[T5viggen]

I know there are the grey Brembo calipers which are smaller than the M Sport brakes, but are they the same caliper as the larger m sports? Then people specify that rotors are for the blue caliper m sport set up. I have the yellow(?) m sport brakes and haven't found if they differ at all from the blue caliper setup. Just trying to get a grasp on it all. My F30 is my first BMW and trying to get all the nuances down.


EDIT: Well finally found what I was wanting to know, here it is for anyone else who is wondering. (not put together by me)

Differences:
Cost: First off, M Performance brakes cost a hell of a lot more than M Sport brakes.

Color: Not that the color is a big deal, but it points out that these 2 brakes are totally different. M Sport comes in blue, while M Performance comes in red, yellow, or orange.

What they are: M Performance brakes are actually high performance Brembo brakes, while M Sport brakes are just a small step up from the standard BMW brakes (certainly not Brembos). While standard brakes have floating calipers, the M Sport brakes have fixed calipers (4 piston front, 2 piston rear).

Rotors:
Rear: 345mm for stock, m sport, and m performance
Front 340mm for stock/m sport and 370 for m performance

Even more info here

[obert]

I think all colored calipers are the same. Only the Grey caliper is different. Its not really a grey color it just the stock color brake caliper.

The difference in the rotor size that you can use. The blue, red, yellow mount up higher than the grey. So they can run a bigger rotor.

[Vulpe]

It's a lot more complicated as "M Sport" is a difficult term to use as I've seen M Sport used as referring to the Blue 370/345 calipers but my car is has an M Sport Package but it came with the grey Brembo 340 caliper in front and grey Bosch 330 sliding caliper in rear. I would have had to get the Track Package to get the Blues.

Even more complicated is the lower trimmed models with the upgraded brakes came with blue Brembo calipers but were 340/345 rotors so the front Brembo 340mm could come in both grey and blue from what I understand.

The Blue "M Sport" 370/345 calipers are the same mechanically as the Red/Yellow/Orange M Performance brakes just the Blues came installed from the factory. Just different rotors and pads.

I may be wrong too.

[skyline408]

Originally Posted by T5viggen

I know there are the grey Brembo calipers which are smaller than the M Sport brakes, but are they the same caliper as the larger m sports? Then people specify that rotors are for the blue caliper m sport set up. I have the yellow(?) m sport brakes and haven't found if they differ at all from the blue caliper setup. Just trying to get a grasp on it all. My F30 is my first BMW and trying to get all the nuances down.


EDIT: Well finally found what I was wanting to know, here it is for anyone else who is wondering. (not put together by me)

Differences:
Cost: First off, M Performance brakes cost a hell of a lot more than M Sport brakes.

Color: Not that the color is a big deal, but it points out that these 2 brakes are totally different. M Sport comes in blue, while M Performance comes in red, yellow, or orange.

What they are: M Performance brakes are actually high performance Brembo brakes, while M Sport brakes are just a small step up from the standard BMW brakes (certainly not Brembos). While standard brakes have floating calipers, the M Sport brakes have fixed calipers (4 piston front, 2 piston rear).

Rotors:
Rear: 345mm for stock, m sport, and m performance
Front 340mm for stock/m sport and 370 for m performance

Even more info here

I believe your summary is incorrect.

BMW M sport brakes (blue) came from the factory as such, 4 piston up front, 2 in the rear.

BMW M Performance brakes (red, yellow, orange) is an 'bolt on' kit. Meaning, if your car didn't come with the M sport brakes, and you wanted an upgrade that matched the M sport brakes, you would buy these. This kit comes with exactly the same calipers--just different color. The kit does give you slotted and dimpled rotors for the front.

Then there are the grey 4 piston calipers that comes standard on the 335/340 cars. These are the SAME Brembo calipers as the M Sport and M Performance kit, with the exception that they use a smaller front rotor.

In the rear, you get a more basic 2 piston Bosch caliper.

All three front calipers use the same brake pads

[sspade]

So essentially...

If we are talking about fronts...

All Brembo calipers are the same regardless of color, including standard grey?

[obert]

The grey will not accept the bigger rotor like the others will. They are all 4 pistons.

[harperium]

It was my understanding that the M Perf calipers were aluminum too compared to stock. So, lighter in weight and faster to cool.

[skyline408]

Originally Posted by sspade

So essentially...

If we are talking about fronts...

All Brembo calipers are the same regardless of color, including standard grey?

Yes. All three look identical and all have 'brembo' stamped on them. They all use the same brake pads too.

The only difference is the m sport and m performance accepts bigger rotors than the grey version.

/i'm pretty sure all of them are made from aluminum too. If you look at the unfinished mounts on the grey version, it is clearly aluminum.

My experience comes from owning both an F80 M3 (same brakes as M sport) as well as a 335i GT with the grey 4 brembo 4 pots. I changed pads and examined both.

[T5viggen]

According to the Turner Motorsports site, the "Blue" M-Sport brakes were 340mm rotors for 2012/2013 then that option received the 370mm solid rotors after. Meanwhile the M-Performance (post factory install) were always the slotted/dimpled 370mm rotor with yellow/red/orange calipers.

