Here is the dilema.....

I have a Cooper S Works with R105 burnished wheels and I'm half fancying some new red brakes to show off under my wheels so;

1. Buy the sports brakes with red calipers at front which will fit with my wheels

or

2. Buy the brembos from the JCW and use 5mm spacers?

tbh I really do not like using spacers because of the extra load on the bearings etc

I suppose I have answered my own question there but wondering has anybody else been thinking about this and what have you done?

Dont bother with the sports brakes as they are just the same as your calipers but painted red!!

You could just add the discs and paint your own calipers?

Or fit the Brembo kit :) I have it on mine and they are on another level to the "little" sports brake kit, We are currently selling the brembo 4 pot kit for £950 inc vat!

I fitted wheels that dont need spacers :)

cheers Dave
Not too keen on painting the calipers as they never seem to look the right colour or finish!

I also want to keep the R105s, they look mint - it annoys me how they have released the brembo kit that don't fit under any of the previous JCW wheels!!

what wheels did you go for?
how long/cost for fitting Dave?
have you had any experience with spacers?

I had a simaler problem to you i had R105's and wanted the new brembos not my next car (pick it up tommorow) but did not want to use spacers so ended up getting R113's and got the brakes.They do look amazing but i would not do spacers.IMHO

what did you do with the R105s?

If your doing it for looks just paint them... Once they get a bit of dirt on nobody will know the difference! Plus think of the cash you'll save... :D

I want to do it for both looks and improved braking really, but yes looks plays a big part as it does with any modification - it has to look the part, don't want it to look like a chav chariot...

Personally I'd look at what you use them for. The standard brakes aren't too bad on the S so unless you take it on trackdays a lot, you'll probably be fine with the current brakes.

If, however, you do use it for trackdays etc then I'd recommend the JCW brakes. They're very powerful but you'll only really notice it when you're really pushing on.

what did you do with the R105s?

Sold them