Whats the go with BMW's brakes?

[fpv_gtho]

Anyone noticed how when some people will look at 6 piston and 8 piston brake calipers, BMW even for their M3 CSL still use single piston calipers? Is there any reason for this?

[paul]

thats a very good point have never thought of that one maby to do with the disks not getting too hot with multuple pads all clamping on the same surface?

[jcp123]

Simplicity and cost? they seem to work just as well as the 4-,6-, and 8-caliper discs, making me think its more of a marketing thing, like peak horsepower ratings...

[fpv_gtho]

I told my dad about it and he joked about it being any way to save weight..:rolleyes:

[KnifeEdge_2K1]

there really isnt a reason, as far as i know having more pistons just means ur spreading out the force, but since the area of a brake pad is so small anyways and the material is relatively hard it doesnt benifit much from this

its like pistons in a car, the more there are the smoother it is but not nescecerily more power

[fpv_gtho]

If they were even using just twin pistons i could begin to understand, but you cant gurantee equal force on either side of the rotor from single piston calipers..

[RacingManiac]

single piston design by itself is a product of compromise, in order for it to work you'd need to have floating caliper so that it can self center to the disc. The obviously benefit of course is cost as it is a lot easier to manufacture and design without having to channel the fluid from inside to outside. the fact that caliper have to float means it will compromise brake response, although we are talking about fraction of a second, when it comes to braking it could mean a world of difference. there is also a matter of isolating the brake fluid from the effect of heat, by using multiple piston design the fluid is in multiple channel adding more surface area to cool off....

It's strange to see BMW still sticking to it even in their latest M5 or even the "track oriented" M3 CSL, when in this day and age one can get a Nissan Sentra from factory with 4-pot Brembos....

[jcp123]

i got single piston w/my discs on the Mustang. seems to work just fine...has no trouble locking em up...could use better feel though.

[fpv_gtho]

Yeah but on a Mustang, that WOULD be to cut costs, that surely isnt the case for BMW if they still have them on the CSL. The Falcons here made until 2000 still had single pistons all round as wel, then they went to twin piston fronts which is what theyve still got now

[jcp123]

well brakes from '77 probably werent that advanced anyway (they came off of a '77 Granada)

*hurt you called my car cheap* :rolleyes: