We finally have very unscientific proof that MPBK indeed stops the x5 faster!

[DuSh]

For those who wondered if MPBK are just good looking brakes or they actually stop the x5 faster. Well today I did a 60-0mph test using Dragy GPS Performance meter box. I got 121ft - which is not bad imho, but road I tested it on was a bit bumpy - I'm positive on a highway surface I could get better results.

Stock 50i brakes (which are btw a bit bigger than 35i/35d ones) can do 60-0 in: 129ft http://www.trucktrend.com/truck-revi...0i-first-test/

So a good 8ft decrease from 60mph to 0mph - that could be difference between plowing into someones rear end vs just getting away with an adrenaline rush. Plus I suspect from 70mph (usual highway speeds) difference might be even more.

Keep in mind that I have stock rear brakes, I only have front brakes from MPBK - so all that improvement is due to front brakes only! Oh front pads that I have are same used oem pads that I bought my front calipers with - from a ebay (from totaled x5m) - which were not ideal.

Moral of this test is that if you have 50i or even lighter 35d/35i - MPBK will indeed improve stopping power - there is no doubt.

[dynastyss]

Thanks so much for doing this!

[Russmov]

Originally Posted by DuSh

For those who wondered if MPBK are just good looking brakes or they actually stop the x5 faster. Well today I did a 60-0mph test using Dragy GPS Performance meter box. I got 121ft - which is not bad imho, but road I tested it on was a bit bumpy - I'm positive on a highway surface I could get better results.

Stock 50i brakes (which are btw a bit bigger than 35i/35d ones) can do 60-0 in: 129ft http://www.trucktrend.com/truck-revi...0i-first-test/

So a good 8ft decrease from 60mph to 0mph - that could be difference between plowing into someones rear end vs just getting away with an adrenaline rush. Plus I suspect from 70mph (usual highway speeds) difference might be even more.

Keep in mind that I have stock rear brakes, I only have front brakes from MPBK - so all that improvement is due to front brakes only! Oh front pads that I have are same used oem pads that I bought my front calipers with - from a ebay (from totaled x5m) - which were not ideal.

Moral of this test is that if you have 50i or even lighter 35d/35i - MPBK will indeed improve stopping power - there is no doubt.

Great job DuSh! Another beneficial post for forum members.

[tkelley86]

Nice! This is a great way to justify the spend with the old lady, "its for safety... safety..."

[turboawd]

So you are comparing your results to someone else's? That is not the right way to do it.

[r33_RGSport]

Isn't that the meaning and benefit of an "Upgrade"?
Good work though.

[menelaos]

I do see a benefit if you want to use it on the track, but very little, if any, if you want to use it on normal driving conditions.
There could be a benefit in normal driving conditions if you see, say, a deer and step on it. Could save you a foot or two, at best.
But, overall, the ROI is pretty low in terms of actual stopping distance VS stock on normal driving conditions.

[smyles]

Originally Posted by turboawd

So you are comparing your results to someone else's? That is not the right way to do it.

Exactly. If anything, 8 ft is well within margin of error.

[Twin Peaks]

Ive got some questions! What size tires, what brand, tread depth, and temperature oitside?

[SpeedN8]

I've found the MPBK to be great on my X5. I didn't like the original ones on my 35d. Since upgrading mine, overall braking and braking when towing have shown noticeable improvements.

[Yaw]

pavement type, tire type, tire pressure, vehicle options (weight), temperature, test procedure (multiple runs, average of runs, brakes hot/cold, etc.). Way too many variables for this to be any type of conclusion.

Biggest impact on braking distance is tires.

[DuSh]

Whew....tough crowd
Guys, guys.... let me explain.
I agree with you that this is not a real proof and I should redo it with stock brakes in same pavement portion of the road at same temperature of brakes, weather, do multiple runs etc and so on. I'm changing my thread topic name to reflect it better and acknowledge your concerns I'm not a complete moron (maybe just half moron). Yes, I do realize it's not scientific test. You are absolutely correct!

However, this is done for fun and let me rephrase it - why in my opinion I think MPBK is a bit superior in stopping power.

