M2 Brake Line & Fluid Upgrade

/in , /by

After reading a ton of posts on BimmerPost about brake fluid and brake lines for getting the most out of the M2 on a race track I decided to swap out the OEM before my first track day.

There are tons of options for stainless steel brake lines.

For me the deciding factor came down to color. In addition to being highly rated the Turner Motorsport stainless brake lines come in a blue color that is a close match to my M2. This may seem like a silly way to make a decision but with plenty of great choices that are similar in cost, why not pick ones that look good with your car, even if no one may ever see them!

I found this video the most helpful when trying to learn how to change the lines and bleed the brakes in my M2.

It is never as easy as it looks on YouTube. Here are a couple of tips that the video doesn’t show:

  1. Spray each brake line connection and mounting clip with PB Blaster to help loosen them up.

  2. The clip is a pain to get out. I found that inserting a small flat head screw driver into the hole in the clip and prying up helped get it out.

  3. After the new line was in and I bled the fluid, I would test the brake pedal by pumping it a few times with my hand (since the car was on jacks) to make sure the travel was still firm. I repeated this after bleeding each brake.

Using a Power Bleeder made this an easy one man job. I added a full quart of Castrol SPF to the power bleeder and flushed the existing fluid out of the system. My fluid was new as the dealer serviced the system recently. If your brake fluid is used it easy to see the color change when the new fluid starts to bleed into the catch can. I used the empty SPF bottle to measure how much brake fluid I was pulling out at each corner to be sure I got new fluid in each line.

Once I was done and put the wheels back on I tested the brakes. First just letting the car roll in my garage, then down my driveway and finally around my neighborhood to make sure everything was in good working order before using the car at speed.

First Track Day Tech Inspection

/in , /by

As my first weekend at the track was fast approaching I had to bite the bullet and dedicate some weekend time to doing the required tech inspection on my car. I also planned on upgrading to stainless steel brake lines and Castrol SPF brake fluid since bleeding the brakes was part of the required tech for track prep. Other than this upgrade, I wanted to run the car as stock as possible.

Most of the inspection is pretty straight forward as you can see on this sample tech sheet from Just Track It.

Just Track It Tech Form

Topping off fluids and checking belts under the hood should be simple, but in a modern car they can be hard to get to or done virtually. For example, the brake fluid master cylinder in the M2 is under a plastic trim piece that is easier to take out then it is to put back in place. Not sure what happened to a good old fashion dip stick but to check the oil in the M2 you have to use the iDrive system.

Since I was pulling all the wheels off to swap the brake lines I took the opportunity to clean the inside and back of the rims. One trick I learned after the first time I took a wheel off was to break the lug nuts loose before you jack the car up as the wheels may spin freely once the car is off the ground.

After spending the better part of the day working on the car I was rolling the last tire back in the garage to finish up and I noticed a screw in the sidewall.

Time to go find a new right front tire before the track weekend. This is why it is important to do a thorough tech inspection. You don’t want to find out there is a screw in your tire at 100mph going into turn 1. It is much better to find it when the car is standing still!