My car has almost new everything for the brakes.

Rebuilt front calipers. The first thing I did was to bleed the brakes. I didn't know about the proportioning value but will try to bleed that too.

The pads have only had 200 miles use so are still bedding so hopefully there is more to come. I have to say I think my drum brakes on my 356 are as good and the disc brakes on my old 912 were better. Bad or good I could lock the wheels. I'm thinking of significantly upgrading the engine so would want more stopping power

I've read about the BMW replacement, Alfa and Volvo. The Volvo sounds like the most straightforward and effective?

Properly functioning stock brakes are excellent and you should definitely be able to lock up the wheels. Did you set the rear venting clearance? That’s super important.

914 brakes can sometimes be a bit finicky to bleed when starting with all new components. On my car, when I replaced the calipers it took no fewer than 4X with a pressure bleeder and some stomp bleeding as well, with short drives over bumpy roads in between to dislodge bubbles. I also shot fluid up through the bottom bleed screws with a syringe. Others have had good results with gravity bleeding. After that, the pedal is rock solid and the stopping power is great.

Also, there’s a process for bedding the pads which involves repeated acceleration and hard braking (on empty roads)..not sure that driving alone will do as good a job.
Check PMBperformance.com for more info.

I would make a call to Eric at PMB and chat with him about how to maximize your braking. He is always willing to help and share his thoughts on our cars.

Quality pads

No crappy street pads

Makes all the difference

Bmw calipers are not an upgrade

I'm curious why you say that BMW calipers are not an upgrade. Can you explain why? The PO put a set on my car.

I agree, for a stock-ish car you should be fine with a proper functioning stock setup. I ran numerous track events in the desert years ago on stock brakes with just the 19mm master cylinder plus good race pads & fluid. Check/change any rubber lines that are questionable also.

The previous owner, who is a better mechanic than, me set the rear venting clearance.

I've changed discs/pads on my more modern cars and the pads normally bad in pretty quickly.

PS your location is reminding me that maybe years ago a did a Triathlon in Rye. Not a million miles from your location. Very nice area and a lot more green than our place on the Huston in NJ.

You never really stated what's wrong with the brakes. Low pedal, soft pedal, no bite? What pads?

The importance of the rear brakes cannot be overstated on these cars. I rebuilt front and rear calipers, installed a 19mm M/C, and replaced brake hoses. Pedal was crap. MANY rounds with a power bleeder, setting venting clearance, and lots of heat cycles later, they're great brakes.