Introducing- Essex Designed AP Racing Competition Big Brake Kits for the E92 M3

[jritt@essex]

Originally Posted by m3aviator

We need pics of that rear kit you posted on the m4 forum

That wasn't the actual caliper...just used those pics to give an idea of what the new four piston will look like. Sorry!

[m3aviator]

Originally Posted by jritt@essex

That wasn't the actual caliper...just used those pics to give an idea of what the new four piston will look like. Sorry!

I know it's not exact but they look awesome!

[e92zero]

what pics?!?

[roastbeef]

i'm really digging the new website layout and videos. very professional to match the company, product, and service!

[sebaflex]

Love AP/Essex kits! They should consider making AP J-Hook OEM replacement discs for those of us who don't run a bbk. Would be a nice alternative to PFC's DD Rotors.

[jritt@essex]

Essex/AP Racing Big Brake Kit Owners, We Need Your Help!

If you, or someone you know, purchased a product from Essex Parts Services in recent years, please read on. You’ll have a chance to win some really cool prizes!
Essex completely redesigned our website over the winter, and we’re looking to populate our product reviews with quality customer feedback. If you could spare a few minutes we'd love for you to write a product review on our site. We will publish these reviews on our website, blog, social media pages, magazine ads, etc. We don’t want you to write a sales pitch, we just want your honest opinion. If we’ve helped you enjoy your car more, please consider returning the favor!

Free Stuff!

We know that your time is valuable, so we’re offering some great incentives for your efforts. If you write a review, your name will be entered into a drawing for a number of great prizes including free brake lines, pads, fluid, and spare AP Racing J Hook discs!

For big brake kit owners, your submission must include at least two photos (a profile shot of your car and a close-up of the entire wheel, brakes & tire) and the wheel specifications that you’re running with the brake kit (17x8.5 +33 and if they require a wheel spacer). This valuable info will help us create a more robust wheel fitment database to assist other customers. Any other photos, video, list of race wins, etc. are optional but highly encouraged. Finally, please do not submit anything that you wouldn’t want circulated publicly!

What Do I Write?

Below are some potential elements to consider for your review. Hopefully these bullet points will get your gears turning:
• Your experience level & driving history
o (e.g.- I have been tracking cars for 10 years with NASA, PCA, etc.)
• How has the product you bought from Essex enhanced your driving experience?
o (e.g.- No longer have to bleed brakes between every track session, can brake later, easier to pass, etc.)
• Problems that the product solved (e.g.- pad fade, disc cracking, soft pedal, etc.)
• Favorite product feature
• Comparison to other products you’ve tried in the past
• Overall ownership experience...how easy it to live with?
• Customer service by Essex before and after initial sale
• Documentation and ease of install
• Would you buy it again, and would you recommend it to a friend?
• Anything about the product that you think could be improved?
• Race or event wins the product helped you achieve
• As outlined above, at least two pictures and wheel spec info must be included with Competition Brake Kit reviews!

Where & How Do I Write the Review?
1. Find the product you purchased on our site.
2. Click the “Owner Reviews” tab below the blue “Add to Cart” button.
3. Click the “log in” link to either log in or create an account if you don’t yet have one.
4. Write an honest assessment of the products you purchased from Essex.
5. Be prepared to collect extravagant spoils for your efforts! Some of the items we’ll be giving away are worth close to $1,000!

If our assistance has helped you further enjoy your car, please take a moment to tell the world about it. Your opinions mean a lot to us, and they will allow us to keep releasing products for enthusiasts like you. Again, thank you very much, and we hope you have a safe and fast 2016 track season!

[jritt@essex]

Originally Posted by sebaflex

Love AP/Essex kits! They should consider making AP J-Hook OEM replacement discs for those of us who don't run a bbk. Would be a nice alternative to PFC's DD Rotors.

Thanks for the kind words and for the suggestion! Unfortunately such a product is not in our plan at this time. Given the overall shortcomings of the e92 M3 brake system, we feel that our complete brake kits (including calipers) are a far better solution for our customers vs. discs only. If budget is an issue, skip the rear kit and get our front kit. The front kit is the critical piece of the puzzle. These cars are far harder on front brakes than they are on the rears, and your ROI will be highest on the front kit vs. any other brake mod. Thank you again for the input, and always feel free to contact us with any questions.

Jeff

[jritt@essex]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

i'm really digging the new website layout and videos. very professional to match the company, product, and service!

Thank you very much. It was a ton of work, but we're very pleased with the outcome!

