Brake caliper carrier machining question
 

I didn’t want this getting lost with the caliper grease questions, so I’m starting another post.

The E46 non-M to M brake caliper carrier is unobtaium right now. The adapter would allow me to use an M3 caliper and M3 CSL rotor.

I’ve had a set on order since last November with Turner/ECS for my track 330 and the projected ship date keeps getting pushed back. Now it is mid September.

That said, I have a new pair of E36 M3 carriers, but the mounting flange needs to be machined to match the unobtainable carrier.

What do you think? Would I be taking too much off, considering it will be the same as the Turner/ECS part?

Edit: when I ordered mine, they were about $155 per pair. Now I see them for $45 per pair. Probably a mistake. For grins, I ordered a pair, but they’re not due till mid September as well. If my machined calipers don’t work, I can see which one of the ordered caliper carriers comes in and cancel the other order.

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How do you know how much to machine off?

Taking a step back, is this too much work and risk vs seeking a solid aftermarket brake system?

I think it's more a time frame problem Chris.

So how much material needs machined off? 2) what is the thickness after?

I would be cutting off about 7 mm at each flange. I would have to double check the remaining material.

Big brake kits are stupid money for this car and not worth it to me. This will run me about $600 all in with rotors, calipers, and carriers. This gives me a little bit bigger rotor with a little more heat sink capacity.

Is it worth it, maybe, maybe not. But I’ve spent stoopider money in the past. It keeps me busy and out of trouble.

Is the first pic what you want to end up with? So after machining 7mm off, how much thread depth will you have left? I cant believe you measure in mm, LOL.

I have done similar with odd combo's, there's not much stress side-to-side, just in-plane. I wouldn't think 2X about it, just do it. I've had those mounting brackets in my hand, hundreds of times. They're beefy at the flange ears, 7mm' s = very safe.

I'd make sure there aren't any heli-coils in those threads before cutting.

My inner engineer says it wouldn't be a problem machining off the 7mm due to the direction of the forces.

And as far as exact fitment goes you could add shims to get perfect alignment.

Average machine shop could end-mill that off nicely on a few mins.............

That’s a super easy machining job. If you were local, I could do it for you in about 30 minutes. I don’t see any stress issues.

Thanks guys. I talk to the machine shop today on the way out of town and he said no problem. These things are big and heavy, so I suspect everything will be good.

What’s funny is, I have the original bolt installed and you can’t see the end of it. The original bolt is 26 mm and I ordered 40 mm bolts.

The calipers are fully threaded.

You can see the difference between the new carrier in the original carrier. The new carrier is much much thicker. That could be difference between German steel and Chineseium…

I guess working on a German car made me think in millimeters! The machine shop didn’t have any problems with my numbers. Of course during the week, I work in feet, inches and fractions.

We will see when I install them this weekend. I’m hoping if I was off, that it was in taking off a little too much material. I can always shim it to center it on the rotor.

These carriers are for an E36 M3, which weighs more than my stripped out E46 330. So stress wise, I think everything will be good. Will find out when I go to the track next month….

Edit. Looking at the pictures made me think, I should just go ahead and replace the bearings while I’m in there.


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