PFC Direct Drive v3 Fitment Issue

[blowbackpolicy]

I wanted to know if anyone else has had fitment issues with the PFC DD v3 rotors. I installed them last night with new PFC Z-rated pads and brass caliper guide bushings and neither rotor is spinning flat. They both barely clear the caliper mounts. If I put the factory rotors back on, everything is fine. When the rotor spins, it comes very close to making contact with the caliper mount for part of the rotation. The two bolts that hold the caliper mount are extremely tight. I took the car for a drive and although it is braking fine with no noise, the steering wheel has a side-to-side shimmy due to the uneven rotation. Could this be a bad set (rotor runout) or is it rust buildup on the hub (I did clean the hub surface with Brakleen and a brush)? The three rotor alignment dowels do not seem to sit flush with the rotor hat surface (maybe a penny width from flush). The factory rotors sit almost perfectly flush. I installed ECS 2-piece rotors on the rear as well and I had no problems whatsoever. I'm having the same issue on both sides of the car. I did try to search for the same problem but most threads were regarding wheel bearings etc. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

UPDATE 4/13:
Justin with PFC contacted me direct and apologized for the issue. He said that there was an extremely small number of v3 sets manufactured for our cars that the hats were out of spec. The rings themselves were fine but the hats would not mate correctly to the hub when torqued down. Apparently they had pulled all of the incorrect sets and mine was one of two that made it out to a customer. He was extremely nice and definitely made the whole deal right. I would not hesitate to recommend the direct drive rotors to anyone; this was a fluke deal. I thought it was a nice touch for them to contact me direct after the distributor had already refunded me. I could tell that he had respect for BMW cars and he said half the parking lot at the office was filled with Bimmers.

[SpartaEvolution]

Runout is measured to the ten-thousandth of an inch, and typically rejected for anything over .0010", so I doubt being off by a penny width (.0060") would be missed by their QC team. Did you purchase these rotors pre-assembled? I assume these are the rotors with the retention ring instead of bobbins - maybe something was caked up on the hat during assembly? I think a few pictures would go a long way here.

[dparm]

Man, I could've sworn there was a thread here where someone had the same problem with the PFC DD rotors and PFC calipers.

[SYT_Shadow]

There was a case of the PFC rotor (not the DD one) having issues but if I remember correctly it ended up being user error... can't remember the user but I went back and forth with them helping

Something is definitely wrong OP. I've used several sets of DD rotors and like 6 PFC V3 rotors and have never encountered the slightest issue

Have you tried contacting Bimmerworld or whoever sold them to you?

[blowbackpolicy]

These are the version with the retention ring, not the bobbins. They came preassembled. I did not think to check if the rings were mounted correctly. I assumed they would be from the factory. I won't be able to take any pictures until I get back to the car on Monday. When you spin the rotor, you can visibly see the rotor get closer to the caliper carrier, almost like an elliptical spin if that makes sense.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by blowbackpolicy

These are the version with the retention ring, not the bobbins. They came preassembled. I did not think to check if the rings were mounted correctly. I assumed they would be from the factory. I won't be able to take any pictures until I get back to the car on Monday. When you spin the rotor, you can visibly see the rotor get closer to the caliper carrier, almost like an elliptical spin if that makes sense.

Yeah the v3's have the ring and seem impossible to assemble wrong. Besides, they're assembled at PFC

[dparm]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

Yeah the v3's have the ring and seem impossible to assemble wrong. Besides, they're assembled at PFC

They're assembled by humans. People make mistakes, they get tired, distracted, etc. I always triple-check this kind of stuff.


OP: did you call PFC and try to get some help? Maybe the instructions are incorrect or something?

[SpartaEvolution]

Originally Posted by dparm

They're assembled by humans. People make mistakes, they get tired, distracted, etc. I always triple-check this kind of stuff.

I think he means that due to the way the hat and rotor are held together, incorrect assembly would cause the ring and hat to separate entirely vs a bobbin system that would allow at least some slack before it separated (granted you'd need all 8/10/12 bobbins to be loose for that to happen).

OP: You said you cleaned the hub, maybe check the hat for debris too? If you're lucky there will be a glob of packing tape. If you're really lucky there will be couple of crumpled up $100 bills.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by SpartaEvolution

If you're really lucky there will be couple of crumpled up $100 bills.

I'm going to guess this isn't it, but it would be a very fortunate problem.

I vote there's something on the hub, if I'm reading the issue correctly.

[RickyBobby]

I had this same problem with my PFC rotors a few years back. The tolerances were off enough to cause vibration at speed and they ended up refunding my money.
I love their pads though.

[msan]

Originally Posted by blowbackpolicy

These are the version with the retention ring, not the bobbins. They came preassembled. I did not think to check if the rings were mounted correctly. I assumed they would be from the factory. I won't be able to take any pictures until I get back to the car on Monday. When you spin the rotor, you can visibly see the rotor get closer to the caliper carrier, almost like an elliptical spin if that makes sense.

