320i brakes in front and now..., The rears feel undersized Options

[banderson]

I did the standard conversion to 320i front calipers and removed the proportioning valve last summer and now I think that I may have increased the stopping distance. The rears don’t feel like they are working hard enough. I overhauled the system with new rotors, rear caliper rebuild kits, DOT SS lines and street pads.

Because my front brake pistons are bigger, it takes less effort to lock the front wheels than it did before. Now the front wheels lock well before the rears come close.

I havn’t heard of anyone complaining about this before and Grassroots motorsports reported that they needed an adjustable valve to keep there rears from locking. This makes me wonder if my rears are working properly. They get hot, so I know they are doing something. The pedal is solid and they don’t bind.

I am considering changing to a high performance street pad, or putting different ones on the back, but I don’t want them to grab too much.

Your thoughts?

[campbellcj]

The 914-4 front calipers bolt up easily to the rear, but most people use a few spacing washers to center the caliper over the rotor a little better.

Frankly the loss of the e-brake is sort of a pain, at least for me as I live on a fairly steep hill and basically if the car backed up 3 feet out of the garage, it could easily roll into a neighbor's house. I keep wheel chocks handy at all times...the little folding ones fit in the glovebox.

Do you have equivalent pads front & rear now? How about tires? Also, is your suspension in good shape and aligned correctly? All of this stuff works as a system...weight transfer and traction are significant factors in lockup and brake "feel".

John's venting clearance tip is a good one. I used to always set it quite a bit tighter than "the book" spec.