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Big Brake Kit

XYZ Racing Hollow Front Brake Kit — Bmw 5 SERIES E 28 524 (1981-1988)

SKU: XYZ-BRK-BKF-BM-01-C-FRONT

  • IncludesFront axle pair (2 discs + 2 calipers)
  • PositionFront
  • Disc Ø330–444 mm
  • Caliper pots6 / 8 / 12-pot
  • Lead time10–15 working days

Fits Bmw 5 SERIES E 28 524 (1981-1988)

Brake pad compound

Street: quiet, low-dust, strong cold bite for road driving. Sport: higher temperature range and more bite for fast road and occasional track. Racing: maximum fade resistance for sustained track use (noisier and dustier cold). Match the pad to how hard you actually brake.

Disc size

Caliper grade

Hollow is the standard caliper: a lighter hollow-body forged caliper with a dust cover and a 5-year warranty. Hollow Racing drops the dust cover for sustained high-temperature use (rated to 1000°C, 2-year warranty) — the track-grade choice.

Caliper colour

Painted colours are included. Polished-forged finishes are mirror-polished forged calipers (Titanium, Gold, Silver); candy colours are a deep, mirror-reflection paint. Both are premium upgrades — fuller detail further down the page.

Painted — includedTell us the exact Pantone (PMS) code you want the calipers painted.Polished forgedCandy
Disc style

Drilled discs (cross-drilled holes) vent gas and water and look aggressive; slotted discs (surface grooves) wipe the pad face clean and resist fade under sustained hard use. Same price — choose on looks or how you drive.

Centre bell

The centre bell is the CNC-machined aluminium hat that joins the disc to the hub. Standard anodized is included; a two-tone bell adds an anodized accent ring in your choice of colour; titanium is the lightest, forged option.

Carbon-ceramic rotor

Carbon-ceramic rotors are a special-order track upgrade: far lighter than steel, fade-resistant at extreme temperatures and extremely long-lived. The price follows the disc size you choose above. The standard two-piece steel rotor is included.

Configured price£2,000.00Inc. VAT

Lead time: 10–15 working days from payment


£2,000.00

Made to order. Full payment is taken at checkout. Production begins once payment is confirmed.

Pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay — or Klarna on eligible orders.

Caliper render for this kit:

XYZ Racing Hollow Front Brake Kit — Bmw 5 SERIES E 28 524 (1981-1988) — 330 mm
330 mm

The E28 5 Series occupies a specific place in BMW ownership in 2026: a genuine early-eighties classic that’s still being driven, not preserved behind glass. The 524’s M20 inline-six, or if you’re running the 524td, the M21 turbodiesel that underpinned BMW’s early diesel reputation in Europe, gave owners a well-balanced car for its era. But the original ATE front braking setup, calibrated for the traffic and roads of four decades ago, becomes the limiting factor when the car is asked to work at anything approaching its chassis capability.

The XYZ Racing Hollow Front Big Brake Kit for the BMW 5 Series E28 524 addresses that directly. It is a single-axle front kit, a left and right pair of front calipers on matched front discs, configured exactly as you want it above. Three pad compounds, Street, Sport, and Racing, cover the spread from a carefully preserved weekend car through to an E28 that sees repeated hard braking on a track day, where thermal load on the front axle is a genuine concern.

What this brake kit does for your 1981-1988 Bmw 5 SERIES E 28 524

The two-piece floating disc construction reduces unsprung and rotating mass at the front axle. On the E28’s MacPherson strut geometry, that translates into sharper wheel control and more consistent steering feel under hard braking. The hollow-vane disc dissipates heat more efficiently than the original solid discs, which matters most during repeated heavy braking where fade resistance and predictable pedal feel are both at stake, and the floating friction ring stays free to expand so the rotor runs true. Three compound grades let you specify bite and operating temperature range to match the actual demands on the 524 rather than accepting a single-compound solution: Street is the quiet, low-dust everyday choice; Sport raises bite and heat range for fast-road and occasional track work; Racing is the dedicated track compound. The caliper finishes, from the included no-cost painted colours through to the premium polished and candy options, mean the hardware suits both a period-correct concours build and a modified show car equally well.

