E60 M5 Braking Upgrades
By Thorney Motorsport
It's somewhat traditional now for BMW M-Division to install inadequate brakes on their cars. It's a tradition that started with the E36 M3. If you take a standard brake setup to the track, they will cook within 2 laps. It's the reason you won't see standard calipers / pads / discs on M-Powered track cars. It's important to realise however that brakes (and their relative performance) are subject to different driving styles, what may work for one person maybe overkill or not enough for another. It's best to contact us and discuss your requirements before making any decisions. Brake upgrades come under three different areas - pad upgrades, ancillary upgrades (hoses, fluid) and full system upgrades (calipers, disks etc).
Thorney Motorsport - BMW E60 M5 Stage 1 Braking Upgrades
Pagid Brake Pads, Goodridge Braided Hoses, DOT 5.1 Fluid|
Normally a simple pad change is sufficient to make a dramatic improvement in braking performance on the road. We recommend Pagid and their range of pad composites for Track applications. Ferodo or Mintex tend to suit the fast road application. For the E60 M5 we recommend the Pagid RS421 as a good fast road pad which can still perform well on track. It is still a road pad so doesn't suffer from brake squeal when hot and doesn't need any warming up to reach full operational level. For track orientated work we recommend the Pagid RS29 (an optional upgrade on our Big Brake Kits). These will still work from cold, but do require regular heat cycling to avoid squeal. Changing brake fluid to a decent DOT 5.1 rating (we apply AP Racing DOT 5.1 fluid) and fitting braided hoses also improves performance with limited downsides. The M5 is a heavy car and is like to suffer from varying degrees of brake fade. Changing the fluid to a decent quality Dot 5.1 or ideally a Dot 4 level will resist boiling the fluid. Installing Goodridge braided brake hoses allows less deformation in the line when applying pedal pressure, improving brake pedal feel. |
Price List: (Click to Purchase) Pagid RS421 Brake Pads, Goodridge Braided Hoses, AP Racing DOT 5.1 Fluid Fitted: £599 |
Thorney Motorsport - BMW E60 M5 Stage 2 Braking Upgrades
Big Brake Kits by AP Racing & Alcon Components|
Brake kits are as they sound, complete system upgrades to improve every aspect of the braking system from top to bottom. Typically the only things they don’t change (or affect) is the master cylinder and the ABS control, everything else is up rated. There are three or four decent manufacturers on brakes for the M5, Alcon (installed on the CSL Cup race cars, the E46 M3 and CSL), AP Racing, Brembo and Stoptech to name a few. The two main ways to improve braking performance are greater dissipation of heat together with maximising the pad/disk interface area, in other words – larger disks combined with larger pads. At Thorney Motorsport we are advocates of two manufacturers of Big Brake Kit. For Fast Road, AP Racing. For Track, and Race applications, Alcon. We have been involved in development of both kits from the ground up and can safely say they are the best on the market for the E60 M5. |
Price List: (Click to Purchase)
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Thorney Motorsport - BMW E60 M5 Stage 3 Braking Upgrades
Big Brake Kits by AP Racing & Alcon Components|
A stage 3 braking upgrade for your E60 M5 is probably the best braking upgrade available on the market right now, the Alcon SuperKit is the one you want. With the Front 6pot Billet Monobloc, 390mm x 36mm, 2-piece Floating Discs and the Rear 4pot Monobloc, 380mm x 32mm, 2-piece Drum-in-hat Rotors this brake kit even sounds good. Including its PAGID RS9-2 Brake Pads all around, Goodridge Braided Hoses and AP 660 Racing Fluid. This really does taking braking upgrades to the max for the E60 M5. |
Price List: (Click to Purchase) Alcon SuperKit: £5,500.00 Front + Rear Discs Pagid RS9-2 Brake Pads, Goodridge Braided Hoses, AP 660 Racing Fluid Fitted: £5825.79 |