[///Mobbin]

Originally Posted by jritt@essex

Thanks for the kind words and for the suggestion! Unfortunately such a product is not in our plan at this time. Given the overall shortcomings of the e92 M3 brake system, we feel that our complete brake kits (including calipers) are a far better solution for our customers vs. discs only. If budget is an issue, skip the rear kit and get our front kit. The front kit is the critical piece of the puzzle. These cars are far harder on front brakes than they are on the rears, and your ROI will be highest on the front kit vs. any other brake mod. Thank you again for the input, and always feel free to contact us with any questions.

Jeff

How about making just the OEM-size rear discs? I agree that the BBK up front is critical but it might be nice to upgrade the rear discs as an intermediate step before going rear BBK. And perhaps more importantly, no one else does this yet so it's a good opportunity right now.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by ///Mobbin

How about making just the OEM-size rear discs? I agree that the BBK up front is critical but it might be nice to upgrade the rear discs as an intermediate step before going rear BBK. And perhaps more importantly, no one else does this yet so it's a good opportunity right now.

the problem with essex making an oem replacement j-hook/high vane count rotor is that it would be such a good replacement, that people would go this route and it would be good enough for people not to buy the full essex ap kit. even more so with a rear rotor replacement.
i know for a fact that i would just replace my rear disks instead of buying the full kit if that was an option (i'm already running their front kit).
the front kit is enough to get the job done, thats no lie, but the rear kit is needed to really complete the setup.

[jritt@essex]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

the problem with essex making an oem replacement j-hook/high vane count rotor is that it would be such a good replacement, that people would go this route and it would be good enough for people not to buy the full essex ap kit. even more so with a rear rotor replacement.
i know for a fact that i would just replace my rear disks instead of buying the full kit if that was an option (i'm already running their front kit).
the front kit is enough to get the job done, thats no lie, but the rear kit is needed to really complete the setup.

I suppose 2-piece discs could cannibalize some of our complete kit sales, but that's not the primary issue. The big one for us is minimum order quantities. When we design a bespoke brake disc with AP Racing, we have to order many hundreds of them (up front) to get a reasonable price. Thus far we honestly haven't seen enough demand for a 2-piece disc. Since the OEM calipers aren't particularly snazzy or effective, most customers have been asking for the better, more complete solution our BBK's provide. I wish we could have all types of products for all platforms, but we have to pick and choose based on demand. Sorry that's the case! We're doing our best to provide good options though.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by jritt@essex

I suppose 2-piece discs could cannibalize some of our complete kit sales, but that's not the primary issue. The big one for us is minimum order quantities. When we design a bespoke brake disc with AP Racing, we have to order many hundreds of them (up front) to get a reasonable price. Thus far we honestly haven't seen enough demand for a 2-piece disc. Since the OEM calipers aren't particularly snazzy or effective, most customers have been asking for the better, more complete solution our BBK's provide. I wish we could have all types of products for all platforms, but we have to pick and choose based on demand. Sorry that's the case! We're doing our best to provide good options though.

i still think you'd sell out of oem rear rotor replacements, but i'm sure your marketing guys already took a look at the market and decided not to. (i'd be a customer though!)

i finally got around to posting my review on the site, sorry for the lag. thanks for making a great kit.

[sebaflex]

Originally Posted by jritt@essex

Thanks for the kind words and for the suggestion! Unfortunately such a product is not in our plan at this time. Given the overall shortcomings of the e92 M3 brake system, we feel that our complete brake kits (including calipers) are a far better solution for our customers vs. discs only. If budget is an issue, skip the rear kit and get our front kit. The front kit is the critical piece of the puzzle. These cars are far harder on front brakes than they are on the rears, and your ROI will be highest on the front kit vs. any other brake mod. Thank you again for the input, and always feel free to contact us with any questions.

Jeff

Thanks for the response.
You're right, most people who track e92's are more likely to just go out and get a BBK. But im sure you would sell a ton of e46 m3 front rotors if you were to make them.

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by jritt@essex

I suppose 2-piece discs could cannibalize some of our complete kit sales, but that's not the primary issue. The big one for us is minimum order quantities. When we design a bespoke brake disc with AP Racing, we have to order many hundreds of them (up front) to get a reasonable price. Thus far we honestly haven't seen enough demand for a 2-piece disc. Since the OEM calipers aren't particularly snazzy or effective, most customers have been asking for the better, more complete solution our BBK's provide. I wish we could have all types of products for all platforms, but we have to pick and choose based on demand. Sorry that's the case! We're doing our best to provide good options though.

If they are competitively priced and marketed well, I imagine you could offer them as an alternative to OEM rotor replacement for people whose rotors are worn, regardless of whether they track their cars. The OEM rotors are not super cheap.

