PDA

View Full Version : 4 pot caliper kits for OEM size rotors


scottn2retro
06-21-2006, 04:06 PM
Hi All -

Got our new brakes from Rotora. It's a 4 pot set-up that uses OEM sized rotors with a new pad retention system from what we used at Cal Speedway and PIR (if anybody remembers the chrome plated test calipers).

Some of the stuff that came in the complete kit
http://www.bimmerfest.com/photos/data/3108/medium/Picture_152.jpg

Front brake installed
http://www.bimmerfest.com/photos/data/3108/medium/Picture_154.jpg

Rear brake installed
http://www.bimmerfest.com/photos/data/3108/medium/Picture_156.jpg

FC
06-21-2006, 04:12 PM
Nice!

I don't care for the caliper color, but they look purposeful.

Rob
06-21-2006, 04:58 PM
Excellent. When's the next race? I know you posted the schedule somewhere, but I can't remember where.

Terri Kennedy
06-21-2006, 07:48 PM
Got our new brakes from Rotora. It's a 4 pot set-up that uses OEM sized rotors with a new pad retention system from what we used at Cal Speedway and PIR (if anybody remembers the chrome plated test calipers).Cool! Since I have an AWD 325 wagon, nobody makes anything that fits it :irate:

I rebuilt my stock calipers with the Bavarian caliper bushing upgrades, which are a brass sleeve and stainless pin, instead of the BMW stainless pin in a plastic sleeve. This gives a lot less wiggle. There have been reports of these upgrades sticking, but I think that's a combination of not keeping the pins lubricated every 3-5K miles (I use Lubro-Moly anti-sieze compound) and some out-of-spec BMW parts. One of my calipers wouldn't align with the upgrade installed - the machining on the surface was like this (exaggerated): \ / instead of like this: | |. Fortunately, it was the carrier piece as opposed to the piece with the brake piston (which costs a lot more). Here's a picture, though you can't see the bushings in it.

http://www.tmk.com/shocks_brakes/6F5S4614-s.jpg

More pictures here (http://www.tmk.com/shocks_brakes). Info on the Bavarian bushing upgrade can be found at http://www.bavauto.com and entering "CBUK" in the search box.

Pinecone
06-22-2006, 06:42 AM
BTW those solid guides are actually designed and made by BimmerWorld. :)

scottn2retro
06-22-2006, 10:18 AM
Excellent. When's the next race? I know you posted the schedule somewhere, but I can't remember where.

July 8/9 at Willow Springs. Could be over 110 degrees out there. :ack:

scottn2retro
06-22-2006, 10:28 AM
Nice!

I don't care for the caliper color, but they look purposeful.

The two base colors are red and that blue - so we opted for the blue (looks almost like an anodized finish).

Other colors available (but with up to 8 week lead time) are black, gold, silver and chrome. With enough time available, I would have gotten black.

Pinecone
06-24-2006, 05:26 AM
How much?????

Pad selection?

scottn2retro
06-25-2006, 09:58 PM
How much?????

Pad selection?

Check with this vendor on price:
http://www.custom-performance.net/

He has an e-mail address on his sig on M3forums.net with a discount code.

Rotora has 2 track pads, blue and yellow with one having more bite than the other. That is something we hope to have some feedback on after the Willow Springs race on July 8/9.

But you can use other pads (I think it's a Brembo pad pattern), you just have to get them grinded thin enough to fit in there. We tested with Pagids at Fontana and Hawks at PIR and Buttonwillow.

Pinecone
06-26-2006, 07:11 AM
Cool thanks.

So it sounds like pad life will be less due to the thinner pads.

So how do you like them now that you are running them?

scottn2retro
06-26-2006, 12:01 PM
Cool thanks.

So it sounds like pad life will be less due to the thinner pads.

So how do you like them now that you are running them?

Pads are only slightly thinner, but enough of a difference to not be able to squeeze in brand new Hawks when they were new.