1. Temperature outside was about 90F. Tires I have are a staggered set of ContiDWS06 on 20 inch rims - 275/315. I put them about 10k miles ago. Thread depth is 7mm as measured a week ago by local Discount tire (I was setting my psi there to the owner's manual specs - I don't have time to look it up - but I did a post about it and linked a pdf owners manual file with page reference where it has literally about 50 different psi setups depending on numerous things like 2 row vs 3 row, rim size, tire specs, engine choice 35i vs 50i and so on. i can bet that my psi is more correct than 99% of forum members here who just go by door plate sticker table thinking it covers everything lol). Why I think it's relevant - because a lot of people have exactly same tires. Yep. And also, if anything - the link I'm comparing my results are usually done on a fresh tires. So if anything my results should be worse and yet they are still better. Now, yes, I agree that test in the link was done on stock factory tires (not ContiDWS06) and thread makes a difference of course, but hey, this is all I can do for now.

2. I did do 2 runs: 1 on my way to grocery store and 1 from grocery store going home and results were within 1ft difference. I have about 22 years of driving experience, starting from Russian VAZ Lada 2106 that had portion of the floor missing and I could see the road through the hole and even help brake with my foot on the pavement through that hole and that had manual transmission and need to use double clutch technique on roads that most of members here will find unacceptable - and ending with my x5 50i here in AZ on I would say pretty good roads. With lots of countries and cars in between. I can say and this is just my opinion - that it was no variation in those 2 tests I did. Car behaved exactly same way - even same sound from tires and brakes, same behavior pattern and feel of pedal. Difference between my 2 runs was 1ft - so imho the results are more or less speaking truth.

3. If anything there was a slight negative slope - so on a 0% slope road I would have better results if anything, as laws of physics still apply in AZ. It's harder to stop a car on a "downhill" - even if it was a very slight downhill (1.5% or so - please check my initial graph pic).

4. Now let's use some logic here - if swapping only front brakes (leaving rears stock) resulted in 8ft increase in my 50i with bigger brakes, then what do you think will be the difference for 35d/35i guys who will replace all 4 corners? Well, it should be even bigger difference for 35i lighter cars with smaller brakes. Hopefully you are following my logic here.

5. As I mentioned my pads were half shot and were from a salvage yard that sold me my calipers with old pads still in them. I cleaned and reused them. There is a thread about it with photos and everything. I'm not lying. Anyone can search and look it up. I do believe that with a new pads - I can get better performance. Difference will be more than 8ft.

6. Another thing that I decided to not mention, but it's important to understand and keep in mind - that I did only 2 tests, but the more you do them, or the more brakes got hot and accumulate heat - the less effective they will be (since I don't have M5 carbon/ceramic brakes that perform better when hot, nope, I'm not that rich to pay $12k for them). Now MPBK rotor is twice the area of stock 50i rotor (give or take), probably 3 times the area of 35d/35i rotor. Same thing with calipers, they are bigger and can dissipate heat better. This is also physics. Naturally if anything MPBK will increase the 8ft difference as you run more and more tests - compared to smaller stock brakes/rotors.

7. There are couple of other tests done by different caranddriver/mototrend etc. reviewers who do it professionally and have (unlike me) means and time and money and dedicated 1/2 perfect pavement strips to do it properly. This is why I took their number for granted and compared it to mine. That's all I did. Is it scientific? No. Is it real life - hell yeah. Will it matter or not to you - it's entirely up to you. I just did a small and fun experiment.

Can I still find a dozen more silly reasons and continue the list? Yes I can, but honestly guys - I'm tired, I have exams coming up, rotations to go, patients to see and as a medical student I would rather put my time learning medicine and helping patients. I can only do so much for x5 forum. I'm not a NASCAR driver, not a licensed mechanic - I'm just a regular dude that loves cars and BMW and this is something I did as my hobby that keeps me sane often in my exhausting journey to become a licensed physician in US.

I can tell you 1 thing I'm sure - even if MPBK is crap and can't stop x5 any faster than stock brakes - it sure looks damn good and that alone is enough for some to look into it. I did and I'm happy. As always just my opinion man!

Cheers

[positiveions]

Good work bud. Thanks for sharing.

[1230vani]

Have the brakes with F85 rotors and looks baddass. Expensive? Yes way too expensive, but decided to pimp my ride a bit rather than buying a new vehicle now.

[menelaos]

Originally Posted by DuSh

Whew....tough crowd
Guys, guys.... let me explain.
I agree with you that this is not a real proof and I should redo it with stock brakes in same pavement portion of the road at same temperature of brakes, weather, do multiple runs etc and so on. I'm changing my thread topic name to reflect it better and acknowledge your concerns I'm not a complete moron (maybe just half moron). Yes, I do realize it's not scientific test. You are absolutely correct!

