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      09-10-2014, 01:51 PM   #1
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Two Piece Semi-Floating Rotors

Have any of you guys seen or used these? They look pretty awesome. Wondering if this could be a good OEM replacement...

http://www.ecstuning.com/News/BMW_E9...3_2PieceRotors

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Last edited by to///m; 09-10-2014 at 02:00 PM..
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      09-10-2014, 02:33 PM   #2
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I'd rather go with the proven 2 piece PFC DD Rotors, which is what I will be installing shortly
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      09-10-2014, 05:28 PM   #3
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also curious...
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      09-10-2014, 09:10 PM   #4
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http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=936633
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      09-11-2014, 07:15 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3ANMACHINE View Post
I'd rather go with the proven 2 piece PFC DD Rotors, which is what I will be installing shortly
+1

PFC DD rotors are a great 2-piece floating rotor assembly. I'm running their Z31 brake kit which comes with F 372 mm and R 371 mm DD floating rotors and they've been nothing but awesome! I'd definitely go with a full-floating rotor design over a 'partial'-floating rotor design. The mounting hat design looks bulky and heavy compared to PFC's mounting hat - definitely save weight with PFC DD rotors compared to stock rotor weight.
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      09-11-2014, 09:12 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3SQRD View Post
+1

PFC DD rotors are a great 2-piece floating rotor assembly. I'm running their Z31 brake kit which comes with F 372 mm and R 371 mm DD floating rotors and they've been nothing but awesome! I'd definitely go with a full-floating rotor design over a 'partial'-floating rotor design. The mounting hat design looks bulky and heavy compared to PFC's mounting hat - definitely save weight with PFC DD rotors compared to stock rotor weight.
Interesting. Care to expand on why you went this route vs the Z54+Z45 kit?

There is so little info out there on the PFC BBKs, although I'm clear that is what I would get!
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      09-11-2014, 09:23 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3ANMACHINE View Post
I'd rather go with the proven 2 piece PFC DD Rotors, which is what I will be installing shortly
Please post pics when you do!

PFC is quiet a bit more, ECS is a quality company, seems like it would be a nice alternative though.
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      09-11-2014, 09:58 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow View Post
Interesting. Care to expand on why you went this route vs the Z54+Z45 kit?

There is so little info out there on the PFC BBKs, although I'm clear that is what I would get!
Easy answer - I purchased the Z31 kit in 2009 and the Z54-Z45 kit wasn't available then (released in 2013). However, I've been extremely pleased with the street and track performance of the Z31 kit.
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      09-11-2014, 01:15 PM   #9
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Check out this FS thread - PFC DD rotors + 08 compound race pads:

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showpos...62&postcount=1
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      09-11-2014, 02:10 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3ANMACHINE View Post
I'd rather go with the proven 2 piece PFC DD Rotors, which is what I will be installing shortly
This is the DOG's Bollocks for our brakes! I have this setup and works like a charm. Long life for both pads/rotors, awesome braking and above all no frying the fluid. You'll love it! I wouldnt run cross drilled on the track as this is exactly where the damn cracks appear (both on the M3 and 911).

Cheers,

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      09-14-2014, 03:17 PM   #11
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The only thing attractive about the ecs parts to me is that they offer a rear application. If PfC offered the dd rotors in OEM size for the rear I would buy rather than spring for another str40 kit. But I want to lose some weight in the rear brakes when finally need to change them so something will be purhased...
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      09-15-2014, 10:23 PM   #12
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So do you guys think this is a good option, getting both front and rear, over OEM?
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      09-16-2014, 07:56 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Richbot View Post
The only thing attractive about the ecs parts to me is that they offer a rear application. If PfC offered the dd rotors in OEM size for the rear I would buy rather than spring for another str40 kit. But I want to lose some weight in the rear brakes when finally need to change them so something will be purhased...
I don't know what they're waiting for!
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      09-17-2014, 06:54 AM   #14
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RacingBrake also offers two-piece F and R replacement rotors for the e9x M3. Based on the weights listed on their website it appears there's a significant weight savings/rotor compared to stock rotor weights. Pricing is similar to PFC DD rotor.

http://www.racingbrake.com/category-s/7118.htm
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      10-06-2014, 06:41 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3SQRD View Post
Check out this FS thread - PFC DD rotors + 08 compound race pads:

