I've been doing research for a little while now on brake options for my pre-LCI E91 (2007 328ix). I do track the car and have a desire to upgrade my brakes - stockers are 300mm up front. In doing research I've found I have many options - I'm looking at stock E90 335i brakes which appear to be ATE calipers with 348mm rotors which would be a significant bump. (Rears are slightly larger as well but I don't recall size off the top of my head.) However I'm also seeing some F30 brake options which can come with ATE calipers or Brembo calipers, sized 340mm rotors (again rears I'm unsure on). Lastly there's the M Performance upgrade that came with Brembos and 370mm rotors (I think that's going to be too big, seeing as how I just ordered new 17" wheels lol).
So my questions are if I go with the E90 335i upgrade all I'll need is the hardware off the 335i (calipers, caliper brackets, rotors and new pads) and I can use my brake lines and pad wear sensor, correct?
If I look at the F30 upgrades it seems all the calipers will bolt to the hubs the same as the E90, I just need the caliper brackets off the F30? And the F30 DID come with both ATE and Brembo options, correct? If I can do the Brembos with the 340mm rotors I think I'd rather go that route if not too expensive.
I've been reading through post after post on the E90 forums and elsewhere on the webbernets but I haven't see these questions answered in a straightforward fashion. I can't find a page that lists the parts list required for my car - and I know people have done it but the posts are super old and some users aren't even active.
Thanks!
I don't have any definite answers for you but I think you are on the right track with your thinking. There's a couple of ways to cross reference parts, on Rockauto if you click on the part # (not the info button) a list will appear with all the different vehicles that part is also for. In the case of the soft rubber lines it looks like the fronts are common to all the E90 based cars (1 & 3 series along with Z4) and the rears are the same along with some newer models. The other is to use Realoem.com, you can look up your car, find the part and click on the part number, again it will cross reference all the different models that use that part and where. Just because a part doesn't cross over doesn't mean it won't work but you won't know until you try.
Location? I have brand new Hawk Talon rotors for an E90 335i I don't think I'm ever going to use.
In reply to Byrneon27 :
North Attleborough, Ma. I'll shoot you a message.
For a BMW of your vintage, you're missing a pretty big trick if you aren't using the parts index available at realoem.com as much as you can to cross index parts.
In reply to Karacticus :
I've seen a lot of people mention it but haven't played around with it much yet. I don't know how it's going to tell me what parts from an F30 with Brembo calipers I'll need to bolt to an E90 though. 🤷🏻♂️
Realoem can tell you the size of a particular rotor, and what specific models that rotor was used on by the factory, but it's not going to tell you if an upgrade is possible to a bigger rotor. It is a useful tool for looking up part numbers; it also has prices but they aren't necessarily accurate (depending on where you usually buy your parts) and should be viewed as suggestions only. It should also be noted that realoem is just one online parts catalog for BMWs, there are a number of other similar websites like BMWFans that you can use too.
The e82 135i 6 piston brembos are an option as well. Though the front calipers do not allow for pad changes with the caliper in place. I have heard f chassis brakes will require different offset rims.
Thanks everybody! Hitting a junk yard this weekend, wish me luck!
RealOEM.com is slightly confusing me.
The following picture is for a 2010 335i featuring the larger rear rotors (this is the caliper bracket) which I was told is a direct swap for my car:
This picture is for a 2007 328xi (my car) rear caliper bracket:
I'm confused because it lists my car in both pictures but they are different part numbers, if they were the same part wouldn't they have the same number? Or is it because my car is listed in both pictures it IS the same part? I'm trying to figure out how to use this site...
In reply to chknhwk :
You're almost there, click the blue link for any of those chassis and it will take you one step deeper and show you all the sub-models that use that actual part number, from there if you click any of the sub-models it will take you to the parts diagram for that specific car and highlight the part number you were originally searching for.
So for your example above the first part when you go deeper will show you all the various cars that had that caliper carrier but your 328i will not be listed as it does not use that specific part.
In reply to adam525i :
OK, I think I'm getting there. When I select the caliper carrier from my original search (2007 E91 328xi) and follow through it shows me pre-LCI 328xi's in USA.
When I click the 335i search and click through it DOESN'T show me pre-LCI 328xi's in USA but lists some in Europe. Looks like the caliper carrier for the rear is different, much like the front. Thanks! Now to figure out how it's going to impact my autox classing. 
Byrneon27 said:
Location? I have brand new Hawk Talon rotors for an E90 335i I don't think I'm ever going to use.
I sent you a message, did you ever get it? I can never tell if the message button works here or not...