It seems regardless of year/color that the calipers are the same albeit blue/red/yellow/orange.

Maybe?

[skyline408]

Originally Posted by T5viggen

According to the Turner Motorsports site, the "Blue" M-Sport brakes were 340mm rotors for 2012/2013 then that option received the 370mm solid rotors after. Meanwhile the M-Performance (post factory install) were always the slotted/dimpled 370mm rotor with yellow/red/orange calipers.

It seems regardless of year/color that the calipers are the same albeit blue/red/yellow/orange.

Maybe?

That is correct. The rotors sizes differ--as covered in several posts, and the M performance kit came with slotted/dimpled rotors whereas the M sport brake (as configured from factory) came with non-slotted/dimpled rotors.

The front calipers are all the same--just different colors. All have 'Brembo' stamped on the rear of the caliper.

The rear calipers on the m sport brakes (blue) and the bolt on m performance brakes (various colors) are the same.

The rear calipers on the 335/340 'grey' brakes came with a more basic double piston one.

[kern417]

Nope. You cannot base anything on the color of the calipers. You have to look at the part number/stamp on the calipers.

The 370/380 stamped front calipers came on F8x M3/M4 and -35i/-40i models with track handling package. These are the exact same as the MPerformance Calipers

The 340 stamped front calipers came on -35i/-40i models without track package and -28i/-30i models with the track package, as well as the M240i. It was grey colored on -35i/-40i models and blue on -28i/-30i models and the M240i

The only difference physically between the 370/380 calipers and the 340 calipers is the mounting holes are offset 30mm between the two. The F8x M3/M4 also have a 10mm offset on the hub mounting hole, so their rotors are 10mm bigger (380mm) than the 370mm that fit our cars.

What I think a lot of people don't realize is that blue brakes on an M240i or 328i for example actually have smaller rotors in front than the rear. So Mperformance brakes are an upgrade for someone with those models whether they have blue or grey calipers. But if you're 340i has the track handling package then it's not an upgrade.

[oceanview]

Originally Posted by kern417

Nope. You cannot base anything on the color of the calipers. You have to look at the part number/stamp on the calipers.

The 370/380 stamped front calipers came on F8x M3/M4 and -35i/-40i models with track handling package. These are the exact same as the MPerformance Calipers

The 340 stamped front calipers came on -35i/-40i models without track package and -28i/-30i models with the track package, as well as the M240i. It was grey colored on -35i/-40i models and blue on -28i/-30i models and the M240i

The only difference physically between the 370/380 calipers and the 340 calipers is the mounting holes are offset 30mm between the two. The F8x M3/M4 also have a 10mm offset on the hub mounting hole, so their rotors are 10mm bigger (380mm) than the 370mm that fit our cars.

What I think a lot of people don't realize is that blue brakes on an M240i or 328i for example actually have smaller rotors in front than the rear. So Mperformance brakes are an upgrade for someone with those models whether they have blue or grey calipers. But if you're 340i has the track handling package then it's not an upgrade.

Big mess. Tried to sort that a few years ago.

Brakes buying decision helper: "Factory", "M Sport Brakes", "M Performance Brakes" https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=858607

[Logicoeur]

A lot of correct/incorrect information above but I'll take a stab to simply without quoting everything.

2piston Brembos in the rear are all 345mm regardless of color. Same pads.

4piston Brembos used upfront vary in the rotor size, but are all indeed the very same caliper as well. They just have different carrier lengths to match the rotors they are paired with. They all still use the very same pads.

Blue 4piston can come in 370 or 340mm in front. This depends on the engine as kern said.
Red, yellow and orange are all 370mm in front.

These Brembos are used across the 2,3,4 series cars. They are marketed as "performance" brakes/packages on nonM cars and just "base" brakes on the M cars.

Base brakes on the lower powered non M cars in those series are Bosch calipers. On the Higher powered nonMs BMW would mix the two like Kern points out.

When buying used ask to see the stamps or part numbers.

[sspade]

Originally Posted by harperium

It was my understanding that the M Perf calipers were aluminum too compared to stock. So, lighter in weight and faster to cool.

My grey Brembo set is aluminum...

[sspade]

Can someone confirm the largest OEM rotor (part number)... that I can run with my newly acquired grey front set up?

[sspade]

Also:

Can someone please confirm that the magical, universal pad replacement PN is 34116865460 ?

[andino]

All the 4 piston calipers use the same brake pads. Largest rotor you can run with the grey 4 piston brembos is 340mm. It should also be stamped on the back of the caliper.

[Littlebear]

Hello BMW Experts!

So, the base front setup has 340 rotors, as does the M-sport. But the M-sport calipers are better, non-sliding types, which will bolt onto a base car?
Will the M-sport caliper fit a 17" wheel?
Does the M-sport caliper weigh more than the base caliper?

Murf

[sspade]

Wait....

So, the literal BASE rotors and the exact same as the GREY BREMBO (MSport) rotors?

Meaning... I do not need to buy new rotors to compliment my newly acquired grey brembo's ?