Quote:
Originally Posted by ///Mobbin
You know we have an addiction when we start upgrading our BBK's! 
New kit looks quite nice, congrats on the upgrade! I am trying a few things to see if I can get happy with my current Stoptech ST40 front brake setup. If I can't get it there I may upgrade to the 380mm Stoptech Trophy kit which I had on my last car and loved, or this kit, thanks for sharing. |
Thanks! Yeah......the motorsport rabbit hole runs deep! I really did get a lot of great usage out of the old kit. And there's nothing wrong with it other than needing a big round of maintenance and the parts are 3 months out. Obviously, I could sell the old kit and offset the new kit's cost. But I think I'll keep it for now. (Maybe install it on another car.)
And this topic brings up the question: I wonder what the realistic life of a part like an AP Racing brake caliper is when it's tracked. Do these kinds of things have finite life spans? No one can even agree on how long a rotor hat should last......I spoke to AP in England. They said 2 years for a hat. Essex says that customers have been running their hats for many years.....
And for me, the overall theme of this topic of how-long-do-parts-last extends to other things on the car. I have asked many tech people about how long a brake master cylinder lasts, or how long OEM control arms last......no one knows. I even ran into a guy who works for BMW as a vehicle designer. I asked if BMW's motorsport division had any people who could give feedback on part life based on their experiences. He was very nice and said he would ask......never heard back from him. No one wants to go on record and talk about how long parts last. Run-it-until-it-breaks is not my favorite way of doing things. But also replacing everything long before it's needed seems like a huge waste too.....
I guess the one saving grace in the automotive world is that, often times, as things are wearing out, they wear out slowly and can see the signs---you see small cracks, the parts start to have play in them vs being tight, you start seeing leaks, rubber gets hard and brittle, etc., so I guess there are warning signs as long as you are inspecting things. This is where a quality shop comes into play I guess.
Another example of questions I ask: How long do the rear hubs and bearings last? I keep asking if we need to replace them. The answer is always no. I'm 6+ years into tracking the car and the original parts are still on there. We've replaced the front hubs. But the rears just keep going. How long will that party last?? How about the rear axles?
Anyway, I gotta give credit to BMW---my car has held up quite well! The M3 seems to be built with some pretty strong parts that have endured a lot of heavy use!