[Ant Man]

Jeff - my kit will be installed in April. I'll write a review about them then. The customer service from you and Urge was fantastic by the way.

I'm very much looking forward to how the brakes feel on the road.

[OC ///M]

Essex:
Have you solved the pad rattle problem for the rears yet?
The anti-rattle spring/clip you sent for the fronts works great, but the rears still rattle over every imperfection in the road surface.
The noise really bugs when used on the street...

[jritt@essex]

Thanks for all of the positive feedback gents. We're glad you're all enjoying your brakes!

We do not have any solutions for the pad rattle on the CP5040 rear caliper at this time. Sorry!

[FogCityM3]

Jeff, I know my comments were some of the initial ones and may be dated... should I do an update to be eligible for the goodies? Thx in advance.

[OC ///M]

Originally Posted by jritt@essex

We do not have any solutions for the pad rattle on the CP5040 rear caliper at this time. Sorry!

Thank you for your reply.
It's not clear why you don't have a solution for this issue, could you expound on that?

Do you plan on providing a "fix" (anti-rattle spring clip) for the rears any time in the future?

[jritt@essex]

Originally Posted by FogCityM3

Jeff, I know my comments were some of the initial ones and may be dated... should I do an update to be eligible for the goodies? Thx in advance.

Hi,
Absolutely you qualify. Please write the review on the product page per the instructions above. It's okay if you reuse your comments from before. Thanks again, and we hope you're enjoying your kit!

It's not clear why you don't have a solution for this issue, could you expound on that?

Do you plan on providing a "fix" (anti-rattle spring clip) for the rears any time in the future?

We don't have a "fix" or "solved the problem" because there actually isn't anything broken. We've always stated from the beginning that our kits are for off-road use only. They are a racing brake system designed to make a car go faster, be lighter, and last longer under heavy track use. Whisper quiet road use isn't really a consideration, and 99.8% of our customers never mention this 'issue' to us. The little bit of added NVH is unfortunately a tradeoff for having the most capable brake system available.

For the front CP5060, there happened to be a spring clip for a road caliper that dropped right in. For the other calipers, no such part exists to our knowledge, and at this time we have no plans to make one. Again, I'm sorry if that's not the ideal answer you were seeking, and I'm not trying to be confrontational, etc. To make this part we'd have to order 10,000 of them to get them at a reasonable cost, and we just haven't seen substantial demand for it. Therefore it hasn't made business sense for us. It's that simple.

I wish I had a better answer for you, but that's the honest lay of the land. Sorry!

If you wanted to make your own, maybe we could lend some guidance?

[OC ///M]

Originally Posted by jritt@essex

We don't have a "fix" or "solved the problem" because there actually isn't anything broken. We've always stated from the beginning that our kits are for off-road use only. They are a racing brake system designed to make a car go faster, be lighter, and last longer under heavy track use. Whisper quiet road use isn't really a consideration, and 99.8% of our customers never mention this 'issue' to us. The little bit of added NVH is unfortunately a tradeoff for having the most capable brake system available.
For the front CP5060, there happened to be a spring clip for a road caliper that dropped right in. For the other calipers, no such part exists to our knowledge, and at this time we have no plans to make one. Again, I'm sorry if that's not the ideal answer you were seeking, and I'm not trying to be confrontational, etc. To make this part we'd have to order 10,000 of them to get them at a reasonable cost, and we just haven't seen substantial demand for it. Therefore it hasn't made business sense for us. It's that simple. I wish I had a better answer for you, but that's the honest lay of the land. Sorry!
If you wanted to make your own, maybe we could lend some guidance?

Thank you, the bolded portion of your response was all that was needed.
Not sure what percentage of your customers are on this forum, but would venture to say that >90.8% of e9x M3 owners drive their cars on the street, at least occasionally.
FYI- I wasn't aware that this kit was not intended for road use.
Have a day.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by OC ///M

Thank you, the bolded portion of your response was all that was needed.
Not sure what percentage of your customers are on this forum, but would venture to say that >90.8% of e9x M3 owners drive their cars on the street, at least occasionally.
FYI- I wasn't aware that this kit was not intended for road use.
Have a day.

i would venture to say that 99% of BBK's state that they are for "offroad use only." hell, probably 90% of any performance part is for "offroad use only."

i met you at mrf when i was getting my kit on. i have the cp5060/355mm kit up front with the anti-rattle clips and the kit adds no noise. sorry i don't have any solution to your problem. this is definitely one of those things that the community (reviews/testimonials) and manufacturer (more obvious disclaimers) could benefit from being up front about.

you have the 5040 kit in the rear? i don't have it yet, but i thought they were working on anti-rattle pad clips for the rear.