Wilwood vs. Volvo/Girling front brake upgrades

Powerlite Radial Mount The Powerlite four piston radial mount caliper starts at 2.26 pounds with a sleek profile, superior strength, lightweight and durable in higher temperature situations. Easily adapted to a wide range of sports, rally, and off road driving applications.

Strength comes from a combination of process and design. The process of stress-flow forging re-aligns the metal's grain structure within the contour of the caliper body. This eliminates the stresses and interruptions to the internal grain structure that occur when machining a straight block billet. The FEA generated radial transition design eliminates steps and shoulders in the area between the piston housing body and the caliper bridges. Incorporating a radius in this critical area substantially increases resistance to deflection and caliper separation under load. The Powerlite uses a new 7912 type brake pad that is supported from the top by Quick-clip pad retainers.  This eliminates the need for a pad support step in the bottom of the caliper and adds additional clearance for mounting closer to the hub on small wheel and rotor applications. The pad radius matches to rotor diameters between 9.45" (240,0 mm) and 11.75" (298,5 mm), and the caliper fits easily inside many 13.00" (330,2) wheel applications. The Quick-Clips also accommodate easy pad access without caliper removal. Brake pad compounds are available for the full range of sport and competition applications. Every caliper is equipped with Wilwood's SRS stainless steel bridge plates. The SRS plates eliminate the bridge wear caused by pad gouging. The spring-loading action of the SRS plates also eliminates pad rattle and dampens the vibration harmonics that contribute to squeal under braking. Internal fluid passages eliminate the need for external tubes. Four corner bleed screws assure simple and effective air evacuation and allow one caliper to be mounted in of four positions. Bracket kits are used to install the calipers in place of most lug mount calipers. Radial mounting simplifies service and the bracket kits provide two planes of adjustment for precise alignment over the disc. Bracket kits include the radial mount bracket, studs, locknuts, and caliper alignment shims.

http://www.wilwood.com/Calipers/CaliperProdP2.aspx?itemno=120-8729
http://www.wilwood.com/Calipers/CaliperList.aspx?subname=Powerlite

The stock 320i rotor diameter (vented and unvented) is 255mm. The volvo caliper (a cast iron girling 4 piston) would fit perfect on the e21 with no modification using a 276mm rotor. There is a larger off the shelf rotor that will work. The mini cooper uses a larger 276mm vented rotor (compared to 255mm 323i rotor) that fits but the rotor hat is shorter.   the Volvo 240 4 piston girlings sat on 263mm rotors.

Above:  You can run 276mm new mini (2003+) rotors which are 21mm larger than the stock 255mm 323i rotors. The rotor height is 44mm, thickness is 21.9mm, and the hub bore is 64.1mm (compared to 63mm for the e21 hub bore) so you'll have to use hub centric spacer rings to center the rotor on the hub. You may also want to drill the rotor for the hold down bolt. In this picture you can see the gap between hub and disc center bore and a new hole for the hold down bolt:

Above: The caliper has to be mounted on the outside of the mount ears rather than the inside. This will make the caliper difficult to bolt on since the rotor will be in the way. You will have to "walk" the caliper and rotor down into position as you tighten the bolts. Another option would be to drill out the strut threads and use a longer bolt and locking nut behind the rotor. J.K.jr.bad recommends seperating the caliper halves, attach the inside half, install the rotor, then bolt the other caliper half on. I would never do that on my car simply for the brake fluid mess. Before you buy mini rotors, bolt your calipers on and verify you have wheel clearance.

The Volvo/Girling front brake upgrade is the biggest bang for the buck in E21 brakes. But as you can see in the photo above, the Vovlo/Girling calipers have 2 hydraulic lines, in the photo above the installer utilized a brake line splitter. The preferred solution to this problem is utilizing an E12 master cylinder. This allows you to run the stock 320i vented rotors without the price tag of upgrading to the 323i vented calipers. For much less than stock 323i calipers you can get 4 piston calipers with about 30% more pad area. 

According to parts suppliers, calipers off of ANY volvo 200 series car (240, 240 turbo, 242, 244, 245, 264) from 1975 to 1991 with vented rotors will work. Some of the earlier cars used ATE calipers which are interchangable with the girling calipers. Parts suppliers no longer carry the ate calipers so you'll get girlings (more common) anyway.

Here's the volvo naming convention:
1975-1979: three digits (in the format 2XY, where X represents the number of cylinders and Y represents the doors: 2 for coupés, 4 for sedans, 5 for station wagons)

1980-1985: trim level letters (the three digits were omitted in North American market)
1986-1993: 240 followed by trim level letters (third digit no longer reflected body style)

The cheapest deal on rebuild calipers I've seen is on rockauto.com.

