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      11-08-2019, 04:35 PM   #89
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow View Post
they indeed have stopped building the E36 kits
BW explained they are stopping ENTIRELY in the near-ish future - all cars.
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      11-08-2019, 04:49 PM   #90
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Granted BW is the largest retailer of PFC kits, but wouldn't it be better to get that information from PFC? I just spoke to their tech support 2 weeks ago to find out what the wear limits are on their rotors.
They're in my state, maybe I'll call them next week to find out what's up.
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      11-11-2019, 02:47 PM   #91
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lienrocs View Post
Bumping up an old thread. How are these brakes holding up for everyone? Any corrosion issues that anyone has come across on a daily, by chance? Has anyone gotten a set of 18 inch E88's that can confirm the Z54/45 combo fits under them?
They continue to be pure perfection.

On the stroker E90 we have the full PFC BBK. It is hard to describe to which point they satisfy, completely. There has not been a single moment where I wished for anything else.

When we bought the F80 CS my brother and I were so certain we wanted to use the PFC Z54 front caliper that we spent months measuring, drawing up in Solidworks and getting brackets 3d printed before committing to an aluminum bracket.
You see, PFC does not build a bracket to adapt their BBK onto the F80, so we did it ourselves. It took a massive amount of time but we managed to do it.
That is how good the BBK is.

For the rear position of the CS we were concerned about parking brake compatibility so we went with the 'other' high level kit: AP RadiCal.
The RadiCal looks very cool but the rotors are a large step down vs the PFCs.

If we end up buying a G80 in a couple years we will take whatever time is needed to move the PFC brakes there.


Over in the stroker thread there's a video of a track day. It does a 30 min session and then it goes out in the next run group for another 30 min, all day nonstop.
In the AER cars we run full PFC brakes as well.

PFC has no forum presence and terrible marketing but they are certainly the real deal. I don't think something better exists.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Curious why you view the AP rotors as a step down from PFC?
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      11-11-2019, 02:59 PM   #92
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tsk94 View Post
BW explained they are stopping ENTIRELY in the near-ish future - all cars.
just spoke to Bimmerworld

The only thing getting disco'd is the E36 kit from the stone age and even then, you will still be able to get pads/rotors/rebuilds/etc from PFC and Bimmerworld

So we're still good
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      11-11-2019, 03:11 PM   #93
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slicer View Post
Thanks for sharing your experience. Curious why you view the AP rotors as a step down from PFC?
Two main points:

No 'v3' style mounting. So the rotor is mounted to the hat using little bolts/nuts/spacers which take quite a while to swap. Use that, then swap a rotor that uses the 'v3' architecture like the PFC Z54 kit and it's night and day.
For the V3 I need a screwdriver and maybe 10 minutes. For the regular rotor style... you'd better have a chair.

The casting. The AP rotor uses a rough casting on the outer and inner surfaces of the vanes. The PFC has machined surfaces.


We'll see about durability as well. I have pretty good data in terms of pad consumption, taper wear and rotor wear for the PFC, I'm looking forward to seeing how AP handles itself.
So far only 1 set of pads on the AP but the taper wear was significant. Will give the kit the benefit of the doubt and see what happens with the second set of pads.
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      11-11-2019, 03:24 PM   #94
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow View Post
Two main points:

No 'v3' style mounting. So the rotor is mounted to the hat using little bolts/nuts/spacers which take quite a while to swap. Use that, then swap a rotor that uses the 'v3' architecture like the PFC Z54 kit and it's night and day.
For the V3 I need a screwdriver and maybe 10 minutes. For the regular rotor style... you'd better have a chair.

The casting. The AP rotor uses a rough casting on the outer and inner surfaces of the vanes. The PFC has machined surfaces.


We'll see about durability as well. I have pretty good data in terms of pad consumption, taper wear and rotor wear for the PFC, I'm looking forward to seeing how AP handles itself.
So far only 1 set of pads on the AP but the taper wear was significant. Will give the kit the benefit of the doubt and see what happens with the second set of pads.

I agree that the V3 mounting style is slick. However, that isn't something that I put much weight on considering rotor replacement is relatively infrequent. Durability, price and performance (plus weight) are far more important to me. You are in a unique position to directly compare those aspects. I'll be curious to see your long term findings. PFC definitely has the race pedigree and the fact that Porsche is using them on their cup cars is a huge testimony. I would argue that AP Racing has even more race pedigree and certainly more history given they have been around for a longer time frame. I would gladly run PFC on my car. My only gripe is the fact that they don't provide caliper diagrams (hard to check wheel fitment without that).
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      11-11-2019, 03:28 PM   #95
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slicer View Post
I agree that the V3 mounting style is slick. However, that isn't something that I put much weight on considering rotor replacement is relatively infrequent. Durability, price and performance (plus weight) are far more important to me. You are in a unique position to directly compare those aspects. I'll be curious to see your long term findings. PFC definitely has the race pedigree and the fact that Porsche is using them on their cup cars is a huge testimony. I would argue that AP Racing has even more race pedigree and certainly more history given they have been around for a longer time frame. I would gladly run PFC on my car. My only gripe is the fact that they don't provide caliper diagrams (hard to check wheel fitment without that).
I'm happy AP exists and they have great support. I really like that there's another true top tier kit for us track people for the E9X, as the rest are not up to par. It's also comforting to know AP will probably release brackets to adapt their kit to the G80 within a month or so of the car coming out.
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      11-12-2019, 12:35 AM   #96
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I shot an email to bimmerworld about getting a diagram and unfortunately the dont have anything for the Z54 set up but they also followed up with this:

"Unfortunately we do not have a template available for the Z54 PFC caliper. We do however, have a template for the ZR54. It is essentially the same caliper but just with a lower offset rotor. You could print that one and mock it up with the thought that the caliper is actually going to be 18mm more inset.

