best e34 brake fluid?

[945401A_SPORT]

94 e34...cap says any DOT 4 fluid... dealer tells me only thier kind works.

deal?

[fkong777]

you really dont have to get the best fluid for a street driven car. The best fluid only works better because it can tolerate the extreme heat created during Track time..

If you must use the best get ATE superblue or Motul brake fluids.. Race cars usually runs those.

[Tiger]

Valvoline Synthetic Brake Fluid is great for everyone... the one sold in silver/grey bottle.

[nuclearfusion]

94 e34...cap says any DOT 4 fluid... dealer tells me only thier kind works.

deal?

Use only DOT 4 fluid, and not DOT 5 which is not compatible.

Ate Super Blue (blue in colour) alternated with Ate Typ 200 (gold in colour) is a good approach. Easy to tell when one is fully flushed out by contrast with the other. Not expensive either - about $US 10/liter, maybe cheaper if you shop carefully, etc.

Enjoy!

Fusion

[Tiger]

Valvoline synpower is DOT 4

[Derek A.]

ATE racing Blue is not a DOT approved fluid. I have run it without issue. Type 200 is about the best standard replacement.

[BillionPa]

ATE blue and TYP 200 are the same thing but a different color.

They exceed the DOT4 classification by quite a bit when it comes to wet boiling point, and have high dry boiling points.

Mutol RBF600 is 25F higher than ATE on the wet temp and about 60 higher on the dry, but at 1.5 times the cost.

Castrol SRF is VERY expensive, and you wont buy it but it does have a wet boiling point 100 degrees above the Mutol!

if you race the car often, and are going to replace the ENTIRE brake system (even the steel lines) then thats the fluid for you.... at the cost of about $120 to bleed the system.

Racers: SRF
Trackers: RBF600
Everyone else : Superblue/TYP200

Valvoline has a wet point 50F below Superblue and 75F below RBF600 by the way!!! and its dry point is 33F below Superblue.

and that dealer is a lying sack of crap, stay away.

also, Superblue should be DOT approved, because it meets the DOT4 and 5.1 temp, fluidity, and compressibility specs.

[chris_e34]

The dot 4 brake fluid at the stealer is 5 bucks. im not sure whats actually int he bottle, but i always feel better about using things with a bmw logo on my bmw.

[DABLACK]

I work for a bimmer retailer sorry to hear that....talk about pressure sales! Just use a brand name dot4 fluid like some of the brands reccommended by our fellow board members....thats what I do for my 525

[Bill R.]

Ate to stop making that claim ATE Link
(http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/com/en/ate/ate/themes/20_products/50_brake_fluid/bf_info_en.html)



ATE racing Blue is not a DOT approved fluid. I have run it without issue. Type 200 is about the best standard replacement.

[htspecialist]

Valvoline Synthetic Brake Fluid is great for everyone... the one sold in silver/grey bottle. I use it. Bought last week from Autozone $3.49 a bottle.
There is no need to fixate on this item as you should change the braked fluid every year. Unless you are going to track, the degradation of the brake fluid over one year is not material enough to cause any problems.

[jjw]

It did not work for any heavy use. I have used it for one autocross and with in one section, it boiled and I had massive brake fade to the point of paddle to the floor. Since then, changed to superblue and have not yet have problem. By the way, Valvoline Synthetic brake fluid was brand new, flash the system the night before the autocross.

[Bill R.]

30 degree spread also on the wet boiling point as well.




It did not work for any heavy use. I have used it for one autocross and with in one section, it boiled and I had massive brake fade to the point of paddle to the floor. Since then, changed to superblue and have not yet have problem. By the way, Valvoline Synthetic brake fluid was brand new, flash the system the night before the autocross.

[jjw]

Well, I don't know what's the boiling point of valvoline, only know it failed, and I think it is more important that the fluid doesn't fail than the boiling point data.

[Bill R.]

30 degree spread , where you got the brake fluid hot enough to fail on the valvoline but not hot enough to boil on the ate. Just an observation. The boiling point data is exactly what determines when it fails



Well, I don't know what's the boiling point of valvoline, only know it failed, and I think it is more important that the fluid doesn't fail than the boiling point data.

[jjw]

Oh ok, I see. Come to think of it, the OEM fluid is still better than the valvoline. It did not fail before.

[BillionPa]

oem BMW fluid is made by ATE i believe

[Ausmpower]

Aus dealers use castrol DOT4

[Jon K]

Someone explain dry boiling point vs wet?

[Jr ///M5]

Ok Jon, since brake fluid is hydroscopic, it has the ability to absorb moisture or water and still perform.

The wet boiling point is the minimum temperature that brake fluid will begin to boil when the brake system contains 3% water by volume of the system.

Dry boiling point is just that, no water or moisture present in the system.