Thought I would share this info. and maybe save people a few pennies. I don't have any affiliation with any of the Companies mentioned but was so impressed with the parts and the prices I felt they deserved a mention
My rear caliper on the drivers side has been sticking intermittently for the past 6 months or so. Whilst front calipers are reasonably priced, rears are far more expensive for some reason. Eurocarparts are asking £172 for the right and £185 for the left; plus £24 against return of an exchange part. Even with discounts there is not much change from £120 a side.
After a fair bit of searching I had almost decided to have a go at refurbishing my old calipers, at around £40 per side, when I came across (via an old post on this forum) Brakeparts, which is the on-line shop for Brakes International. Their price for the rears is £72 plus £36 against return of an exchange part https://brakeparts.co.uk/shop/BMW/Z...els/Rear - Brake Calipers and Wheel Cylinders. Thinking this was too good to be true, I looked further. The refurbished calipers are supplied by Budweg, who I had never heard of, however, their website gives all the information I needed about their "remanufacturing" process http://www.budweg.com/reman/reman-process. I also so decided to replace the rear discs, handbrake shoes and, of course the pads. So long as I get the refund for the parts returned total cost will be around £240 which is the same as calipers only (with a 30% discount) from ECP. Postage for the whole lot (as one delivery) was £4.99 and it was delivered within 48 hours.
Here are a few pictures of my refurb
Brake discs are from NK- Automotive, with origins in Sweden, however, I suspect they are actually manufactured in the Far East.
First job was to apply masking and paint the hub area.
Then got a bit carried away with painting the calipers and only remembered when partially painted.
Was very impressed with the finish out of the box and it does seem that Budweg do a thorough job of refurbishing.
Pads and shoes supplied were Ferodo branded, which may not be everybody's choice but for my, normal road use, are totally adequate.
So the finished job:
I followed the guide on Pelican Parts for setting up the handbrake shoe expander and found it was a right fiddle on, however, it did seem to work and setting the balance was easy. There is I bit too much travel on the handbrake lever for my liking and I need to take a bit of the slack out to get it just right.
The only small hiccup I had was I ordered a new pad wear sensor, and the part that comes up as related to the pads (BPW 0104) is not correct for the Z3. A phone call later and they are sending a BPW0161 which is correct and I am returning the incorrect part with the calipers.
My rear caliper on the drivers side has been sticking intermittently for the past 6 months or so. Whilst front calipers are reasonably priced, rears are far more expensive for some reason. Eurocarparts are asking £172 for the right and £185 for the left; plus £24 against return of an exchange part. Even with discounts there is not much change from £120 a side.
After a fair bit of searching I had almost decided to have a go at refurbishing my old calipers, at around £40 per side, when I came across (via an old post on this forum) Brakeparts, which is the on-line shop for Brakes International. Their price for the rears is £72 plus £36 against return of an exchange part https://brakeparts.co.uk/shop/BMW/Z...els/Rear - Brake Calipers and Wheel Cylinders. Thinking this was too good to be true, I looked further. The refurbished calipers are supplied by Budweg, who I had never heard of, however, their website gives all the information I needed about their "remanufacturing" process http://www.budweg.com/reman/reman-process. I also so decided to replace the rear discs, handbrake shoes and, of course the pads. So long as I get the refund for the parts returned total cost will be around £240 which is the same as calipers only (with a 30% discount) from ECP. Postage for the whole lot (as one delivery) was £4.99 and it was delivered within 48 hours.
Here are a few pictures of my refurb
Brake discs are from NK- Automotive, with origins in Sweden, however, I suspect they are actually manufactured in the Far East.
First job was to apply masking and paint the hub area.
Then got a bit carried away with painting the calipers and only remembered when partially painted.
Was very impressed with the finish out of the box and it does seem that Budweg do a thorough job of refurbishing.
Pads and shoes supplied were Ferodo branded, which may not be everybody's choice but for my, normal road use, are totally adequate.
So the finished job:
I followed the guide on Pelican Parts for setting up the handbrake shoe expander and found it was a right fiddle on, however, it did seem to work and setting the balance was easy. There is I bit too much travel on the handbrake lever for my liking and I need to take a bit of the slack out to get it just right.
The only small hiccup I had was I ordered a new pad wear sensor, and the part that comes up as related to the pads (BPW 0104) is not correct for the Z3. A phone call later and they are sending a BPW0161 which is correct and I am returning the incorrect part with the calipers.