Any update?

[blowbackpolicy]

I will snap some pics after work today when I get home to the car. The hubs looked clean and I did take a wire brush and Brakleen to them before installation. There would have to be a lot of debris on the hub to throw the rotor that far off balance. Stay tuned for updates and thanks for the suggestions!

[blowbackpolicy]

Hey guys, I’m sorry for the late reply. I took apart the front brakes last night and the hubs looked new, no rust or debris. I took the car to a shop today to have them disassemble everything and check my work. The verdict is that not only is the run-out out of spec, the rotors themselves do not bolt up flush to the hub. The only possible cause is the rotors themselves. They spin extremely close to the caliper brackets and are causing a shimmy in the steering wheel because they are spinning out of balance. It really sucks because I have a HPDE this coming weekend and now I’m on the fence about whether I should overnight another set of PFC’s and risk them being out of spec or buying the ECS rotors. Everything I’ve read says that the PFC are the best stock size rotors. The ECS rotors on the rear figment was PERFECT. What would y’all recommend? Do you think another set would have the same problem? It really sucks because I had to pay the shop to diagnose...

[SYT_Shadow]

I would call PFC or whoever sent them to you. They should replace and send you new ones!!

PFC rotors really are spectacular, I'm sorry you're running into this issue

[blowbackpolicy]

So I just got the runout measurements and the runout was .058 on the driver side and .062 on the passenger side. Switching to the ECS 2-piece rotors completely eliminated the steering shimmy/vibration. I am sending the PFCs back for a refund. I loved the idea of the direct drives; it's a shame that they didn't work.

[VictorH]

Wow! That's really screwed up. Run-out on mine was .004 and .006 measured with a proper dial indicator that has the tiny wheel on the end and measuring at the outside edge of the disc (measured installed on the car).

[ayao]

Originally Posted by blowbackpolicy

So I just got the runout measurements and the runout was .058 on the driver side and .062 on the passenger side. Switching to the ECS 2-piece rotors completely eliminated the steering shimmy/vibration. I am sending the PFCs back for a refund. I loved the idea of the direct drives; it's a shame that they didn't work.

This is flabbergasting.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by blowbackpolicy

So I just got the runout measurements and the runout was .058 on the driver side and .062 on the passenger side. Switching to the ECS 2-piece rotors completely eliminated the steering shimmy/vibration. I am sending the PFCs back for a refund. I loved the idea of the direct drives; it's a shame that they didn't work.

Why not just ask PFC to send you a new set?

[blowbackpolicy]

I have a HPDE tomorrow and I did not want to risk getting another set that was out of spec. These were ridiculous on the car. They came crazy close to making contact with the caliper bracket and I had a serious vibration/shimmy in the steering wheel. I was kind of over it. If they missed a set this bad, they could miss another set as well. I had a local shop swap the PFCs for the ECS and those were the runout measurements they gave me (I did not have a gauge etc.).

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by blowbackpolicy

I have a HPDE tomorrow and I did not want to risk getting another set that was out of spec. These were ridiculous on the car. They came crazy close to making contact with the caliper bracket and I had a serious vibration/shimmy in the steering wheel. I was kind of over it. If they missed a set this bad, they could miss another set as well. I had a local shop swap the PFCs for the ECS and those were the runout measurements they gave me (I did not have a gauge etc.).

I think this is more of a freak-accident type ordeal

I've used like 8 PFC rotors and all have been perfect, both in V3 and V2 configuration

[blowbackpolicy]

Justin with PFC contacted me direct and apologized for the issue. He said that there was an extremely small number of v3 sets manufactured for our cars that the hats were out of spec. The rings themselves were fine but the hats would not mate correctly to the hub when torqued down. Apparently they had pulled all of the incorrect sets and mine was one of two that made it out to a customer. He was extremely nice and definitely made the whole deal right. I would not hesitate to recommend the direct drive rotors to anyone; this was a fluke deal. I thought it was a nice touch for them to contact me direct after the distributor had already refunded me. I could tell that he had respect for BMW cars and he said half the parking lot at the office was filled with Bimmers.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by blowbackpolicy

Justin with PFC contacted me direct and apologized for the issue. He said that there was an extremely small number of v3 sets manufactured for our cars that the hats were out of spec. The rings themselves were fine but the hats would not mate correctly to the hub when torqued down. Apparently they had pulled all of the incorrect sets and mine was one of two that made it out to a customer. He was extremely nice and definitely made the whole deal right. I would not hesitate to recommend the direct drive rotors to anyone; this was a fluke deal. I thought it was a nice touch for them to contact me direct after the distributor had already refunded me. I could tell that he had respect for BMW cars and he said half the parking lot at the office was filled with Bimmers.

Glad it worked out

I just got a set of pfc dd at home, may install this weekend