Okay - so finally got round to the other parts needed to make these calipers fit on the front of the R53.

If you do this sway, you will need a set of R56 lines. I ordered my calipers with the lines. You'll also need the correct 316x22mm rotors/discs. ECS has a pair of unslotted, undrilled ones for $172.64 here. Then the pads, pins and carrier set. ECS has a R56 JCW Brembo Redstuff pad set for the fronts for $160.55 here. I am not sure of the expansion springs and guide pins come with the Budweg calipers or not. I am thinking that they do, but if they do not, then that's about another $35 bucks per side.

So, INCLUDING shipping from the UK, the total parts needed if you shop around is:
$684 (USD) Budweg remanufactured R56 JCW Brembo caliper pair (I did the option that includes lines)
$173 Pair of 316x22mm undrilled, unslotted rotors
$161 Pair of front R56 JCW Brembo red stuff pads
$70 IF PINS AND CLIPS NOT INCLUDED
----------------------------------------
$1,081 total for a JCW R56 to R53 conversion

I suppose I need to add the stickers....
$20-25 bucks for a pair.

 

Caliper decals were about $9.50 shipped from brakecaliperdecals.co.uk. I ordered silver background.

 

Just picked up a pair of Zimmerman rotors and new star bolts from FCP for $128 on discount for the Black Friday thing. Including the $9.50 decals, my total cost for a front only genuine Brembo R56 conversion is now estimated to be less than a grand at $982.50 (unless I need pins and clips).

EDIT:Amazon has the EBC redstuff pads for $126 a set. If I can't find a cyber monday deal better than that, that will put the total cost for a 4 cylinder Brembo R56 retrofit for the R53 at $$$947.50 SHIPPED !!! Again, unless I need pins and clips.

I was considering just ordering a new set of ATE MINI calipers just to freshen up the front and save my old ones to restore down the road. This upgrade kinda makes paying $300 for new front calipers silly.

 

So... Exactly what is the link for the Budweg JCW R56 calipers from these guys?

I cant find it to save my life??

OE JCW Brembo... 34106856651 and 34106856652

 

I have a UK friend that can ship to me.... Who has the best price on that side of the pond??

.

 

See post # 21, noting I entered P/Ns on Schmiedmann's site copied from ECS Tuning's webpage without verifying fitment...

 

I would NOT suggest ordering from Schmeidmann - they do not use Budweg's part numbers and they seem to be inconsistent with product images - so you might not get what you think you are ordering. Or call them and ask. They look to have OE Brembo (not the Budweg remanufactured ones that this thread is about) for $600+ USD. Half of the UK's parcel handlers are on strike right now, so my package is at a standstill over there right now. So much for express shipping.

 

Problem if you have someone in the UK buy them for you and ship - you'll have to pony up the 20% VAT. That is basically what shipping would end up being (around a hundred quid). It's a buyers export market in the UK right now with low exchange rates and international orders not being charged the 20% UK tax.

Not sure who has them cheapest right now, but in the UK there is only one seller that I know of who will ship to the US.

 

My sole buying experience with Schmiedmann went very well. Quoted shipping cost was surprising low, with no adjustments to that subsequently. When OEM parts arrived from BMW/Germany, Shmiedmann shipped via DSV Xpress routed through Paris to the USA (Indianapolis) where FedEx took over with normal online tracking. Shipment did not enter the UK. Maybe coincidental but it would seem odd if not carrying the actual Budweg product line with both companies based in Denmark.

When I placed my order, I corresponded with the customer service individual below (in English):

Sælger / Seller / Verkäufer
Per Terkelsen

SCHMIEDMANN ODENSE A/S
Herluf Trolles Vej 15
5220 Odense SØ
Tlf.
E-Mail per@schmiedmann.com
Web www.schmiedmann.dk
CVR. Nr. DK29634602
EAN/GLN: 5790002421280

Schmiedmann Odense A/S
Schmiedmann your BMW specialist

 

I want to see what they look like in person and how deep the red is compares to my factory JCW ones on my R52, JCW red is a dark red compared to Chili red. I have touched it up with chili red paint and its works, you have to look really close to tell the difference





If you do buy from us I am here to help.

 

Repost from my build thread for anyone following this one, but not that one (why would you do that?).

Anyhow, the Budweg rebuilt 4 pot Brembo calipers finally arrived. Took 2 weeks from the UK via express air. But a postal strike held them up. Go labor! Oh, wait... go labour!

Once they started moving in the UK, they took 4 days or so to get here. Happy to report that the calipers DO come with the pins and brackets, and the hoses that I bought seem to be a decent quality set. So, with the $126 pad set from Amazon, the total cost for this 4 pot genuine Brembo (rebuilt OE by Budweg), that puts the TOTAL (INCLUDING SHIPPING FROM THE UK) at $947 for a Brembo 4-pot big brake, big rotor set.




Wow, are these ever beefy. Make the front OEM R53 stockers look puny. That said, I've never felt the stock brakes had any real problem. But I will have much less of a problem with these, were one to arise.

The decals from brakecaliperdecals.co.uk are very nice, very high quality, and at around $9.50 US shipped are a fantastic deal. My one seuugestion - order two sets. You will almost for sure mess up the first one you apply. I got a bunch of bubbles stuck in the first one. More on that below. Nice quality. They also do the white background, and the new style too. The stock size is 92mm.