About the Hollow Front Brake Kit

The XYZ Racing caliper is hollow-bodied as standard, trimming weight at each front corner so the suspension has less mass to control. For an E28 run hard on circuit, the optional Hollow Racing upgrade strips the dust cover, is rated to 1000C, and carries a two-year warranty for serious track use. The disc itself is a two-piece floating unit available drilled or slotted at the same price, with a centre bell that can be upgraded to two-tone anodized in five colours, or to titanium, at checkout. Pad choice runs across three compounds: Street for road use, Sport for mixed fast-road conditions with more bite and heat range, and Racing for track sessions where higher operating temperatures are the norm. Caliper finish choices run from the included Red, Yellow, Gold, Black, and Anodized Black at no extra cost, through a Custom Color in any Pantone, to premium polished-forged Titanium, Polished Gold, and Polished Silver, and candy Teal, Blue, Red, and Orange, so the aesthetic reads as deliberate rather than incidental. The kit fits the front axle only.

Fitment for the Bmw 5 SERIES E 28 524 (1981-1988)

This kit is specified for the BMW 5 Series E28 524, covering the full production run from 1981 to 1988. The E28 524 encompassed both the M20-engined 524i petrol and the M21-engined 524td turbodiesel variants across that period, and the fitment specification covers the complete year range. Check your chassis plate to confirm model year if your car sits close to either boundary.

What buyers also search for

  • BMW E28 5 Series front brake upgrade for fast-road and occasional circuit use
  • E28 524 hollow-vane big brake kit with Sport and Racing pad compound options
  • BMW 5 Series E28 front braking improvement over original ATE specification
  • E28 524 caliper colour options for concours or modified show-car builds
  • BMW E28 big brake kit covering the full 1981 to 1988 production span

Set your pad compound, caliper colour, and disc style in the configurator above, and the kit ships built to that spec.

What’s in the kit

Front axle kit — supplied as a complete bolt-on assembly.

  • 2×Two-piece floating discs — 330–444 mm: you pick the exact diameter with the "Disc size" option
  • 2×Lightweight aluminium centre bells
  • 2×Forged aluminium calipers — 6 / 8 / 12-pot
  • 2×High-stiffness mounting brackets
  • 2×Braided stainless steel brake lines
  • 4×High-performance brake pads (1 set)
  • 1×Fitting hardware & tools pack

Choosing your spec

Every kit is built to order around the choices you make above. Here is what each option actually changes, so you can spec yours with confidence.

Brake pads — Street, Sport or Racing

Every kit ships with a full set of high-performance pads; the compound is your call.

Street is the right default for fast-road driving — a strong, progressive cold bite with low noise, low dust and long disc life. Sport raises the working temperature and adds bite and fade resistance for hard road use and the occasional track day, while still behaving on a cold morning. Racing is a track compound built for sustained abuse: huge fade resistance and bite once heat is in it, at the cost of more noise and dust when cold. Match the pad to how hard you actually use the brakes — there is no benefit to a race pad that never gets up to temperature.

Caliper grade — Hollow vs Hollow Racing

Hollow is the standard caliper on every kit: a hollow-body forged caliper, lighter than a solid one, fitted with a dust cover and backed by a 5-year oil-leak warranty. For most fast-road and spirited track use it is all the caliper you need.

Hollow Racing is the track-grade upgrade. It runs the same hollow body but without a dust cover (so there is nothing to melt at sustained high temperature), uses a twin-metal piston that isolates heat travelling from the disc to the oil seal, and is rated to 1000°C. Available 286–380mm (front). Warranty is 2 years on oil leaks and 10 years on appearance. Built for professional racing and repeated track days.

Hollow Racing caliper

Caliper colour & finish

Painted colours (Red, Yellow, Gold, Black, Anodized Black) are included at no cost. Want an exact match to your car? Custom Color (+£150) paints the calipers to any Pantone code you supply (15–20 day lead time).

Polished Forged finishes are the flagship: a forged caliper given a mirror-polished surface treatment that shifts colour with the viewing angle. Beyond the looks, the polished surface dissipates heat better, resists rust and stands up to the weather. Choose Titanium (neochrome, +£350), Polished Gold (+£300) or Polished Silver (+£250). They look their best paired with a titanium centre bell. Care: clean only with a dilute neutral cleaner or water.

Candy colours (+£200) use a deep candy-paint and polishing process for a mirror-reflection, boutique finish — pick Teal, Blue, Red or Orange (shown below right).

Polished forged caliper finishes
Candy caliper colours

Centre bells

The centre bell is the CNC-machined aluminium hat that joins the disc to the hub. The standard anodized centre bell is included. The Two-tone bell (+£200) adds an anodized accent ring — choose Red, Yellow, Orange, Purple or Silver right here at checkout. The Titanium centre bell (+£500) is a forged titanium bell (bolts not included) that finishes off the polished-forged look.

Two-tone anodized centre bells
Same car

Other products that fit this vehicle

Front & rear brake kits, coilovers and more for this car

  • More XYZ products for the Bmw 5 SERIES E 28 524 appear here as the rest of the range publishes.