Parts List:

Left Girling Caliper '75-'91 Volvo 240 w/Vented Front Rotors - Volvo P/N 5002028

Right Girling Caliper '75-'91 Volvo 240 w/Vented Front Rotors - Volvo P/N 5002029

Autohaus Part Number: W0133-1659892

The Volvo/Girling Product (the most bang for my bucks!)
http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?sid=utryjh2lrbubal550vekqqmf&makeid=27@Volvo&modelid=768~20~914~34~~5~7@240%20%20&year=1990&cid=3@Brake&gid=1704@Disc%20Brake%20Caliper

Brake Hardware Kit (does both wheels)

'77 320i vented rotors (or 323i rotors from any year - same part number)

(4) m12 or 7/16" washers, 1.5 mm to 2.5mm thick

(2) Metric Brake Line Tee - Jbugs.com

(2) M6 x 1 x 1 bolt (to mount tee to strut)

(2) 10" or shorter metric brake line - M10x1.0 tube nut fittings and bubble flares (from braided line to tee, cut to fit)

(4) 14" metric brake line - M10x1.0 tube nut fittings and bubble flares (from tee to calipers)

Brake Pads - for a hi performance street pad you can run the Hawk HPS

Tools needed:

tin snips (to trim the backing plate)

dremel tool/die grinder & carbide bit (to slot holes in calipers)

Brake line tubing cutter

Brake line flare tool 

The New Rear Brakes Mounted on the 323i Trailing Arms with the new backing plates, and the emergency brake drum brake pads installed before the disc brakes have been installed.

a day with jonathan at the junk yard in aliquippa

10/82 320i

10/82 320i

10/82 320i

AG3302D 8389807
OEM Parts Diagrams for this VIN

Out of the Back of a 635csi (free)
the 635 csi also has a complete rear interior kit...speakers, rear side cards, and rear seat moldings...to be disassembled next week $25.00 total

Off the 10/82 320i $25/ea.

Rear Wheel Bearing: SKF BB1M30 362525 (30X58X16)

Rear Wheel Bearing BMW Part Number: 33411119994 (Number 5 in the diagram)

• Bearing Brand:  SKF BB1M30 362525 (30X58X16) GROOVED BALL BEARING

Rear Wheel Bearing BMW Part Number: 33411122131 (Number 6 in the diagram)

• Bearing Brand:  FA3 6206.c3  (30X62X16) GROOVED BALL BEARING

Millers Mule Aluminum Front Hubs & Studs

Source: http://www.millersmule.com/MillersMuleStore/product.php?id_product=21

635 csi rear seats for the e21 upgrade $9 plus shipping for the center console and $50 plus shipping for both rear seats

The underside of the 635csi rear seat upgrade for my 320i

Underside of the center console

Stock Front

bmw e21 wheel guide

i love the stance, look, and profile of this hartge 323i...hott car!

Ford GT40

modifications from jrcook

Mod List

Engine: 2.0L Bottom End (stock 80mm crank) Cast flat top pistons - 8:1 compression ratio I-J Crank scraper 1.8L ported and polished head (Bavarian Engine Exchange) 280/280 cam Upgraded Valve Springs 14" Electric cooling fan (belt driven fan removed) AC removed Turbo System: Dinan log manifold Garrett T25, 60 trim .80 AR, internal waste gate (from a S13 nissan silvia) Hallman pro boost controller 12" intercooler 1G DSM blow off valve 65mm e12 528i throttle body Stainless divorced port dump pipe (SR20DET aftermarket) Custom 2.5" exhaust splitting to dual 2 1/4" pipes Cold air intake with heat shield Fuel System: Porsche 931 fuel distributor & air flow meter Adjustable Volvo 240 turbo control pressure regulator 911 turbo (930) fuel pump (Bosch "984" motorsport pump) Mercedes Benz 450 SEL 6.9 fuel injectors VW Mk1 braided stainless injector lines Ignition & Electrical: Bavarian Autosport 8mm plug wires, Bosch Red coil Volvo 240 turbo ignition retard canister e30 90 amp alternator Push button start Driveline: Custom Miller's Mule 8lb aluminum 228mm flywheel Clutchnet 6 puck fiber-carbon clutch Metric Mechanic Getrag 240 with redline MTL Bavarian Autosport adjustable short shift kit 3.91 LSD (25% Lockup) Dual Mount Diff Cover - in the works Suspension & Chassis: Bilstien sport shocks Eibach pro kit springs Suspension Techniques 25mm front/ 19mm rear swaybars w/ poly bushings Custom made polyurethane control arm to sway bar bushings poly trailing arm bushings poly filled subframe mounts Hartge front strut tower brace Welded-in front frame rail brace Boxed Front Subframe Home made rear strut brace Slotted rear subframe 15x7 et35 Binno B850 wheels Custom 20mm hubcentric spacers lug stud conversion Trunk mounted battery Brakes: Volvo/Girling 4 piston front calipers w/ vented rotors 323i rear disk conversion BF Goodrich stainless brake lines Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve Interior: Complete Recaro sport interior, anthracite gray cloth Non AC console 530i 140 mph speedometer Personal sport leather steering wheel, leather shift knob AEM wide band AFR gage VDO oil pressure & boost pressure gages Sony CDX-GT620IP Receiver (w/ full ipod control) Blaupunkt 4x6 fronts with bass blockers and foam surrounds E28 door tweeter pods Kenwood 6x9 rears Rockford Fosgate P3000 amp Kicker Comp 12" sub Exterior: Diamond black metallic paint Zender front air dam Euro rear valance w/ dual exhaust cutouts, rear side markers deleted. Euro front/rear bumpers H4 low beam headlights Quad tail light Source:  http://jrcook320.e21legion.net/Home/mod-list