Application is pretty straightforward (read: not simple). The most crucial part of the application process is the start getting the air pockets out from the center of the decal on either the top part or the bottom part and then sort of roll your finger up (if you started on the top half) or roll your finger down (if you started on the lower half). Gradually work your way outward from the middle doing first the upper half rolling upward, then the lower half rolling downward. This does a good job getting all of the bubbles out. Then I went over the whole thing with my fingers retracing the original path. Once I was sure there were no bubbles, I burnished the decal with the back of a spoon before pulling off the transfer tape. The second one came out great! I will not show a picture of the first one :-/



These are definitely OE Brembos. The ground off all of the casting marks and numbers where they could be gotten to. The one place they could not or did not was the casting numbers on the inside of the caliper body where the pads insert. Identical to OE Brembos. Myth sternly put to bed.

Exchange rate is still only 1.22 right now. Still a good time to buy. Will post some pics when I get around to installing them.

 

Thanks for the update, I have the ECS brake lines on my set up, good thing to just upgrade to stainless while you are at it.

Looks pretty close in the color,, they look a little lighter red(maybe camera) then the JCW red.

 

I would agree with that assessment on the color. Seems more like a general 'caliper red' color than a JCW-specific color. I imagine most caliper remanufacturers are not going to be concerned with color matching each manufacturer's specific caliper paint code.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to post up your detailed thread with photos and leads, and for following up with all of us here with your journey to get the items.... Looking forward to your feedback in use!!

 

I echo @mountainhorse . And as with everything you do to your car and the write-ups you post, first-rate work.

 

@jcolletteiii Thanks so much for the research and write-up! This is at the top of my list for mods for my car as well. Out of curiosity, did you find a commensurable difference in weight between the stock calipers? Any chance anyone has weight number for them?

 

When I do the switch over I will weigh all of the components. The calipers are heavier and the rotors are heavier too. Need the weights anyhow to add to my weight weeny spreadsheet. I can weigh the calipers...

EDIT:

Not s much of a weight difference as I first thought.

Stock front calipers weigh 5.48lbs each, and front carriers weigh 2.38lbs for the pair. That's 13.34.
Stock front rotors weigh in at 14 flat each - another 28. Hoses and pads we'll call even. I'll be removing 41.34 lbs from the car.

I'll add the new calipers which weigh 6.7lbs each, but the carrier is eliminated. So, nearly a wash on the calipers at 13.4lbs.
There is weight gain on the rotors though. The 316x22mm rotors weigh in at 17.125lbs each - or 34.25lbs for the pair. So, I will be adding 47.65lbs back to the car.

My car will gain 6.31lbs. So I will be back up to approximately 2531.8. Not a bad deal as far as I am concerned for the added braking ability.

 

The braking makes up for the weight gain and they will look good behind a nice wheel, red pops on black wheels.

 

Bumping this up for a couple of reasons. My total was just under $1,100 (including tax and shipping) for the entire R56 JCW 4-pot Brembo conversion. Shop around and don't get gouged! Part numbers and costs at the top of this page. GBP to USD exchange rate is now 1:1.26, so still not bad.

I just put the rebuilt R56 Brembos on and bled them last month. I can confirm that the R112 wheels will fit with this retrofit, but it is CLOSE. I put a pair of 4mm spacers on the front and will add new wheels soon. Took it for a spin and lost some pedal height, so re-bled them one more time and got the pedal back to nice and firm.


Before


Rotor comparison. The JCW rotors are QUITE a bit heavier. Need to adjust my weights spreadsheet...


After. These things are beasts.


Clearance. You can see in this pic how close the back side of the webs are to the front surface of the caliper. This was before adding the 4mm spacers. I didn't take a picture of the after, but it definitely put my mind at ease.

 

They certainly look great! As long as you have 2-3 mm of clearance to the caliper, there won't be any interference with the wheel. The wheel won't flex nearly that much, even under hard driving conditions.

 

I was after some added lightness anyhow and had been looking at wheels for a *very* long time. I thought that the R112's would be safe as it looked like there was maybe 4mm or so to play with.

I put new rotors and redstuff pads on the stock front calipers before I decided to do this changeover. I always thought the R53 had decent stopping power, but after I bled the new calipers the second time and got the nice firm pedal back, I did a 50 to zero. Ever watch 'The Expanse'? It's a Scifi channel show that was picked up by Netflix - it's a pretty nicely done exploration of what the outer solar system might be like in a thousand or so years with the asteroid belt and moons of the jovian planets occupied. Anyhow, the start of season 4 (IIRC) starts off with a 'slingshot racer' going through a gravitational anomaly that decelerated him from however fast he was going to nearly zero instantaneously. His face literally fell off. I didn't quite feel like that, but close (...ish).

It's not a subtle improvement.

 

Looks good. I have had R112 in black on mine and those R113s. No spacers needed.

My R58 JCW came stock with that set up.

 

Just as an update, ECS is now selling the Budweg calipers for $624 EACH!!! https://www.ecstuning.com/b-budweg-p...106856651~bud/ https://www.ecstuning.com/b-budweg-p...106856652~bud/

 

Thats the retail price when we added them a while back, that other site they got those from for cheaper looks to have changed the product and they are Triscan branded and not painted? So maybe they were priced wrong overseas and they updated?