Braking to go faster - ADTory Big Brake Kit for the E92 M3

Ask anyone who has tracked an E92 M3 where the car comes up short, and most will give you the same answer: the brakes. There simply isn't much stopping power to begin with, and the car carries a lot of weight into every braking zone. Put that combination in any serious track environment and the stock system runs out of margin fast. It didn't help that our baseline lap was done on completely stock brakes — standard rotors, standard pads, standard lines.

01 — THE WEAK POINTWhere the E92 comes up short

With the Apex wheels fitted, the car finally had grip to work with — which only made the brakes stand out more. On the baseline run we kept a deliberate margin for exactly this reason: on stock rotors, pads and lines there's no confidence to brake late and hard, lap after lap. Before we could explore anything else on this chassis, the brakes had to be sorted.

02 — THE CHOICEADTory GP5, six pistons and 378 mm

So it was time to upgrade — and not with just a set of pads and discs. We went for a complete big brake kit from ADTory, specifically their GP5 caliper: a 6-piston monoblock caliper running 378 mm discs. A substantial step up over the stock E92 M3 brakes in both clamping force and disc size, and a much stiffer caliper to go with it.

03 — THE PACKAGEComplete out of the box

One of the things we liked about the ADTory kit is how complete it is. Calipers, discs and lines all came in the box — the only thing left for us to source was the pads, and for those we went with Endless ME20.

• GP5 calipers — 6-piston monoblock, for more clamping force and a firmer, more consistent pedal.
• 378 mm discs — more diameter for more leverage, and more mass to soak up heat on track.
• Braided lines — included with the kit, replacing the stock rubber lines for a sharper pedal feel.
• Endless ME20 pads — our pick to complete the package.

04 — THE FIRST DRIVEIncredible bite, even on the street

After slowly bedding in the pads, it was time to gently put some heat into the system and get a first feel for it. And wow — the bite and the performance are on another level. Even on the street it was an impressive experience. All that's left now is to test it where it really matters: on track.

If you noticed the car is also sitting a lot lower than before, that's no accident. We're not sitting still on this project — more on the next step very soon.