Porterfield can shave pads for $25 per set.

The calipers themselves worked pretty good in testing - and that was with the old front pad retention system and hand grinded pads at the track (we set a new track record at PIR).

We'll have more feedback after Willow Springs using the entire Rotora set up (calipers, pads, discs)

Pinecone
06-26-2006, 12:32 PM
Thanks for the info.

scottn2retro
07-10-2006, 07:24 PM
Thanks for the info.


We used these at the track for the first time at Willow Springs in the BMW Club Races this past weekend. Temperature in the middle of the day was about 105 degrees

Good news is we are happy with our initial outing on the Rotora setup. Willow Springs is not a track hard on brakes, but there are places where the speeds going into the braking zones are such that you don't want brakes you have to worry about.

And the Rotora setup worked flawlessly. We were using the less agressive gold pads on both front and rear (Rotora also has a more aggressive blue pad) and even in those less than optimal conditions, we were able to set a new HP record for that track.

Pinecone
07-10-2006, 09:08 PM
Getting more and more interesting.

scottn2retro
07-11-2006, 12:33 AM
Getting more and more interesting.

Willow Springs is not a hard track on brakes, so we did not use the cooling ducts. Even so, the calipers stayed nice and cool.

Pinecone
07-11-2006, 09:24 PM
OK< that makes them even more interesting.

The problem I am having is not anything on track, but between sessions I boil the fluid and end up with a soft pedal. Last Fri I did two laps as cool down and the pedal stayed nice for the day, but the next mroning was soft.

It actually seems that it goes soft when things cool down. :wtf::dunno:

scottn2retro
07-13-2006, 01:52 AM
OK< that makes them even more interesting.

The problem I am having is not anything on track, but between sessions I boil the fluid and end up with a soft pedal. Last Fri I did two laps as cool down and the pedal stayed nice for the day, but the next mroning was soft.

It actually seems that it goes soft when things cool down. :wtf::dunno:

Hmmm . . . I can ask Ralph what that means. :dunno: Do you have any kind of cooling ducts? What track is it?

Pinecone
07-16-2006, 04:54 PM
NO cooling ducts, which should be the first thing. VIR and Summit Point.

Nick M3
07-16-2006, 07:34 PM
NO cooling ducts, which should be the first thing. VIR and Summit Point.
Your problem is heat soak from the rotors. Ducts would help prevent this. :p

Pinecone
07-17-2006, 08:58 AM
Probably. So one August weekend project? :)

Nick M3
07-17-2006, 09:33 AM
Probably. So one August weekend project? :)
Guess I'd better dig up all the parts for my RRT plates, huh?

Pinecone
07-19-2006, 10:56 AM
Arern't the plates at my place?

Nick M3
07-19-2006, 11:02 AM
Arern't the plates at my place?
No, we never got around to picking them up out of the bin of doom.

scottn2retro
07-24-2006, 01:46 AM
More info on pads -

The Rotora blue aggressive pad is semi-metallic, the less aggressive yellow is full ceramic.

So after the race weekend, I washed the race car, and had to really spray down the front left wheel (Willow Springs is hard on the left front and rubber was all inside that wheel). So lots of water hit the outside pad. Dried the car and parked it.

Went to move it a week later and the left front won't budge. I even put it in gear and gave it a little gas (afraid to give it too much). I ended up taking the capliper apart so I could move the rotor to a different spot. I guess with all the water I shot in there, the pad got wet enough that when I parked it, a bunch of pad material deposited on the rotor (only the outside pad).

Once I moved the rotor to a different spot and re-assembled, everything was okay - just needed a little street driving to clean the rotor off.

Terri Kennedy
07-24-2006, 12:10 PM
Once I moved the rotor to a different spot and re-assembled, everything was okay - just needed a little street driving to clean the rotor off.Yup - I got my wagon stuck to the floor once - it was pretty unnerving until I figured it out...