Written by Jeff Carpenter.
Brake upgrade designed by Viorel Paraschivoiu, Guidotilux, Trangieboy, and Jeff Carpenter.
This guide was written to assist a NK owner in converting stock brakes to bigger better front brakes. It should not be taken as the highest authority of brake repair, and we are not in any way responsible for damage or injury to yourself, your car, your property or other people. This brake instillation was installed on a 1966 2000a, vin 1210873, your car may be different, so adapt the procedure to suit your needs. Remember, these cars were built during a bad time in BMW history, and although very well made, were made of parts that happened to be lying around. No two of these cars are the same, so use your own judgment when upgrading your brakes. Brakes are a safety item, if you are unsure of your mechanical or fabrication skills, do not proceed.
Skill level: 3 (out of 5), due to minor fabrication, special tools required.
Tools required:
- Pliers; needle nose, channel locks, and regular slip joint.
- Socket to fit spindle nut
- Torque wrench
- Drill press and drill bits
- Standard assortment of wrenches and screw drivers
- Special socket to loosen allen head bolts securing the rotor
- Miscellaneous hardware
Materials required:
- Two front rotors from a 3.0cs, 2800cs, very early five series (first year and a half of production), some Euro-spec 3.0 sedans, and other BMW cars made in the 70s.
- Rotor P/N 34 11 1 152 090
- Calipers from an 85 735i or similar if you have single brake lines to the caliper. If you have duel, check out five series calipers at the yard
- Depending on how your calipers receive brake fluid, you may need to change your brake hard lines, or flex hoses
- New pads for your calipers
- Paint
Part I. Disassembly.
Find a nice solid surface to work on. With the car on the ground, loosen the lug nuts, jack up the car, and then support the car on jack stands. Remove the wheel. Place a catch can under the brake line, and remove the brake line from the caliper. Remove the caliper by loosening the two 19mm bolts. Pop off the grease cap on the hub, remove the cotter pin, and remove the spindle nut, washer and slide the whole hub rotor assembly off the spindle. Remove the backing plate from the strut. Remove the rotor from the hub by loosening the four allen head bolts inside the hat of the rotor. If you do not have air tools, place the hub on the wheel you removed, stand on the wheel and remove the bolts.
Part II. Cleaning and inspection.
Remove the wheel bearings from the hub, the inside bearing will only come out after removing the grease seal (which should be replaced). Clean and inspect the bearings in solvent. Check for pits, grooves and hot spots. If you have any reason to suspect them, replace them. See your manual for more information about replacing bearings.
Part III. Reassembly.
Use your old rotors to locate the holes for the new rotors. The center hole is the same as the old solid rotors, and one of the five holes on the new rotor will line up with your old rotor. Use the one hole that lines up to bolt the rotors back to back. An added assurance of perfect alignment can be made by finding something to wedge into the center hole while drilling. I used a piece of pipe.
Using the drill press, drill out the three remaining holes. Use some WD40 or light machine oil for lubricant to keep everything cool.
Once all the holes are drilled, check that the rotor will bolt to the back of the hub.
If everything fits nicely, use a Dremel tool to take the corners off the edge of the holes. Then it is time for paint.
Clean the hub and backing plate, and paint them with high temperature paint. I used 1200 degree ceramic exhaust manifold paint. Paint the hat of the new rotor to keep it looking nice. Cut a stencil out of newspaper or cardboard to keep paint off the rotor surface.
Now that everything is all painted and clean, it is a bolt on operation from here. Place the hub back in the wheel, and torque the rotor mounting bolts to 40 ft-lb, using locktite, to insure they stay put. Be sure to clean the threads of the bolts and holes before using locktite, it will not hold if there is excessive grease and dirt on the threads. Using a high quality high temperature wheel bearing grease, pack the bearings thoroughly, and reinstall. Pack grease into the lip of the grease seal, and tap flush with the back of the hub with a rubber mallet.
Reinstall your backing plate on your strut, clean the spindle and slide the hub and rotor assembly back on, take care to avoid nicking the grease seal on the threads of the spindle. Put the washer back in, and tighten the spindle nut. Adjust the wheel bearings, and install the cotter pin and grease cap. The rotor is now installed.
The caliper will install over the stock backing plate without modification to the backing plate. Install your brake pads in your new caliper, slide it over the rotor, and bolt into place, using locktite on the bolts.
Depending on how your brake line is connected, you may have to change flex hoses, and add a short section of hard line coming out of the caliper to clear the strut. You will have to decide how to do this, as much depends on exactly what calipers you used, and how they attach to the brake line.
Bleed your new brakes and enjoy your added stopping power! Feel free to post any questions to the message board. Good luck!