Please let me know if you would like me to send those your way.

What wheels are you running?

Thank you!"

I'm sure someone can figure out if the Z54 set up will work based on this diagram and a good knowledge of wheel offsets and other relevant data.
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      11-13-2019, 07:34 AM   #97
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lienrocs View Post
I'm sure someone can figure out if the Z54 set up will work based on this diagram and a good knowledge of wheel offsets and other relevant data.
The Z54 kit fits under the stock 18" with a 12 or 15mm spacer. Both the Z54 and the Ap RadiCal use 372mm rotors
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      12-29-2019, 02:21 PM   #98
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30,000 Mile Update

I've had my brake kit on my E90 M3 for just over 31,000 miles since 2017 when I installed it (documented in this thread). Has been absolutely trouble free for both track and street. Just this past weekend I replaced my rotors for the first time. Couple of observations. Though wear limit of the rotors is 30.00 mm and I was at 30.5 on the fronts, in the last 2-3,000 miles both sides have developed 2-3 grooves per side and then the rotor surface has developed a real shiny, almost polished look . No deep cracks, just the usual heat checking all over.

The other thing is that though the V3 spring retention system is nice, if your car is a daily like mine and drives in all weather (well mostly rain is as bad as it gets here) is that the spring retainer will corrode and then the leaves will stick to each other. Makes it much more of a bear to remove than when new and all the parts are smooth and shiny. It's probably a "replace every other rotor swap item" if you daily drive in all weather. Only requires some light sanding with 400 grit paper and I put a really light coat of grease on both sides and reinstalled. Otherwise it's not really a biggie. I put on a new set of street pads as well as so it's all a new matched set, will have new track pads for first event in 2020 as well.

No regrets, it's a really nice system and super reliable.
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      04-17-2021, 05:42 PM   #99
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorH View Post
30,000 Mile Update No regrets, it's a really nice system and super reliable.
Thanks for all the photos and the updates. If money were no object, these would be mine.. One day soon I hope.
.
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      04-18-2021, 12:06 AM   #100
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Thanks for all the photos and the updates. If money were no object, these would be mine.. One day soon I hope.
.
Since you bumped this thread I thought id add im the proud new owner of Victors PFC kit. I will post my thoughts
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      04-18-2021, 03:31 PM   #101
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Did you get the box of calipers? I think the rotors and pads are coming Monday.
They are awesome and so dependable, lap after lap.

There's not a Prius on the road that will be able to match your stopping ability.
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      04-18-2021, 09:37 PM   #102
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VictorH View Post
Did you get the box of calipers? I think the rotors and pads are coming Monday.
They are awesome and so dependable, lap after lap.

There's not a Prius on the road that will be able to match your stopping ability.
Yes I did! And they look great. Thanks again for the quick shipping. I’ll be installing them on Tuesday.

Prius comment made me laugh out loud

5FD542D3-E502-4EFD-8B26-BC872C4836C7 by Connor winchell, on Flickr
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Last edited by CPWINCH; 04-19-2021 at 01:42 AM..
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      04-19-2021, 08:24 AM   #103
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This is the King of all kits. The day you want to move it to the F8X, I've had the brackets made to do just that.
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      04-19-2021, 04:27 PM   #104
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beautiful brakes....should have picked it up when it was FS earlier a few weeks back. Oh well, guess I have to settle for StopTech Trophy for now
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      04-19-2021, 04:36 PM   #105
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I have a couple of questions for those in the know about "the PFC king of kits":

1) What is the PFC kit new rotor ring thickness?
2) What is the Brinnel Hardness rating of the PFC rotor ring?

Please, only family friendly responses to #2.

Thanks.
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      04-19-2021, 04:54 PM   #106
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DrFerry View Post
I have a couple of questions for those in the know about "the PFC king of kits":

1) What is the PFC kit new rotor ring thickness?
2) What is the Brinnel Hardness rating of the PFC rotor ring?

Please, only family friendly responses to #2.

Thanks.
32mm, same as the other kits. The pad is thicker than other kits at 28mm thick

No idea on the hardness of the PFC rotor ring


Edit: the Alcon/BW kit uses a 36mm front rotor which is quite insane

Last edited by SYT_Shadow; 04-20-2021 at 11:39 AM..
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      05-16-2021, 10:17 AM   #107
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Once you have been using PFC aftermarket components for a while you'll understand why they are superior to most all of the other offerings.

My M3 is gone now and I'll be switching to a Mustang (I know BOO!) but I've had such good luck with PFC that though I can't get a BBK for the Mustang, I have located the V3 rotors. The stupid thing is, they are manufactured literally 100 miles from me, but since availability of these is nonexistent in the US, I had to order a set from the UK. Should be here next week, go figure, the rotors have to make two trips across the Atlantic to get to me. But, it's the first mod going on the car.
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