Our Top Recommended Big Brake Upgrade Kits For Your BMW 3-Series (E90 to E93)
Cameron’s first question on any E90 enquiry is whether it is an M3. The answer splits the catalogue in two. The M3 uses a different front hub geometry from all other E90 variants, the 335i included. Standard cars from the 318i to the 335i share the same hub, and the Brembo range reflects that: non-M3 kits all fit one geometry. The M3 has its own bracket design, its own disc thickness (34mm, versus 32mm on the standard car), and its own product listings.
One further split: xDrive variants (the xi models) have a different front hub from non-xDrive standard cars at the same engine size. Brembo catalogue them separately. Non-xDrive standard E90s start at the GT-S (billet aluminium, 6 piston); xDrive models start at the GT-A (two-piece, 4 piston, a little less money). Both run the same 355mm disc. Tarox list one front kit for the E90, a 340mm 10 pot conversion at £2,610.00 inc VAT covering everything except the M3, and HiSpec Motorsport do not cover this car at all. The rest of this page is Brembo GT Series. Made to order in Italy at six to eight weeks lead time. The full E90 Brembo range is on the site if you want to browse the listings directly.
- One Tarox kit at 340mm covers everything but the M3; the rest of this page is Brembo GT Series
- Standard E90 from 318i to 335i share the same front hub; M3 does not
- xDrive (xi) variants use a different front hub from non-xDrive models and have their own listings
- Made to order in Italy: six to eight weeks from order to build
Brembo on the BMW 3-Series E90
Tarox cover the E90 with a single 340mm front kit for everything except the M3, and above that price the page is all Brembo. What the Brembo range gives you is a genuine technology ladder, from the GT-A two-piece caliper at the entry point up to the GT-R billet hard-anodised flagship.
Brembo GT Series
Made to order at the Brembo factory in Italy. Caliper families in ascending order: GT-A (two-piece, lightest and easiest to fit), GT-M (monobloc, machined from one piece of aluminium), GT-BM (monobloc with internal fluid passages, Brembo's newest design), GT-S (billet aluminium, nickel finished) and GT-R (billet, hard anodised, laser-engraved logo). Discs come cross-drilled or Type 3 slotted at the same price. Caliper colour is set by the last digit of the part number and costs nothing extra.
Tarox and HiSpec
Tarox list one front kit for the E90, a 340mm 10 pot conversion at £2,610.00 inc VAT covering all models except the M3. That is around £1,400 under the cheapest Brembo on this page, so it is the first thing to look at if the budget matters more than the badge. See the Tarox E90 kit. HiSpec Motorsport do not list anything for this car, and neither brand covers the E90 M3, so the M3 kits further down are Brembo only.
One point on Brembo part numbers: the same kit often appears across multiple BMW variants because it is the same hardware. A listing shared by the 325i and 328i is not a shortcut; the bracket geometry genuinely matches both cars. That is worth knowing because it means the part numbers are consistent, not because Brembo ran out of catalogue space.
Wheel clearance
Brembo publish a caliper clearance drawing for most kits in the GT range, and the product page links to it. The drawing gives three measurements: A (caliper height), B (caliper depth from the disc face to the wheel mounting surface) and C (caliper width). These are the figures that matter for wheel clearance, not just the disc diameter.
One thing to know upfront: the GT-R caliper does not share its clearance drawing with the GT-S or GT-M at the same disc size. They are different calipers with different envelope dimensions. If you are looking at a GT-S 380mm and a GT-R 380mm, check the right drawing for each. Brembo’s wheel-size.js module does not cover Brembo GT kits, which is why we link the drawings directly rather than publishing a table.
GT-A 355mm: the xDrive entry point
The GT-A is Brembo’s two-piece caliper: the caliper body and the caliper bracket are two separate alloy castings bolted together, derived from Brembo’s original equipment production work. It is the most straightforward of the GT calipers to install. For the xDrive front hub, this is the kit Brembo list at the entry point.
