Brembo upgrade order

[richy170]

I have a gen 3 2015 which is mainly used on track, however I do want to keep it road compliant in case I need to take it on the road on rare occasions. I mainly do the IAM skills days and ride at Castle Coombe on my own club days and the BMW days at Snetterton. I would say I am not a fast rider by any means but am constantly improving. I sit comfortably in the middle of the intermediates when I do the BMW days and ride in the experienced group on all other days. So now I have laid out my riding style I want some help in choosing the right bits for my bike to convert it to more track focused but whilst maintaining a road legal status.
I want to start with improving the brakes between now and spring. I cannot afford to get everything down in one go but do want it all completed by May. I have ruled out things like the GP4RR etc and billet MC as I think they will be overkill.
Top of my wish list are the Brembo GP4RX callipers with Z04 pads. I want the Brembo RCS 19MC but don?t understand the difference between all the models. I will go with what ever fluid Bahnstormer BMW want to put in with these callipers but am open for suggestions and would probably have to supply this separately. I also want to upgrade the discs to the Brembo HPKs. Is changing the discs necessary for me?
Any ideas in what order I should start to replace these or alternative product choices. Would the Z04pads be ok on the rare occasions I?m on the road. Thanks

 

[Gobert]

I run either "mid pack / towards the front depending on the day" in the advanced group and I find the OE set up - when run in "slick" ABS mode - fine for my pace. I'm trying SBS DS pads at the moment simply as go through a set of OE pads in 3 track days. Seeing as the pads are so easy to change, wouldn't a road set and a track set make sense rather than a one-size-fits-all approach? That's assuming you don't want to stick with the OE ones?

 

[richy170]

Unfortunately I don?t do any work on my bike as I simply don?t have the knowledge or skills to even change pads. I?m the sort of guy who has snapped the tabs on the fairing so everything I do turns out an expensive mistake. I couldn?t afford the risk of getting pads wrong.

 

[Gobert]

Unfortunately I don?t do any work on my bike as I simply don?t have the knowledge or skills to even change pads. I?m the sort of guy who has snapped the tabs on the fairing so everything I do turns out an expensive mistake. I couldn?t afford the risk of getting pads wrong.

I run my bike with a set of the chinese road fairings so I can use it in a similar way to you - I've tried SBS RS, DC, DS, EBC GPFAX, PF 95 and OE since I've had the bike.........OE would be my first choice for a road and track mix.

 

[fast_ryan]

Brembo

If you describe yourself as ?not a fast rider? I certainly wouldn?t bother going to the expense of buying Z04 brake pads or using them on the road. I would also think hard about going to all the expense of replacing the master cylinder, brake discs and calipers if your not that fussed about what brake fluid will be going in the bike. That said it?s your money but you will probably find if you venture out of your comfort zone and do a MSV, FE or NL trackday at a different circuit you will find the riding pace significantly quicker than what your used to which may offer more perspective.

For reference if you do change the master cylinder for a Brembo RCS19 it will work with either the OEM or GP4-RX calipers. You will also save yourself a significant amount of money by fitting a lot of the parts yourself as BMW will charge you a small fortune in labour costs! They may also refuse to fit them as they are not OEM parts so do ask first.

 

[soofsayer]

Unfortunately I don?t do any work on my bike as I simply don?t have the knowledge or skills to even change pads. I?m the sort of guy who has snapped the tabs on the fairing so everything I do turns out an expensive mistake. I couldn?t afford the risk of getting pads wrong.

I think that most people start off with zero knowledge lol.

snapping fairing tabs is easily done, dont let that put you off.

Changing front pads is a very easy job to do, watch a couple of youtube vids or get someone to show you (or look at the workshop dvd), buy a torque wrench and some time and you will soon be wondering why you worried.

I would not be upgrading the brake system (apart from pads) unless you are a going full on at racing. I?ve seen many good riders on oe bikes outride blinged up bikes at TDs, the ?all the gear no idea? mantra is strong with some?. your improved skills will make the times come down, not marginally better brakes.

 

[scooby]

Re: Brembo

If you describe yourself as ?not a fast rider? I certainly wouldn?t bother going to the expense of buying Z04 brake pads or using them on the road. I would also think hard about going to all the expense of replacing the master cylinder, brake discs and calipers if your not that fussed about what brake fluid will be going in the bike. That said it?s your money but you will probably find if you venture out of your comfort zone and do a MSV, FE or NL trackday at a different circuit you will find the riding pace significantly quicker than what your used to which may offer more perspective.

For reference if you do change the master cylinder for a Brembo RCS19 it will work with either the OEM or GP4-RX calipers. You will also save yourself a significant amount of money by fitting a lot of the parts yourself as BMW will charge you a small fortune in labour costs! They may also refuse to fit them as they are not OEM parts so do ask first.

basically what he says.lines+fluid if you are "wanting" to spend money,but unless your really pushing yourself+the bike,all the upgrades you've mentioned are pretty pointless.

spend the money on trackdays,you'll learn more+get faster through sheer tracktime.(or some real tuition..)

 

[alex]

As above pads and fluid.
Brembo LCF 600 is my go to fluid.
SBS RST Pads may be a good option.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

 

[richy170]

Thanks for all the advice and honest feedback. I was happy to spend the money over the winter as if it doesn?t go on my bike it will go on golf clubs instead. However I fully take on board all the points that my current riding ability is still within the capability of the OEM set up. I will be investing in further track training with Rapid and will experiment with some different pads to get to ones I like the feel of.

 

[DrIoannis]

If your budget is limited then my choice would be:
Brembo M4 calipers (I own GP4RX and had M4), you will need new brake hoses
Brembo brake master cylinder billet XR01171
Brembo Z04 or Vesrah SRJL XX or ZZ pads
Castrol SRF brake fluid

If you do those then you will never ever have brake problems and the performance will be EXCELLENT. You will never think of your brakes in the future.

But first you should invest, as you say, in more riding time...

 

[Zxcv12]

Just to chip in from my limited experience and maybe at a similar level as the OP, I?d look at the discs as the weak point in the OE set up. I think there are some thicker ones available that handle the heat better on track, I?ve easily warped the original gen3 discs on track, but never had a problem with the rest of it on std pads etc.

 

[SANDPIPER]

If your budget is limited then my choice would be:
Brembo M4 calipers (I own GP4RX and had M4), you will need new brake hoses
.

Dr I which hoses did you use for your M4 calipers? The stock K67 hoses have what looks like too much angle on the banjo fittings to happily fit the M4 inboard facing banjo location. I have the Corsa Corta M/C which is superb with the stock front calipers but in my quest to throw money at my bike I bought a set of M4 calipers too and would like to install them but its a job I won't start until I know I have the correct hardware. Thanks in advance I am after part numbers and suppliers if possible and wish to keep the ABS

 

[DrIoannis]

For the K67 I do not know if the OEM hoses are OK with the M4. You might need to ask Alpha Racing or someone that made the upgrade.