[cfranscid]

Finalizing a base build and am trying to keep the cost at or below 90k.

I'm contemplating trading most of my options for Carbon Ceramics. Why?

I daily drive a modified ND2 Miata with Recaros and the Brembos, so creature comforts (and looking cool haha) are clearly not as important to me as the drive. I have two kids, so the M3 will be replacing my MPSPK 6mt 340i as the kid hauler and fun car when the family wants to come along.

This is the trade I'm contemplating:

1) Carbon Ceramics;

vs.

1) Executive Package. Only thing here that matters to me is the HUD.
2) Parking Package/Drive Recorder. This is cheap enough where its nice to have, but not a game changer for me.
3) Full leather. Sounds good and ups the interior but not sure how important it really is. I had a 997.2 C4S with full leather and it didn't really change my life in any way.
4) Carbon Exterior Package. I was initially dead-set on getting this because I Turo'd an M4 without it and couldn't believe the scratches on the black plastic lowers after a year...but have realized that I'd still need to change out the side skirts and front lips to kill off all the black plastic.


This seems like a lot to "give-up" for the big brakes, but the reasons why I'm leaning this direction are better braking performance, less dust, looks better, more unique. Also, most importantly, a M3 spec'd this way (with the Carbon buckets, which are mandatory) would be the lightest possible M3 build...which I appreciate. The car will not be tracked as that is what the ND2 is for.

Any of you gone through the same thought process? Anyone get the CCBs and wish they hadn't or vice versa? Is this crazy?

[barryc365]

It sounds like you have your priorities straight!

The HUD is fantastic but if you've never had it before maybe you won't miss it

You may not care about resale but I think you would be in the minority of folks who would choose CCB's over some of the creature comforts

I say go for it!

[xXMPowerXx]

I gotta say to get it all.

Life is too short.

[cfranscid]

Thanks, Barry!

I wear polarized sunglasses, to my 340i's HUD is basically invisible for most of my drives.

I do think a HUD may be more important now what we no longer have analog gauges. Will depend on how configurable ID8 is now (and in the future).

[MocoLoco]

I can imagine that full leather would increase weight. So if low weight is a high priority I would skip that for sure.

[BzsBimmer]

While I agree it’s your build, your choice:
Why not just get it all. I understand wanting to stay below a dollar target but it’s really not that much more.

If not, not sure CC are really that worth the swap. On the street, CC really don’t have a chance to hit their sweet spot and since you’re not tracking, who cares if it’s the lightest option. Why wouldn’t you want this to have your comforts while being sporty and use your track car for all out carnage?

[chicagofan00]

Not sure I get some of the reasoning here.

You state that you aren't getting it to look cool but then state the carbon brakes look better and are more unique, seems like you care a bit about how you are perceived in the car.

You also state it isn't a track car but then concerned about the overall weight and having options that reduce the weight.

🤷🏻

[SpeedyATL]

I don't know this, but I suspect the CC could be much more expensive to re-pad. Just something to consider down the road if budget is an issue.

[Chad11491]

I guess not really a popular opinion here, but I could not care less about getting carbon ceramics. They kind of suck in the wet and I see no advantages to them for a DD and even light track use. I wash my wheels when I wash my car so I don't care about the dust, which I don't find too bad compared to other sports cars I've owned anyway. I would pick all the other options ten out of ten times to get the overall nicer car vs having expensive gold calipers that give me zero benefits 99.5% of the time for my use.

[chris3g]

Parking package includes the 360 degree cameras, it's really useful and would be next to impossible to retrofit, I would not give that up especially for the relatively low cost of the option.

The interior without full leather has a lot of plastic and rubber. People get hung up on the color matched lower dash but imo that is secondary, more importantly it is a significant quality upgrade overall.

On the comp you would probably be fine without the HUD but for the manual trans the tach and shift indicators in M mode are very nice to have.

Personally the exterior carbon pack is the only thing I would consider giving up as that stuff can be easily added aftermarket if you ultimately decide you want it.

[cfranscid]

Originally Posted by chicagofan00

Not sure I get some of the reasoning here.

You state that you aren't getting it to look cool but then state the carbon brakes look better and are more unique, seems like you care a bit about how you are perceived in the car.

You also state it isn't a track car but then concerned about the overall weight and having options that reduce the weight.

🤷🏻

Fair point. I think what I was trying to get across is that looks are less important than performance to me.

Seems that one option is to get the CCBs and re-add the Executive Package. Extra $1500 could be justifiable.

Appreciate everyone's thoughts. Interesting to hear most people really don't think the CCBs are worth the cost/trade.

[forcefed]

Originally Posted by cfranscid

The car will not be tracked as that is what the ND2 is for.

Then don't bother with the carbon brakes, that's where they excel, on the track after repeated braking. That's the only time where carbon brakes will beat steel ones. You're giving up a lot of useful options for something that you'll never take advantage of.
Just pick the executive/parking/carbon exterior package and skip the full leather.

[Tall Tom Cruise]

If I were you -- I'd get the executive package to get the HUD, skip the rest of the options you listed, and go with the CCB's. You can get aftermarket CF parts along the way. Are you optioning a manual too?