At £4,034.00 inc VAT, it is the cheapest front Brembo for the E90. The disc is 355x32mm two-piece. The caliper is 4 piston, which is less than the 6-piston GT-S used on non-xDrive models at the same disc size. Brembo do not list the GT-S for the xDrive front geometry on this car, so the GT-A is the right kit for xi owners at 355mm. The 325xi and 328xi have a combined listing covering all four E90 body styles; the 330xi has its own entry at the same price. Both are in the widget.
Lead time is six to eight weeks from order, made to order in Italy.
- £4,034.00 inc VAT
- xDrive variants only: 325xi, 328xi (all body styles) and 330xi (E90)
- 355x32mm two-piece disc
- GT-A two-piece caliper, 4 piston
- Cross-drilled or Type 3 slotted disc, same price
- Made to order: six to eight weeks
GT-S 355mm: the non-xDrive entry point
Non-xDrive E90s go straight to the GT-S at 355mm. There is no GT-A listing for the non-xDrive front hub on this car; Brembo start the catalogue here. The GT-S is a billet caliper, machined from aluminium billet and nickel finished, using the same production approach Brembo takes with its Formula 1 and NASCAR calipers. Six piston, with racing-style piston radiators and recessed dust seals.
At £4,400.74 inc VAT, the non-xDrive starting point costs £366.74 more than the xDrive GT-A above, but you get a better caliper for that money: billet over two-piece, 6 piston over 4. The 325i and 328i share one listing covering E90 and E92 body styles; the 330i has its own E90-specific entry at the same price. Both are in the widget. The same listing also covers the E91 (Touring) and E92 (coupe) variants on non-xDrive drivetrains.
Six to eight weeks, made to order.
- £4,400.74 inc VAT
- Non-xDrive standard: 325i, 328i (E90/E92) and 330i (E90)
- 355x32mm two-piece disc
- GT-S billet caliper, 6 piston, nickel finished
- Cross-drilled or Type 3 slotted disc, same price
- Made to order: six to eight weeks
GT-S 380mm: the bigger disc for the standard car
The step from 355mm to 380mm costs £366.73 and adds 25mm of swept area with more thermal mass for repeated heavy braking. The caliper stays GT-S throughout, so the difference between this and the 355mm above is entirely in the disc. Same billet aluminium, same 6-piston design, same nickel finish.
Garreth’s view: for a road car with occasional track use, the 355mm does the job. The 380mm is the sensible choice if the car sees regular circuit days, because the extra thermal headroom shows across repeated braking laps more than in a single stop. The 325i and 328i listing covers E90 and E92 body styles; the 335i has its own listing covering E90, E92 and E93 variants at the same price. Both are in the widget below.
Check the 380mm clearance drawing on the product page before ordering. The GT-S 380mm uses a different drawing from the GT-S 355mm.
- £4,767.47 inc VAT
- Non-xDrive standard: 325i/328i (E90/E92) and 335i (E90/E92/E93)
- 380x32mm two-piece disc
- GT-S billet caliper, 6 piston, nickel finished
- Cross-drilled or Type 3 slotted, same price
- Made to order: six to eight weeks
GT-M 365mm: the M3 entry kit
The M3 front hub takes a 34mm-thick disc; standard E90s run 32mm. The GT-M 365mm is the entry Brembo kit built around that geometry, with a 365x34mm two-piece disc and a monobloc caliper machined from one piece of aluminium. Brembo spec the GT-M for road cars that see regular track days, because a monobloc holds its shape better under heat and hard use than a two-piece design.
At £4,295.95 inc VAT, the M3 entry kit actually costs less than the standard non-xDrive GT-S 355mm at £4,400.74. The disc is larger and the caliper is a step higher in the technology ladder. The reason is straightforward: Brembo have a longer production run on the M3 hub geometry, and that keeps the price competitive.
Both the E90 M3 (saloon) and E92 M3 (coupe) have their own listings; both are titled with the M3 (E90 / E92 / E93) compatibility and the hardware is the same kit. Six to eight weeks, made to order.
- £4,295.95 inc VAT
- M3 only: E90, E92 and E93 variants
- 365x34mm two-piece disc
- GT-M monobloc caliper, 6 piston
- Black, Red, Silver or Yellow caliper finish
- Made to order: six to eight weeks
GT-BM or GT-S at 380mm: same price, different build
Both the GT-BM 380mm and GT-S 380mm for the M3 are listed at £4,767.47 inc VAT. They are different calipers.