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showpos...62&postcount=1
I would consider the PFC over ECS or Racing Brake.
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      10-23-2014, 09:50 AM   #16
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Well I just ordered a set of these for the rear of my car. Will report back with results and real-world weight difference and some up-close pictures. From ECS's photos, it looks like there's a larger gap between the e-brake ring and the inside of the rotor ring so that there might be a little better airflow. Really just doing this because I didn't want to blow $3k on a trophy rear kit to match my front kit just to save a couple lb, there's not much savings to be had there unless you go smaller than stock which I don't want to do either because I'm a hard parking poseur. If I don't like what I see when they get here I'll return and get OE.
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      10-24-2014, 01:53 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Richbot View Post
Well I just ordered a set of these for the rear of my car. Will report back with results and real-world weight difference and some up-close pictures. From ECS's photos, it looks like there's a larger gap between the e-brake ring and the inside of the rotor ring so that there might be a little better airflow. Really just doing this because I didn't want to blow $3k on a trophy rear kit to match my front kit just to save a couple lb, there's not much savings to be had there unless you go smaller than stock which I don't want to do either because I'm a hard parking poseur. If I don't like what I see when they get here I'll return and get OE.
Thank you for updating the thread, look forward to your feedback
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      11-11-2014, 04:18 AM   #18
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Are there any vendors for Ecs tuning on the forums?
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      11-11-2014, 04:22 PM   #19
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ECS Tuning is the vendor

I got these on the car but haven't driven them yet, went to bed in the middle of finishing up the passenger side last night. I've edited the post since then so read all my edits for the full story.

From handling them in-person, I'm not really all that impressed with the rear rotors I bought at first glance. They are slightly heavier than the worn stock rotors that came off the car, but that's not a bother as it was less than a half-pound difference and worn rotors weigh a little less than new ones. Still, not (verifiably anyway) the advertised lighter than stock, which is disappointing to say the least as that was really the only selling point for me. The vane count does seem higher but I'll count to make sure, but there is less airspace for air to move through at the center due to the design of the rotor., because unlike the stock rotors, there's no gap between the hat and the ring to the outboard side, and the inboard air passage is restricted by the e-brake friction ring. Moderately disappointed by the weight (However, see EDIT below), but not enough to not run them on the car to see how they do in real life. I suspect they will perform just like the old ones on the street, but on the track I would have concerns about expansion and contraction being as these don't really have any provision for that built into them (at least not a visible one, maybe the rings are slotted but it's concealed because the ring attachment is sandwiched between the hat and e-brake ring). They do look kindof cool.

Will bed in the rears this week and see how it goes, but I don't expect any improvement in my impressions as I expect the change to be completely transparent from a driving point of view and anything less than that would be a problem. At this point I would have a hard time recommending them over the stock rotors for $250 more per pair, not because they're a bad product, but because the stock setup is already pretty trick and it's hard to improve on it at reasonable cost, and at least in street driving, the stock stuff lasts forever, as I'm sure these will. But I think if (see below) you're looking for a small, incremental improvement in your brakes for, compared to a BBK, very little more money, with really no downside that I can see, this is your droid. They actually do have some features that I didn't expect, like the higher vane count and coating on everything.

Edit: 36 vanes on the ECS rotors vs. 30 stock

Edit 2: there is actually a very small air gap between each strap that becomes visible when the ring heats up, so I guess the straps where it attaches to the hats must be slotted. So that's good, but still very small. On the flip side though (literally) there are no pins obstructing the vanes like there are on the stock rotors. So I don't know, I imagine between more vanes and better inboard airflow it's probably a net gain in terms of cooling but I will have no way of knowing.

Edit 3: stock Rotors were at 22.8mm-23mm (22.4 is minimum, 24mm new) after 66,600 miles. This accounts for about one pound per rotor of weight if my calculations are correct 7.4 g/cm^3 for iron, approximately 70 cubic centimeters of iron worn away from the old rotors. So maybe I'm not disappointed in the weight. Would have to weigh new against new to be sure.

Edit 4: I bedded them and drove on them. They stop the car and there is no vibration. Also the ebrake works even better, maybe the ring is slightly tighter than the worn one that came off. Yay? I also switched back to my OEM 19's with Conti DWS all-seasons last night, which makes me a sad panda. But, once again, at least it looks cool.

Anyway, 4 stars? Now I'm really curious what the weight delta is for the E46 rear PFC direct drive stock replacement setup vs. the stock rear E46 rotors, because those are close in price to the ECS parts but obviously the opportunities for weight loss in the rear are smaller due to smaller rotors and e-brake requirements. In looking at the pictures, the PFC rear rotor for the E46 is very similar in design as far as how the hat works and how the ebrake ring attaches to the ECS part, and again there is no outboard air gap on the PFC DD E46 rear rotor either.
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Last edited by Richbot; 11-12-2014 at 09:13 AM..
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      11-12-2014, 09:12 AM   #20
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Updated now that I've finished the install.
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      11-12-2014, 09:55 AM   #21
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Great review!
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      11-13-2014, 09:30 AM   #22
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Here's what they look like on the car. As you can see, they are brake rotors.
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