Changing Brake Calipher's on my X5 E70
 

I have been talking to a brake company here which is a subsiduary of a major company from the States.

Anyway what we have found out is that the rear brake calipher on the X5 e70 is the same as on the M3 and about 8 other BMW models and also the Rolls Royce, (the brake pad is a d919 design). So there are a lot of BBK's out there to suite. What we have done is to get hold of the bracket that holds this 4 pot calipher (theres about 5 different bracket designs to suit this rotor size & calipher)

We are matching up a 4pot calipher to suit the oem rear rotor (345mm x 24mm) on the rear plus this bracket, straight bolt on. The calipher is $650aud (including pads) and the bracket $235.00

For the front oem rotor (348mm x 30mm) we are using a 6pot calipher, cost $1,100aud (I am hoping to get these down to around $900aud each) and the brake company is manufacturing the front bracket for $330aud, again a straight bolt on.

Now considering the oem front calipher's cost around $950aud each and the rears are $700 each anyway, the 6pot & 4pot caliphers are priced quite well, its just the extra $1,000aud in the 4 brackets.

The rotors on the X5 are quite large and there is really no need to swap them out, so for around $2,500aud for the front setup and around $1,800aud the rear setup it's not to bad at all. Total $4,300aud, thats about $3,100usd.

Considering a BBK for a X5 runs out at about 11k-14k usd, its a pretty good deal.

The brake company is doing all the work, they are also heaverly involved in the car racing industry here and are well respected and the calipher's we are going to use are a monobloc design.

Anyway it will be an interesting exercise. I have 20' wheels, but because we are keeping the oem rotors it will fit 18" & 19" also.

Please post some after pics.

Could you post some pictures of your yellow calipers. Also, did you post pictures of your car? I would like to see more pictures of the white X5 M Sport.

It arrived on the boat today in Brisbane, I should have it by mid next week. There is a fair bit of work has to done to it, brake calipher, ceramic pads and new 6mm Castor offset bushes installed.

Hope to take photos when its finished!

Great price for your setup. I got my F/R Brembo BBK on my E70 new with install for $6600 USD. Which BBK you're referring to that cost over $10k?!?

are the front brakes set up like any of the other bmw vehicles?

Brembo's in Australia for the X5 E70 run into $13k-$14k AUD ( thats about $10k USD)

Yes, but the rear brakes on the X5 are the same as on the M3, M5, X6, Rolls Rorce and a few other BMW models. The front brakes are the same design but are currently now on 348mm x 30mm rotors as of 10/2008, the same as your X5 4.8i V8 has in the States.

We did have like England on our 35d, 3.00sd & 4.8i V8 X5 & X6 before 10/2008 a 365mm x 36mm front rotor. That's why low dust pads (Ceramic based) are only available for the rear and the fronts are very hard to get because the new size on the fronts has been only around for 12 months.

The pad backing plates for the front brakes that the linning is bonded too cannot be source yet so you have to buy a new set of front pad from BMW, remove the pad material and send them off to a pad manufacturer and get them to bond there ceramic material to it, this is the only way you can get a low dust ceramic brake pad for the front on the current X5.

What company ceramic brakes did you get? Also, what company are the calipers? I can't wait to see pictures of the BBK and the calipers.