The GT-BM is Brembo’s newest monobloc design. It uses a 4D casting process that routes the brake fluid through channels inside the caliper body, with no external pipes on the caliper face. There is no exposed bleed screw on the outside of the caliper. The result is a lighter casting with fewer external components to damage or catch.
The GT-S is billet aluminium, machined from solid, not cast, and nickel finished. In Brembo’s own family order, billet sits above cast monobloc in the manufacturing hierarchy. The GT-S carries racing-style piston radiators and recessed dust seals, the same approach Brembo uses on its Formula 1 calipers.
Both use the 380x34mm two-piece disc and both are 6 piston. Cameron can discuss which suits your use before you commit; ring on 0115 9893488. Both listings are in the widget below.
- Both at £4,767.47 inc VAT
- M3 only: E90, E92 and E93 variants
- 380x34mm two-piece disc
- GT-BM: 4D cast monobloc, internal fluid passages
- GT-S: billet aluminium, nickel finished
- Both 6 piston; made to order six to eight weeks
GT-R 380mm: the top of the range
The GT-R is available for both the standard E90 and the M3, and both come in at £8,906.26 inc VAT. That is roughly double the price of the GT-S entry below it, and almost exactly double the GT-M M3 entry.
The GT-R caliper is billet machined and hard anodised, Brembo’s highest-specification surface treatment in the GT range. Racing-style piston radiators, recessed dust seals, and a laser-engraved Brembo logo filled red as on their competition calipers. It is six piston. The standard E90 GT-R uses a 380x32mm disc; the M3 GT-R uses a 380x34mm disc.
Garreth’s view: the GT-S 380mm does the job on a fast road and track car at half the price. The GT-R is the right answer for a car that competes or whose owner wants the top-specification kit and whose use justifies it. The clearance drawing for the GT-R is different from the GT-S at the same disc size: check the right one on the product page.
The standard E90 GT-R listing covers the 325i and 328i non-xDrive. The M3 GT-R covers all three M3 body styles. Both are in the widget.
What is in each Brembo kit
Every Brembo kit on this page is a complete front axle conversion. All kits include the calipers, matched two-piece discs with bells, Brembo pads, caliper mounting brackets, vehicle-specific braided brake lines and all fitting hardware. Disc face and caliper colour choices are made at order: cross-drilled or Type 3 slotted, and the colour is set by the last digit of the part number.
| In the kit | All Brembo E90 kits |
|---|---|
| Calipers | GT-A (two-piece, 4 piston), GT-M (monobloc, 6 piston), GT-BM (4D cast monobloc, 6 piston), GT-S (billet, 6 piston) or GT-R (hard anodised billet, 6 piston) |
| Discs | Two-piece with bells. 32mm thickness on standard E90; 34mm on M3. |
| Pads | Brembo pads, included |
| Braided lines | Vehicle-specific, included |
| Mounting brackets and hardware | Included |
| Disc face | Cross-drilled or Type 3 slotted, same price |
| Caliper colour | Set by part number last digit. GT-A: Black, Red, Silver. GT-M: Black, Red, Silver, Yellow. GT-BM: Black, Red, Yellow, White, Fluorescent Yellow. GT-R: confirm at order. |
Every kit on this page compared
| Kit | Disc | Caliper | Piston | Fits | Price inc VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT-A 355mm | 355x32mm, 2-piece | GT-A two-piece | 4 | xDrive (325xi, 328xi, 330xi) | £4,034.00 |
| GT-S 355mm | 355x32mm, 2-piece | GT-S billet | 6 | Non-xDrive (325i, 328i, 330i) | £4,400.74 |
| GT-M 365mm | 365x34mm, 2-piece | GT-M monobloc | 6 | M3 (E90, E92, E93) | £4,295.95 |
| GT-S 380mm | 380x32mm, 2-piece | GT-S billet | 6 | Non-xDrive (325i, 328i, 335i) | £4,767.47 |
| GT-BM 380mm (M3) | 380x34mm, 2-piece | GT-BM 4D cast | 6 | M3 (E90, E92, E93) | £4,767.47 |
| GT-S 380mm (M3) | 380x34mm, 2-piece | GT-S billet | 6 | M3 (E90, E92, E93) | £4,767.47 |
| GT-R 380mm | 380x32 or 34mm, 2-piece | GT-R hard anodised billet | 6 | Standard (325i/328i) and M3 | £8,906.26 |
Prices include VAT and were correct on 20 September 2026. All kits are made to order at the Brembo factory in Italy; current lead time is six to eight weeks from order. The GT-BM and GT-S at 380mm for the M3 are listed at the same price and use different caliper technologies: see the GT-BM/GT-S section for the difference explained.