However, this is done for fun and let me rephrase it - why in my opinion I think MPBK is a bit superior in stopping power.

1. Temperature outside was about 90F. Tires I have are a staggered set of ContiDWS06 on 20 inch rims - 275/315. I put them about 10k miles ago. Thread depth is 7mm as measured a week ago by local Discount tire (I was setting my psi there to the owner's manual specs - I don't have time to look it up - but I did a post about it and linked a pdf owners manual file with page reference where it has literally about 50 different psi setups depending on numerous things like 2 row vs 3 row, rim size, tire specs, engine choice 35i vs 50i and so on. i can bet that my psi is more correct than 99% of forum members here who just go by door plate sticker table thinking it covers everything lol). Why I think it's relevant - because a lot of people have exactly same tires. Yep. And also, if anything - the link I'm comparing my results are usually done on a fresh tires. So if anything my results should be worse and yet they are still better. Now, yes, I agree that test in the link was done on stock factory tires (not ContiDWS06) and thread makes a difference of course, but hey, this is all I can do for now.

2. I did do 2 runs: 1 on my way to grocery store and 1 from grocery store going home and results were within 1ft difference. I have about 22 years of driving experience, starting from Russian VAZ Lada 2106 that had portion of the floor missing and I could see the road through the hole and even help brake with my foot on the pavement through that hole and that had manual transmission and need to use double clutch technique on roads that most of members here will find unacceptable - and ending with my x5 50i here in AZ on I would say pretty good roads. With lots of countries and cars in between. I can say and this is just my opinion - that it was no variation in those 2 tests I did. Car behaved exactly same way - even same sound from tires and brakes, same behavior pattern and feel of pedal. Difference between my 2 runs was 1ft - so imho the results are more or less speaking truth.

3. If anything there was a slight negative slope - so on a 0% slope road I would have better results if anything, as laws of physics still apply in AZ. It's harder to stop a car on a "downhill" - even if it was a very slight downhill (1.5% or so - please check my initial graph pic).

4. Now let's use some logic here - if swapping only front brakes (leaving rears stock) resulted in 8ft increase in my 50i with bigger brakes, then what do you think will be the difference for 35d/35i guys who will replace all 4 corners? Well, it should be even bigger difference for 35i lighter cars with smaller brakes. Hopefully you are following my logic here.

5. As I mentioned my pads were half shot and were from a salvage yard that sold me my calipers with old pads still in them. I cleaned and reused them. There is a thread about it with photos and everything. I'm not lying. Anyone can search and look it up. I do believe that with a new pads - I can get better performance. Difference will be more than 8ft.

6. Another thing that I decided to not mention, but it's important to understand and keep in mind - that I did only 2 tests, but the more you do them, or the more brakes got hot and accumulate heat - the less effective they will be (since I don't have M5 carbon/ceramic brakes that perform better when hot, nope, I'm not that rich to pay $12k for them). Now MPBK rotor is twice the area of stock 50i rotor (give or take), probably 3 times the area of 35d/35i rotor. Same thing with calipers, they are bigger and can dissipate heat better. This is also physics. Naturally if anything MPBK will increase the 8ft difference as you run more and more tests - compared to smaller stock brakes/rotors.

7. There are couple of other tests done by different caranddriver/mototrend etc. reviewers who do it professionally and have (unlike me) means and time and money and dedicated 1/2 perfect pavement strips to do it properly. This is why I took their number for granted and compared it to mine. That's all I did. Is it scientific? No. Is it real life - hell yeah. Will it matter or not to you - it's entirely up to you. I just did a small and fun experiment.

Can I still find a dozen more silly reasons and continue the list? Yes I can, but honestly guys - I'm tired, I have exams coming up, rotations to go, patients to see and as a medical student I would rather put my time learning medicine and helping patients. I can only do so much for x5 forum. I'm not a NASCAR driver, not a licensed mechanic - I'm just a regular dude that loves cars and BMW and this is something I did as my hobby that keeps me sane often in my exhausting journey to become a licensed physician in US.

I can tell you 1 thing I'm sure - even if MPBK is crap and can't stop x5 any faster than stock brakes - it sure looks damn good and that alone is enough for some to look into it. I did and I'm happy. As always just my opinion men!

Cheers

I distinctly remember those Ladas in Greece back in the 80s!
Even back then, owning a Lada was almost like "scar" on somebody!

[Maverik259]

Haha I knew someone was gonna repost your novela! Hahahahaha I love it great post my friend.