struts, shocks, and coil springs

The correct bilstein shocks for the early e21 320i and the 323i front struts are "P36"...The later 320i's uses "P30" bilsteins...These P designations refers to the outside diameter of the shock.

If you call bilstein what they want you to do with there replacement is use a ring at the shock collar that allows you to put a P30 shock in the larger 323i and early 320i strut tube, THIS 'work-around' is a real mistake in a vehicle with lowered suspension. This configuration will bottom out.

Rear Shocks

Bilstein still offers the e21 rears B46-0617, but the fronts P36-0124 are NLA.

Replacements:  E30 bilsteins will fit the E21 323 strut housing. They are both the correct 36mm around, and the correct height. When looking for used shocks you might also look at the E12 or E28 shock instead as they are also bilstien P36's.  The diameter of the strut. 323 and 1977 320 are the same. I know that the early 320i had larger hubs than the later 320i, and the same size as the 323i.

• All 323 used a 51mm strut tube.
• All 320 used a 45mm strut.

inner bearing, outer bearing from 09/79 320
29 X 50.29 X 14.22-------- 17 X 39.87 X 13.84

inner bearing, outer bearing till 08/79 320
31.7 X 59.13 X 15.8-------- 19 X 45.23 X 15.49

inner outer 323

31.7 X 59.13 X 15.8-------- 19 X 45.23 X 15.49

320 till 08/77, used a 51mm strut tube and vented brake disc and larger calipers to match
320 from 09/77, solid disc.
323 - same brake as 1977 320

Bilstein will explain the difference in sizes among the E21 4cyl Sport, the E21 6cyl Sport, and the E30 6cyl Sport. Valving and compression stroke within the strut are the same. They also fit the strut tube the same as the e21 323.

Bilstein East Coast # 704-663-7563

Bilstein West Coast# 858-386-5900

Even though 323i front struts are No Longer Available, Bilstein does have those dimensions. Just ask them to compare the e21 323i size with the e30 6cyl/m3 size, SSDD.

Question:  If E30 struts are really the same as 323's why wouldn't Bilstein recommend them as a substitute instead of the 320i struts with spacer? For that matter, why would they call 323 struts NLA in the first place?

Answer: Saying 323i e21 front struts and e30 front struts are "the same" was a bit too cavalier a term for engineering/mechanical/retail purposes. NEARLY identical is more correct. Bilstein as a wholesaler wouldn't really recommend one application over the other since they aren't a direct retailer, and don't really care where we spend our money. So when we pulled e30 HD's out of a 323i strut tubes, and called Bilstein for a little "what the hell?", they confirmed that the tube dimensions and stroke and compression were appropriate for the e21 323. On the other hand, Bilstein may not KNOW that they have struts that would fit the 323. When you buy brake calipers for your e12, e28, or e32, they don't say...also fits e9, e10 2002 with tii struts and spindles, and e21 323. That is what we are here to discover...

Korman sells makes the adapters that allow the 320i struts to work in the big tube or all the early style bushings in delrin.

1982 323i Rear Suspension

'82 323i Rear Trailing Arms Mounted for Fit Before Rebuild

Sub-Frame After Removal

Sub-Frame after sandblasted, with fresh primer

Close-Up of the 323i Rear Disc Brake

Close-Up of the 323i Rear Disc Brake

Rear Trailing Arm after Sandblasting & Primer

A Close-Up of the Welded 'Dinan' styled Camber & Toe Adjustment Guides

A Close-Up of the Welded 'Dinan' styled Camber & Toe Adjustment Guides

Notice that the Guides glide Horizontally & Vertically

Fuel Filler Tube

Brake Pads

http://www.hawkpadsdirect.com/PhotoGallery.asp?ProductCode=180E.560.478F

Wheels - BBS RS 005 Forged Wheel 16 x 7j et11

$2000.00

BMW Motorsports Styled (reproduction) Front Valance/Bumper

Notice the lip at the bottom of the valance!