Hello fellow BMW tragics
I recently purchased an E3 sedan here in Sydney and the master cylinder was completely rusted solid. I did not realize the unique brake system these cars had prior to purchase and I suspect that is the reason the car was parked some years ago.
Could not find any parts locally and parts from the UK seemed very expensive with postage and the current state of our currency. I am trying to restore this car keeping in mind its end value I'm always looking to save where I can- If this was an e9 then I would keep the car 100% original but its not.
I went on the lookout for an alternative and came across the following:
I needed a MC that looked original, used original mounting and had the same specs internally
After much searching I found a Toyota Cressida MX73 MC is almost identical except for the mount, but the Toyota MC comes with a large square mounting plate that can easily be cut down and drilled to match the BMW. You can also use the original BMW fluid reservoir.
There are 3 mods you need to do
1) The end that goes through the firewall is a little large due to the casting having a lip, so I just ground that down on the old bench grinder
2) The mounting plate needs to be cut down and re-drilled- I just used a small cardboard template from the BMW and this was a simple modification- Plenty of material to work with
3) The Toyota uses double flare lines rather than BMW bubble flare- this was not an issue for me as I am making new lines anyway- but you can re-flare the ends quite easily or use adapters.
The other mod I did that may not be needed for everyone- The piston end on the Toyota MC is machined a little deeper than the BMW so when I mounted up the brake pin and forkhead from the pedal it was only catching by a few threads - I was not happy with that so I got a long 100mm high tensile m10 bolt and ground down the hex head into a small mushroom shape to replace the factory pin and used the original forkhead. The whole thing mounted up perfectly and to the untrained eye looks 100% factory.
Anyway this is what it looks like with the mods, the last pictures are the master you need to buy- discard the reservoir that comes with it you wont need that. I paid about $120 AUD so I expect in the UK about 50-60 pounds
Hope this helps some of you- I have not road tested yet as I am working on an alternative to the twin boosters so stay tuned
I recently purchased an E3 sedan here in Sydney and the master cylinder was completely rusted solid. I did not realize the unique brake system these cars had prior to purchase and I suspect that is the reason the car was parked some years ago.
Could not find any parts locally and parts from the UK seemed very expensive with postage and the current state of our currency. I am trying to restore this car keeping in mind its end value I'm always looking to save where I can- If this was an e9 then I would keep the car 100% original but its not.
I went on the lookout for an alternative and came across the following:
I needed a MC that looked original, used original mounting and had the same specs internally
After much searching I found a Toyota Cressida MX73 MC is almost identical except for the mount, but the Toyota MC comes with a large square mounting plate that can easily be cut down and drilled to match the BMW. You can also use the original BMW fluid reservoir.
There are 3 mods you need to do
1) The end that goes through the firewall is a little large due to the casting having a lip, so I just ground that down on the old bench grinder
2) The mounting plate needs to be cut down and re-drilled- I just used a small cardboard template from the BMW and this was a simple modification- Plenty of material to work with
3) The Toyota uses double flare lines rather than BMW bubble flare- this was not an issue for me as I am making new lines anyway- but you can re-flare the ends quite easily or use adapters.
The other mod I did that may not be needed for everyone- The piston end on the Toyota MC is machined a little deeper than the BMW so when I mounted up the brake pin and forkhead from the pedal it was only catching by a few threads - I was not happy with that so I got a long 100mm high tensile m10 bolt and ground down the hex head into a small mushroom shape to replace the factory pin and used the original forkhead. The whole thing mounted up perfectly and to the untrained eye looks 100% factory.
Anyway this is what it looks like with the mods, the last pictures are the master you need to buy- discard the reservoir that comes with it you wont need that. I paid about $120 AUD so I expect in the UK about 50-60 pounds
Hope this helps some of you- I have not road tested yet as I am working on an alternative to the twin boosters so stay tuned