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A unique feature of the rear rotor hats is that they have an integrated drum for the rear parking brake. This feature makes it very easy to upgrade the rear brakes without having to figure out a custom solution for a parking brake. All of the OE parking brake components are retained and function as intended.
The OE parking brake shoes work on the hard anodized aluminum surface. Hard anodizing is really tough, but you’ll probably only want to use the brakes for emergencies and for parking as doing e-brake initiation antics all the time will eventually wear through the anodizing and into the softer aluminum beneath it.
To prepare the rotors for installation, you should remove the protective oil that is applied at the factory to protect the rotor while it sits in storage. We sprayed our rotors with Simple Green degreaser and scrubbed them with Scotchbrite red to really remove all the oil and to scuff up the friction surface.
After thoroughly rinsing the rotors off, be sure to let them dry off completely before installation. Some compressed air comes in very handy here.
We will start on the front of our M5. First step is to remove the pad spring clip that holds tension on the front brake pads. With the clip out the way the caliper and caliper bracket can easily be removed.
Now is a good time to move the stock caliper and secure it out of the way. It’s going to be a solid 15-20 minutes before the caliper is removed so do not just leave it dangling by the brake line.
