Trying to figure out whether Braided Steel brake lines or the Caliper bushings will give me better pedal feel. Anyone have any direct experience with this?

I know that on some cars swapping to braided lines doesn't make a difference in brake feel. On other cars its night and day difference.

Are there any legitimate concerns about wear to the solid upgraded Caliper bushings?

This is a street car only. Wife drives it mostly but both of us hate the crappy feel of the stock MCS brakes. Going to be doing pads soon so I figured I'd look into this too.

Thanks.

 

Both will improve pedal "squishiness". Lines more-so than the bushings if you want to pick one or the other.

 

UKSUV - Which lines and bushings did you use? Thanks.

 

Shop price, but be sure they are DOT approved. I have used them for years without problems.

Motor on

 

I ran this issue by a very honest & qualified vendor, who said that the caliper bushings would give some benefit, but would require more maintenance than most would care to give on a street driven car.

 

Both will help feel
I think the line will assist feel more.

Yes the bushings do require more maintance than stock

 

I guess I'm getting some lines then - probably Goodrich. This and brake pads will be my first "upgrade"

Gonna get the M7 strut reinforcement plates too. Just in case. I remember what used to happen to the strut towers of one the early A1 VWs. I'm getting old....

 

What maintenance do the metal bushings require?

mb

 

They will need to be lubed at least once a year. Otherwise they will seize up & cause uneven pad wear. It's really not a hardship to lube them. My Miata has the same type of metal bushing. Every spring I give them a lube when I rotate the tires.

 

I have Goodrich lines on my mini, those along with some Super Blue racing brake fluid really improved feel. My entire brake upgrade also included Hawk ceramic brake pads, and PowerSlot Cryo-Tempered slotted rotors. All in all, braking is better than stock. Brake fade is non-existant, which is why i went with this set up. It took some doing to get them to fade in order to get some pad material on the rotors, but it was worth it.

 

You might want to look into this:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=77743

I might point out too that there is no such thing as DOT approved hoses as mfg are not required by law to submit hose design for approval. There are DOT compliant hoses (meaning they meet the guidlines of the DOT) and are simply a hose without fittings beyond those required on each end of the hose. Race car hoses with reuseable hoses ends are not "compliant" yet in reality equal to or perferred by many as suitable for use.

Most hoses today (incl those above) use a crimp end on them and the the most common design in use.

 

I had the bushings on my M3 and it did help the pedal feel when the bushings were well lubed. As soon as the lube wore off the pedal feel suffered. I had to lube the bushing at least every 3 -4 months. Most of the BMW people that use the metal bushings are the guys that track their cars and are consistently working on their cars.

 

I'm using Stoptech everything. Bushings are from Moss Mini or Mini Mania...something like that. I can't remember where I got them.

 

And remember that upgrading the brake lines will take you out of stock class if you AutoX. I don't know about the bushings though. Unless they pulled the wheels and calipers, they would never see the bushings.