I recently got a set of reman'd Girling calipers off RockAuto -- they fit perfectly.
Reviews of Girling brake caliper
149 votes
In the early aughts I scored a set of the Girling 54 calipers from a 16v and my dad and I rebuilt and painted them before installing in my first '84. I didn't upgrade the MC (didn't know better at the time) so the brake pedal travel increased but the braking improved so I kept the set up ... until the next annual MO state vehicle inspection where the car failed for excessive brake pedal travel The 9.4" set up went back on.
When I did my mk2 VRT I used B4 passage parts, IIRC.
After getting vehicle to run under its own power once again, which is fantastic. I have no brakes. I've since gone gone in and torn down Front brakes completely, I've found right side metal line leaking. Also breaks & calibers had froze from lack of operation all these years. I'm Replacing all components for front brakes, except I'm rebuilding the girling calipers because they're practically $200 each and it cost 1/4 to rebuild the caliper.
There’s two lines, as the caliper is split into two sections vertically. The top two pistons (inside and outside piston, directly across from eachother) are hooked up to one brake line, and the other line hooks up to the bottom chamber and bottom two pistons. If one brake line fails, you still have some brake pressure (the pair of pistons on the non broken line). Unfortunately, this means that only a pair of the 4 pistons will work with just one brake line (all abs cars). This would make your pads wear at a severe angle, and drastically impact your breaking performance. I’d definitely say just find some rebuild kits for your current calipers. It’s pretty easy and cheap.
I rebuilt my front and rear for maybe $60 total in parts. Just O-rings and cylinders, they don't really get more simple than this. It's hard to find parts for vented girling calipers since all the guys with solid rotors buy the vented disc calipers as an upgrade.
Switching to a lightly modified 1990 Volvo 240 4-pot Girling caliper allowed me to go to vented front rotors and EBC track oriented pads!
I've recently upgraded to Girlng 60 calipers and feel a bit uneasy about the pad to rotor size difference. The discs on your car are 280mm. The Audi discs that the Girling 60 caliper came off of are 276mm but slightly thicker.
Yesterday I took my E30 (325e sedan) to a brake shop...Both sides got the discs a bit warped and brake pads were uneven, so I got them resurfaced since they were still thick and new brake pads were installed. Right side got corrected and free right away but left side was still stuck even with the new brake pads. ...We discovered the caliper slider pins were bended and got them replaced but still the problem persisted. Guys at the shop told me I needed a new caliper on that side since it could be bended and that's why with the new brake pads it gets stuck since they're thicker. I already got a pair of new ones but will replace them tomorrow. Replaced both sides and now they’re working perfectly fine.
I bought brand new girling calipers(33 bucks shipped on ebay c'mon!) Previously I ordered rotors from rockauto. Installing new unworn pads is impossible.not enough room.
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What we know about Girling brake caliper
The brand is registered in Germany. Official website: http://www.girlingauto.com/.
In March 2026, PartReview users have a mixed opinion of Girling brake caliper.
PR Score — 69 out of 100, based on 45 reviews and 149 votes. 25 positive reviews, 14 neutral reviews, 6 negative reviews. Average rating — 3.7 (out of 5). Vote balance: 103 up, 46 down.
In the ranking of the best brake caliper this part is at position 2, behind Brembo , but ahead of WILWOOD and OEM Porsche.
Users also evaluated the qualities of Girling brake caliper:
- Pulling - car pulls to one side when braking - rated positively. 4 points out of 5.
- Smell/heat - burning odor and one wheel gets very hot - rated positively. 4 points out of 5.
- Uneven wear - one pad wears much faster than the other, visible through the wheel - rated ambivalently. 3.3 points out of 5.
Brake caliper Girling in car-specific ratings
See which car brands and models owners choose Girling brake caliper for. Below are car-specific ratings where this part is in the Top-3:
- Girling ranked #1 in brake caliper ratings for: Volkswagen Corrado, Volkswagen Jetta .
- Girling ranked #2 for: Volkswagen Golf, Audi TT .
- Girling ranked #3 for: Audi S4 .
Brake caliper Girling in comparisons
There are 7 comparisons of Girling brake caliper with other manufacturers on PartReview.
In particular, see which brake caliper are better: Akebono or Girling, Girling or OEM Audi, WILWOOD or Girling, Girling or OEM Volkswagen, Girling or OEM Porsche .