Stoptech trophy kit - finish gone after 6 months

[e60cs5]

Hello,

How would you feel if you bought 9k brakes and they started to rust within 6 months?

I purchased a full trophy kit 6 months ago.

Many of you have seen media of my car. Here's a link if you have not.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...ght=klassen+m3

I noticed that after having the kit for 2-3 months that the bolts were rusting. It bugged me, but I figured it wasn't the end of the world and I'd deal with it later.

Well, after spending the past 3 weeks trying to get some help from Stoptech, they basically tell me that I sprayed some nasty corrosive cleaner on my brakes and they have stopped responding to my e-mails. Or at least, they haven't responded with any useful help.

I have been nothing but polite, patient and understanding.....now I'm starting to get angry.

My car has never even seen an automated car wash. I was the thing myself. I am EXTREMELY meticulous about everything that's done to this car. (even the pictures I take, etc) I've spent 100k on this car... Why would I use an abrasive, corrosive cleaner?! On top of that, the brakes are 6 months old... Why would I even want or need to?

Notice in the pics that some bolts are just fine... and some calipers look better than others. Also notice that the finish of the bleed assembly is fine... and the finish on the custom wheels is fine. Also notice in the 2nd and 5th pic how crappy the bolts look in general. I noticed that right when I had the brakes installed (by a master mechanic)

I understand that Stoptech might expect to see other customer issues of bad bolts / finish and they claim they haven't. (But how do I know they haven't?) I've been extremely patient and understanding... but the longer this drags out and the more they ignore my requests for help, the madder I get.

I've given Stoptech plenty of time to respond to this before posting.

Thanks for any thoughts / recommendations. Pics attached.

[Brucewonder]

some of those bolts look horrible. I would be pissed if my brand new BBK turned out like that after dropping $$$ on them

[THE TECH]

Have the dealer that sold you the kit get involved. This really sucks to see.

[Gearhead999s]

What pads are you running?Some pads are much more corrosive than others.I have the normal Stoptech ST60 & ST40's and the fastners are all in great shape but the paint on the front calipers has yellowed,but I expected that with race pads & lots of track days this year.

[bigjae1976]

My bolts still look good on the ST40 calipers. I regularly spray somewhat harsh cleaner (50% diluted grime reaper) on it pretty regularly.

Yeah, maybe you got bad bolts. Or they were dinged up during the install. I would remove the bolts and let them soak in some rust remover. Then maybe use some zinc spray on bolt heads.

[e60cs5]

Fixing or replacing the bolts would be great. I'd prefer new high quality bolts.

However, notice that on at least one of the front calipers it looks like the anodized finished on those is also wearing off. On one of the rears, you can see the bolts are fine and the finish looks pretty good - but it's starting to smear around some of the edges.

I dunno. The car is 6 months old. The more I think about this- the more I question the quality of the finish.

[Moxie]

Originally Posted by THE TECH

Have the dealer that sold you the kit get involved. This really sucks to see.

Have the dealer that sold you the kit get involved. It's your best chance of getting it resolved.

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by e60cs5

Fixing or replacing the bolts would be great. I'd prefer new high quality bolts.

However, notice that on at least one of the front calipers it looks like the anodized finished on those is also wearing off. On one of the rears, you can see the bolts are fine and the finish looks pretty good - but it's starting to smear around some of the edges.

I dunno. The car is 6 months old. The more I think about this- the more I question the quality of the finish.

I would think the anodized finish would hold up better. Bummer

I think prepping and then zinc spraying your bolts will solve the rust problem as long as you don't have to keep removing them. That might be a small issue for the bridge bolts.

[Technic]

What do you use to clean your wheels?

[e60cs5]

Originally Posted by Technic

What do you use to clean your wheels?

I use a regular handheld spray car wash.
I've never had any reason to use any harsh chemicals or brake cleaner.

My car has only been cleaned by someone else one time when I had it hand washed in Beverly Hills (road trip)

Whatever happened, I highly doubt it was the car wash I have used for 10 years... And I also highly doubt that the finish on my set is durable at all.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by e60cs5

I use a regular handheld spray car wash.
I've never had any reason to use any harsh chemicals or brake cleaner.

My car has only been cleaned by someone else one time when I had it hand washed in Beverly Hills (road trip)

Whatever happened, I highly doubt it was the car wash I have used for 10 years... And I also highly doubt that the finish on my set is durable at all.

I asked because the only time that I have seen something like that was by using a cheap wheel cleaner years ago. Not only it made my old E46 M3 calipers all nasty, it also corroded one of the front pistons so much that it stuck out and it could not go back in. The caliper had to be replaced.

I'm getting a set of the ST non-Trophy front BBK as well, so I'm very interested in the outcome of this crap. I have been using the BMW OEM wheel cleaner for years and so far no corrosion anywhere.

This is not normal.

[THE TECH]

Salt from the roads?

[davem3fan]

Hmmm, this may help clarify my BBK buying decision.

I do hope your issue is resolved to your satisfaction ASAP.

Subscribed.

[e60cs5]

Originally Posted by THE TECH

Salt from the roads?

Absolutely not.

To be clear - I took my car out NEAR the salt flats once. AND - this was about a month ago - 3 months after they started rusting.
I did not drive out on the flats...and there is no salt on the roads until winter.... which just arrived.

My car doesn't go out in the winter... and is washed regularly.

[THE TECH]

Originally Posted by e60cs5

Absolutely not.

To be clear - I took my car out NEAR the salt flats once.
But I did not drive out on the flats. Also, there is no salt on the roads until winter.... which just arrived.

My car doesn't go out in the winter... and is washed regularly.

Understood. Just trying to eliminate ideas that pop into my head.

[e60cs5]

Originally Posted by THE TECH

Understood. Just trying to eliminate ideas that pop into my head.

No problem - yeah. Thanks. I am not sure what to think...

[img]

Contact the person who sold them to you or Stoptech,thats wrong

[Z K]

The trophy kit is made for racing, they probably didn't use bolts that were stainless steel or coated to resist corrosion as most race teams would care less if it didn't look good cosmetically. I understand that Stoptech sells a street version as well but it uses the same race calipers. Maybe they need to make a true street Trophy kit instead of an adapted race version...

I haven't seen this issue with the regular Stoptech street brake kits. Either way, it'd be interesting to see their response.

[paradocs98]

Originally Posted by Gearhead999s

I have the normal Stoptech ST60 & ST40's and the fastners are all in great shape but the paint on the front calipers has yellowed,but I expected that with race pads & lots of track days this year.

I have the ST60/ST40 setup as well and have not had a problem, either. I've been using either P21S or Griot's Garage wheel cleaner and then rinsing well. I hope you get a resolution to the situation. StopTech is a well-respected, well-established brake manufacturer, and certainly not a fly-by-night like some aftermarket wheel companies. On the other hand, specialty aftermarket auto parts manufacturers like StopTech/Centric are relatively small companies, not huge multinational corporations, so you would think they would have relatively friendly, responsive customer service.

[kk2]

IMO.. It looks like your problem. Either you bought the wrong kind of brakes for your intended purpose or used the wrong cleaner.

[e60cs5]

Originally Posted by kk2

IMO.. It looks like your problem. Either you bought the wrong kind of brakes for your intended purpose or used the wrong cleaner.

LOL Which one is it? How did I buy the wrong brakes? Maybe you could elaborate a bit more or help me figure that one out. Or maybe you didn't read the post. I didn't use any harsh cleaners.

[Team Plutonium]

WFT?!