CNC machine was down and put them back a few weeks. Patiently waiting....

 

BRAKE UPDATE:
I actually have some nice seat time with the Essex/AP BBK and it's been everything I've been looking for.

I have extensive track history with my BMWs and have had BBKs on all of my cars for over 12 years now. The AP BBK is not only stunning to look at, but performs flawlessly.
There are zero fitment issues with the stock 20" Carrera S wheels. No spacers are needed front or rear, even though they really fill out the wheels now. They just look like they fit the car so much better. None-car people have even asked me about the brakes, it's that apparent.

When driving around town or on the highway, the brakes work as any normal brakes do with no fuss or even second thought about them - as they should. There's no additional noise either.
Pushing the car harder and harder into corners and really hitting the brakes to get some heat into them, the brakes come alive and really haul the car down to speed quickly. The pedal gets a bit more grabby as you build heat into the rotors and pads, but it's still super easy to modulate braking with just the slightest of inputs. Of course on the street, there is zero hint that they are actually getting warm, just better. Braking distances seem to actually get shorter. They hold up perfectly without an issue.

When I get them out on the track, I'll be 100% confident these will do the job.
I love the brakes and am so happy I got them! Definitely worth it for anyone who is serious about upgrading their brakes. It's a complete package.

I took a couple of pics. The close-ups were taken today - yes, I actually drive my car as much as I can so they wheels are pretty dirty.


Enjoyed a hike with my daughter. She loves riding in the 911

Dirty front wheel. Brakes are breathtakingly beautiful

Rear - look how much more the wheel is filled with brake hardware

 

Awesome! I love BBKs. What pads did you get?

 

I went with the Ferodo pads. I've never used them before.
In the past, I ran Carbotech (horrible), Hawk and Pagid. So far so good with these pads. They give a good initial bite and feel really easy to modulate as well.

 

Looks great @rugu6869

 

Feredo ds2500s? I used those on my Evo way back in the day. Yup, I really liked the bite and feel of those. I had to switch to ds3000s for track use, but those brakes are significantly smaller than what you have.

 

Yes, DS2500 is what I'm running. This is a good street pad and some shorter track sessions should be fine without pushing too hard.
A more track oriented pad will be required for full track sessions/weekends.

We have been running Pagid RS29 pads on our racecar in endurance events. Fronts last over 12 hours and rears can go over 18 - 20 hours no problem (on a BMW 335).

 

@rugu6869 - just ordered the same set for my car - C2S with the same 20" carrera S wheels. I ordered the red painted calipers as opposed to the silver ones to retain a more stock look w.r.t. the calipers. Also going with the DS2500 pads at least initially. I mean I'm coming from the stock setup + APR K04.3 GTS turbos + stage 3 tune (some 550hp according to APR), and they worked on the one track day I've done with them thus far, so I would expect that for my purposes (8-10 track days/year) the DS2500 will work just fine. The heat buildup on the stock rotors, however, was *huge* after 20 minute sessions (PCA white run group), but that said, they happily survived. I've got 1 more track day before these get installed, so hopefully the stock components will survive the experience .

How are you liking the B16 damptronics? Are they working well with the DSC sport controller? Next on my list is updating the suspension (already have the DSC controller), and my choices really are boiling down to either the B16 damptronics or the Tractive DDA. The damptronics are significantly less expensive, which may be the determining factor for me. Did you get custom spring rates with them, or are they "standard" that come with the package? Where did you source the damptronics from?

 

Nice! You'll love the new brake setup. You should have less heat build-up with the larger two-piece rotors as they should dissipate the heat much better.

Suspension wise, I'm still on the stock controller ATM. I wanted to run the stock for a little while to see how much of a change the DSC will make. I can see already where there will be improvements in normal mode as it's softer, but not as silky smooth as it could be. Sport/+ mode is better, but a little weird on rebound on super bumpy roads (not a problem on the track). So far, I am liking them a lot. I would do the upgrade again. Plus, the lowered stance works on the car for sure. I also did the Tarret Racing front/rear swaybar end links and the Elephant Racing bump steer adjustable tie rod ends right away.
I kept the stock springs that came with the B16s and got them through Soul Performance. I ordered many of my parts directly from them right when I got my car (Soul headers and sport cats, B16s, Numeric shifter/cables, blackmill aerofoils). You can get them for around $3000. The price has increased about $200 since I purchased them mid-last year.

