The BMW E36 doesn't exactly have "monster" brakes from the factory, so driving hard on a race track usually requires a set of track worthy brake pads and some form of brake cooling.
Vorshlag has offered ducted hose style brake cooling backing plates, inlet ducts, and tubing for a number of cars for many years - and we still do for some models. This is how everyone cooled the brakes for track use for many decades.
Well there are issues doing that, namely the corrugated hose feeding a ducted backing plate has some serious flow restrictions, plus wider front tires and wheels can rub holes in them approaching full steering lock. But there is another way...
This is our brake cooling deflector kit for the BMW E36, which takes the place of the factory dust shield and bearing cage normally installed. This takes the high pressure air stream from the front of the BMW E36's factory inlet ducts and redirects that airflow into the inside of the rotor. The rotor vanes act as a pump and push the air out of the rotor, cooling it from the inside-out. We have track tested this design on our E36 multiple times as well as on a dozen other car models - it works!
This design completely replaces the factory dust shield, and in doing so we have built in two heat shield sections that leave an air gap between the deflector and the two ball joints - one on the tie rod and one at the control arm. You can see these heat shield sections in the image above, with the rotor removed.
How do they work? The incoming airflow from OEM brake inlet ducts in the front fascia as well as from under the car feed air to these air deflectors, which then pump air inside the rotor hat. You will need to remove (or heavily modify) the factory dust shields inside the rotors, obviously.
This massive volume of air cools the hubs then the vanes inside the vented rotors pull air through like an air pump, which cools the rotors and pads. It works surprisingly well. On every car we have built these for and tested on track they outflow and outcool even 4" ducted brake hose kits!
All Vorshlag brake cooling deflectors kits are built in-house, with CNC cut plates bent to fixtures we keep on hand. Remember: There are no 3" or 4" corrugated "consumable" brake cooling hoses needed. Those hoses can get smashed by tires while near steering lock, and have to be replaced regularly. This kit is still less costly than our ducted backing plate + hose kits.
FEED IT: BRAKE INLET DUCTS OR TUNNELS
The brake deflectors need to be fed cooling air from a high pressure source, such as the front of the car or tunnels in an undertray or splitter.
The easiest way is the OEM brake ducts. BMW created a perfectly adequate brake inlet duct on the E36 models, as shown above (on an E30, but the E36 works the same way). This has a smooth bore plastic duct that feeds air right towards our brake deflector.
Alternatively a well placed "tunnel" molded into an undertray or added to a front splitter can feed as much or more air to the deflectors - while also adding downforce.
If your E36 is a race car and has a splitter - and your class rules allow for tunnels - point them right at the deflector, like in the picture shown above. You can also see our S550 Brake Deflector Kit for ideas on tunnels.
INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
Installing the Vorshlag E30 front brake deflector cooling kit is easy, but it might be best done at the same time as you add new front wheel hubs.
First step is to remove the factory dust shield on the back side of the rotors. The stock dust shield is behind the front hub, so you have to pull the caliper, rotor, then remove the main hub nut. Bring a big 1/2" impact gun. The hubs on our E36 hadn't been touched in a long time but came off eventually. Don't be afraid if you need to use a slide hammer to get the old hubs off - now's a great time to add fresh replacements.
Then the large dust shield gets unbolted and set aside - none of it will be reused. We need to clear the path for the cooling airflow to reach the rotor, so the old bits have to go. We tried an earlier design by keeping part of the "cage" surrounding the hub, but it just isn't needed.
Next, the brake deflector was bolted on with the factory bolts in place of the dust shield, as shown above. Then the new hubs were installed with a fresh set of Vorshlag screw-in wheel studs. Maybe you can get the old hubs off and reinstall them? It is possible, if they aren't super old.
The last step is to re-install the brake rotor and caliper. We installed a fresh pair in this install. Notice how the lower portions of the brake deflector act as an air-gapped heat shield between the rotor and lower ball joints? The deflector should have an air gap to both the rotor and the ball joints - feel free to bend these lower parts if they touch one or the other. This is what the lower portion of the original dust shield does, so we aren't losing that capability - just gaining a lot of brake cooling!