Common questions
How do I know if my E90 is an M3?
The M3 was a separate model in the E90 generation, not a trim level of the standard 3-Series. It ran the S65 V8 engine (E90/E92/E93 M3, 2008 to 2013) with a different front hub geometry and hub carrier from all other E90 variants. If the car has the V8 engine and the M3 designation, it is an M3. If you are not certain, ring Cameron on 0115 9893488 and he will confirm from the VIN before ordering.
Why do xDrive models need different kits?
The xDrive front hub has a different hub carrier geometry from non-xDrive standard E90s because the all-wheel-drive system changes the front axle layout. Brembo catalogue the two hub types separately. The xDrive listing uses the GT-A two-piece 4-piston caliper at £4,034.00; the non-xDrive listing starts at the GT-S 6-piston billet at £4,400.74. Fitting the wrong bracket to the wrong hub geometry means the caliper will not sit correctly against the disc.
What is the difference between GT-BM and GT-S at the same 380mm price?
The GT-BM is cast using Brembo's 4D process, which puts the brake fluid passages inside the caliper body and eliminates the external bleed screw. It is Brembo's newest design in the GT range and saves weight over a conventional monobloc. The GT-S is machined from billet aluminium, which is a higher-specification starting material than cast. Both are 6-piston, both run the 380x34mm disc, and both are listed at the same price for the M3. The choice comes down to whether you value the newest internal-passage design or the step to billet material. Cameron's view on which suits your particular use is worth having before you commit.
Do I need different wheels?
Brembo publish caliper clearance drawings for most GT kits and the product pages link to them. The drawing gives three dimensions that tell you whether a given wheel clears the caliper. The GT-R caliper needs a different check from the GT-S at the same disc size because it is a larger caliper. Tell Cameron the wheel make, model and offset when you call on 0115 9893488 and he will run through the measurements before anything is ordered.
How long does a Brembo kit take to arrive?
Six to eight weeks from order is Brembo's current lead time for made-to-order GT kits built in Italy. The exact figure can move through the year. Ask when you call on 0115 9893488 and we will give you the current picture before you commit. Brembo kits are not pulled from shelf stock; each one is built to the spec you choose when you order.
What we would actually fit
On a non-xDrive standard E90 used on road with occasional track days, the GT-S 355mm at £4,400.74. It is Brembo’s billet 6-piston caliper at the entry price point for this car, and it covers the 318i to 330i non-xDrive on the same listing. If the car sees regular circuit work, the GT-S 380mm at £4,767.47 is worth the extra £367 for the larger disc and additional thermal headroom.
On an xDrive E90, the GT-A 355mm at £4,034.00. It is the correct kit for the hub geometry and the only front Brembo Brembo list for xi models at 355mm.
On an M3, the GT-M 365mm at £4,295.95 is the natural starting point, and it costs less than the standard car’s GT-S 355mm entry. For an M3 that sees regular track use, the GT-BM or GT-S at 380mm both sit at £4,767.47: Cameron’s view is worth having on which caliper suits the specific use before you commit to one over the other. The GT-R at £8,906.26 is the right answer for the M3 that competes or whose owner wants the top-specification kit and uses the car to justify it.
Ring us on 0115 9893488 before ordering and Cameron will confirm the clearance drawing and the right listing for your exact VIN. Every kit is six to eight weeks, made to order in Italy.