If you're using your car for track events, I'm not sure you could do better than the Tractive setup. Yes, they are two and a half times the price of the B16, but they're supposed to be stellar. GT guys are upgrading to them so that tells you something about how good they are.
If the price is just too much for you, I would say the B16's would be an upgrade for sure. Bilstein is the OEM of the stock dampers for our cars, so they are privy to engineering data that other manufacturers aren't.

LMK if you have any other questions and what you do. Love a good track build!

 

Regarding the Tarret swaybar end links and ER tie rods - did those include the lower control arms? Are they monoball and do they do away with the rubber bushings? If so, how does it feel on the road - does it become too nervous and twitchy without the damping introduced by the rubber bushings, or is it perfectly drivable, just more immediate and direct in response?

Yeah - that's the quandary - $3k vs $7k - are they worth the extra $3-$4k in terms of responsiveness and handling quality vs the B16. It's more about ROI than actual cost. Not having driven either or compared them to SPASM + DSC Sport, it's a hard thing to answer. I do 8-10 track days/year, sometimes a little more, so while I really want good track handling, I also want it to remain drivable on the road.

 

enzotcat
Just the end links and ER tie rods only - no lower control arms. I didn't want to go that far... not yet at least.
They are monoball, but completely quiet. I have more road feel, but it's not nervous or twitchy. I think that is more of the suspension than anything. I literally just got out of my car and switched the suspension to soft when I was coming up to a known large bump and it soaked it up much better than in Sport mode.
I didn't want to lower my car and do coilovers without supporting mods. Every car I own has/had extensive suspension done (my GTI has over $6K into the suspension with JRZ coilovers, swaybars, end links, control arms, bushings, chassis stiffeners etc).

TBH, I would believe the B16s would get you very close to what you're looking for. Add in a few more mods listed above and a good alignment should make a big difference. You can do a ton of track days for $4k.
I had JIC Cross coilovers on my e90 BMW. They were on the car till I sold it and had zero issues with them. Drove about 55K miles over eight years, plus well over 50 track days. I think you'll be fine with the B16s.

 

enzocat,
Please just keep an eye on those DS2500 on the track. While they are technically a 'racing pad', they don't have the temp threshold that the Ferodo DS1.11 or DS3.12 would. I don't anticipate the DS2500 fading, but with pumped up power you're going to be pouring a lot of heat into them. They can wear quickly if you get them too hot, so I'd periodically take a peek at your pads after each session to watch pad consumption. The good news is that the discs and pads in our system are much larger, will absorb far more heat, and flow far more air than the OEM bits.

I'd make sure to do a good bed-in before running the setup on the track. Also, please make sure to watch the video below for some tips to squeeze the most out of your new system. Thanks so much again for your purchase, and we look forward to hearing more after you get the chance to play with them a bit!

 

Thanks @JRitt@essex - I most definitely will keep an eye on them. As I’m sure you know all too well, I’m in a bit of a learning phase with the brakes and the engine modifications, so I’m trying to find the best compromise where the pads that I use will work OK on the street and well on the track. On the street, I don’t tend to drive in bad weather, but I do drive in cool weather (40+ degrees F), so pads that I use need to work there, because I don’t really want to have to change pads each time I go to the track. If they’re a little compromised, that’s OK, as long as they work. On the track, I most definitely 100% want to stop. A friend of mine uses the DS3.12, but he essentially only uses the car on track, and I guess I’m a little leery of using those on the street. If you think an alternative pad would work better than the DS2500s, I’d be more than happy to try them out .

Thanks for the video, and I will follow the bed in procedures!

 

Oh yeah @JRitt@essex - on the bedding in, I actually asked for the burnishing process with the Ferodo compound. Does that effectively eliminate the bed in procedure, or does it still need to be bedded in?

 

Ah, excellent. Good choice. All you'll need to do is a few hard-ish stops from a decent speed (60mph) to get the pads seated in on the discs.