

 

To increase the braking system on the R53, I use 330mm discs with Brembo 4-pumping calipers.
They are of Alfa Romeo origin and are quite common in my area.
I think it's the best solution. Pay attention to the rims because you need to fit a spacer.

 

in my opinion the best choice is to use 330mm discs with brembo 4 piston calipers derived from alfa romeo

 

Chiming in kinda late on this one, but as a daily, the Poor's R56 front caliper upgrade is more than enough. If the soft pedal bothers you, then I recommend braided steel brake lines to quicken response. In all the times I can recall having a brown-shorts moment, (thank the Lord) my tiny stock brakes came through to save the day. However, I did find some remarkable complete kits listed on Madness Autowerks. They have fronts, rears, the cables etc and maybe even the hardware. I had to leave the page due to the overwhelming temptation presented by the thumbnail images alone. Good luck

 

on my 04' JCW, I 1st went the R56 caliper upgrade with Stop-Tech cross drilled Rotos and that was great. Then a member of our Mini club changed sponsors and he had barely used Wilwood 4 Piston Calipers and 12.3" Cross Drilled Slotted Rotors and SS lines for $500...it was a deal, I couldn't refuse! I have had them for over 7 years now

 

What model of alfa romeo did you take these brakes off off??