For reference, my 6mt m3 (with carbon buckets and regular brakes) weighed 3723 with a 1/2 tank of gas. CCB's should put you in the 369X range, below 3700 which is nice.

[Tyga11]

Originally Posted by chicagofan00

Not sure I get some of the reasoning here.

You state that you aren't getting it to look cool but then state the carbon brakes look better and are more unique, seems like you care a bit about how you are perceived in the car.

You also state it isn't a track car but then concerned about the overall weight and having options that reduce the weight.

🤷🏻

Yeah, not following any of that either.

No one will care your car has CCB's...maybe 0.01% will know they are.

I would never give up the options you listed for CCB's. Seems like a horrible idea

[fl1by]

Anything short of tracking many weekends or driving your car like your at a BMW performance driving center then they are not worth it in my opinion. During mundane daily driving I would say the CC are less inspiring than the M Performance pads. Then throw in the service that will eventually have to be done and getting CC is a really challenging cost / value matrix.

[Boostmeister]

I just returned from a 2 Day BMW M School in SC, and was very impressed with the Carbon Ceramic brakes. I discussed them with one of the instructors and he indicated that the brakes that will come on my M550i will stop just as quickly as the ceramics. The advantage is that the CC's will shed heat much better and won't fade in repeated high speed stops. So, unless you track your vehicle often, I doubt that you would ever notice the difference. If you have CC's and you chip the edge of a rotor while changing pads, it's toast, and will be VERY spendy to replace. My suggestion is the you put your dough where it would do more good, and provide more day-to-day value. Just my $0.02, YMMV.

[gs1403]

Originally Posted by fl1by

Anything short of tracking many weekends or driving your car like your at a BMW performance driving center then they are not worth it in my opinion. During mundane daily driving I would say the CC are less inspiring than the M Performance pads. Then throw in the service that will eventually have to be done and getting CC is a really challenging cost / value matrix.

CCBs should in theory last well over 100k miles if you don't track the car. The general consensus here actually seems to be that you should't get CCBs if you plan to track the car often. I will probably never track my G82 but I did spec CCBs for the reduction in brake dust, looks, and reduced brake fade when driving hard on backroads from time to time.

Also, considering reports by members that the rear rotors and pads need to be replaced at 15-20k miles on the G8X due to excessive wear, CCBs suddenly don't seem like such a bad value proposition.

[j23]

Your reasons for wanting carbon ceramics are all valid, except the one about "better braking performance".

On a daily driven M3, they are not better. Worse, actually, in some regards.

[j23]

Originally Posted by gs1403

CCBs should in theory last well over 100k miles if you don't track the car. The general consensus here actually seems to be that you should't get CCBs if you plan to track the car often. I will probably never track my G82 but I did spec CCBs for the reduction in brake dust, looks, and reduced brake fade when driving hard on backroads from time to time.

Also, considering reports by members that the rear rotors and pads need to be replaced at 15-20k miles on the G8X due to excessive wear, CCBs suddenly don't seem like such a bad value proposition.

I keep seeing this "100k mile" number being thrown around, but I've never heard of CCB lasting anywhere near this long. Some even say lifetime of the car. Does this mean the lifetime of an M3 is 100k miles nowadays?

Is there even one documented case of them lasting that long?

For the record, I'm not suggesting otherwise. Just questioning the validity of such claims. I actually want to opt my M3 with CCB, mainly for less dust and looks.

[provenflipper]

I'll be doing the exact opposite, meaning I'm speccing everything except the CCB. I'll never track the car and I'm sure the standard brakes will be more than sufficient for the weekend driving I'll be doing. All of the other options will make the car a much better place to be and better to look at as well.

[Limegrntaln]

I can't fault you for wanting to spec the CCBs, I have every option, on my car, except carbon buckets, and the CCBs, while a little scary, when they are cold, make up for it in the twisties.

Longevity: My Service writer has 112k on his F80 M3. I was asking him if he'd had maintenance done on them, and he said he just had them looked at during the last service, and they were at 7mm from and 6mm rear, on the stock pads. Apparently, 10mm is new.

The car is tracked a few times a year, and he said he probably has 8-10 total track days on the car. Although, he admits it was more for the experience, and not to push the car, anywhere near the edge of its performance envelope.

Lastly, the CCB combo is 27 pounds lighter than the M Compound brakes, and that's unsprung weight.

While they do pay for themselves, especially since someone already mentioned the rear pads/ rotors are getting replaced every 12K-15K.

[Mark Kez]

When we built our house we had a budget number in mind, it didn’t last long. We quickly figured out that if we were going to build the house we wanted we’d have to adjust our numbers. Twelve years later we’re happy we did. Fast forward to to March when I ordered my G83, I ticked every box I wanted and then looked at the price and sent the order sheet to my CA. Over my original budget numbers for sure, but man am I happy I built the car I wanted. I have to pay for it (unless there’s a secret BMW incentive I’m unaware of!) and so I don’t mind, it’s what I wanted. Build your car, build what you want!!