Opinions on the Wilwood 140-8797 BBK

[jjwilson89]

Good morning,
So I just discovered that my UUC/SSBC BBK I have on my track E36 M3 is no longer manufactured, and getting a hold of discs is going to be next to impossible (Production stopped 8 years ago). So....time for a new BBK.

Stoptech's seem a little pricey for me and Wilwood seems to have a good kit available for reasonable money through Jegs:

http://wilwood.com/BrakeKits/BrakeKi...=M3&option=All

http://www.jegs.com/i/Wilwood/950/140-8797/10002/-1

Has anyone used this kit and has any insight?

Seems like a good kit and good price to me. Big advantage of wilwood over stoptech is replacement discs and pads are cheap!

Also, can anyone advise on the drilled v slotted argument. My old BBK was slotted and I never seemed to have any issues, drilled are $100 more. Will it improve cooling or just eat my pads?

Thanks,
John

*********************************************

So,
An update. After some deliberation, I pulled the trigger on a massive brakes setup kit from Lee, using Wilwood 120-13235 and 120-13236 Calipers along with the blank Wilwood discs 160-12787 and 120-12786.

http://www.massivebrakes.com/brake-systems.php

Reasons for doing this rather than the Wilwood 120-11779 kit posted above:

The "Narrow" forged calipers take smaller pads. They are designed to fit under more wheels but that is not an issue with my car. Therefore, using the Calipers above I can fit 20mm Pads up front = more longevity, more value for money. This meant going with Lee's Massive Brakes kit.

Whilst buying the calipers, and if anyone is interested, I toyed with the idea of buying 4-pot calipers 120-13277 as they have more piston surface area than the 6 pots (5.16 sq inches vs. 4.14 sq inches), and they are cheaper.

However, after consulting with Lee, this would upset the brake balance of the car with my current stock rear brakes. The 6-pots I bought are very close to the stock setup in terms of sq inches of piston, which wont affect braking stability of the car.

I loved the Stoptech's, but Wilwood's are an absolute equal product with cheaper replacement discs. I'm fortunate enough to know quite a few guys in the NASA circuit and endurance events and all of them couldn't give a reason to buy one over the other. Bottom line, both companies make good stuff.

Replacement rotors from Wilwood are $195 for blanks, $210 for slotted. I decided against slotted (which is my current setup) as both Lee and another racing buddy prefer blanks as they don't tear up the pads.

For anyone interested, the total cost ~$1650 without pads.

Willow Spring on the 27th, I'll let you know how I get on!

John

[ScotcH]

I just put on a similar kit on my e46 330i ... the only difference is I got the non narrow version calipers (SL6), and can use 20mm pads. It's was very very nice this past weekend, no issues with the brakes, great feel, zero performance problems. Our other car has stupid expensive Brembo GT-R calipers, and I didn't really feel any difference here. I use the same 13" Spec-37 rotors, slotted only (don't bother with drilled).

[jjwilson89]

I just put on a similar kit on my e46 330i ... the only difference is I got the non narrow version calipers (SL6), and can use 20mm pads. It's was very very nice this past weekend, no issues with the brakes, great feel, zero performance problems. Our other car has stupid expensive Brembo GT-R calipers, and I didn't really feel any difference here. I use the same 13" Spec-37 rotors, slotted only (don't bother with drilled).

Could you let me know where you got the kit from? PM'd.

[Spec3HOR]

Good morning,
So I just discovered that my UUC/SSBC BBK I have on my track E36 M3 is no longer manufactured, and getting a hold of discs is going to be next to impossible (Production stopped 8 years ago). So....time for a new BBK.

Stoptech's seem a little pricey for me and Wilwood seems to have a good kit available for reasonable money through Jegs:

http://wilwood.com/BrakeKits/BrakeKi...=M3&option=All

http://www.jegs.com/i/Wilwood/950/140-8797/10002/-1

Has anyone used this kit and has any insight?

Seems like a good kit and good price to me. Big advantage of wilwood over stoptech is replacement discs and pads are cheap!

Also, can anyone advise on the drilled v slotted argument. My old BBK was slotted and I never seemed to have any issues, drilled are $100 more. Will it improve cooling or just eat my pads?

Thanks,
John

Send Coleman Rotors the specs of your rotors and they will send you replacements. My "custom" rotors are $150 a pop which isn't that bad.

[jakermac]

Send Coleman Rotors the specs of your rotors and they will send you replacements. My "custom" rotors are $150 a pop which isn't that bad.

Ditto!! I've bought a couple sets of custom rotors from Coleman now - http://www.colemanracing.com/default.aspx.

[XXLBIMMER]

Send Coleman Rotors the specs of your rotors and they will send you replacements. My "custom" rotors are $150 a pop which isn't that bad.

Triple the ditto for Coleman.

[DocWyte]

The Wilwood kits on your first link are only $125 less than Stoptechs from ECS Tuning. For $125 I'd choose Stoptechs, I've had them on several previous cars and they're bomb proof.

[TXBDan]

I was very happy with my Stoptechs but sold them due to the $350/rotor rotor cost. I'd get a quote from Coleman for replacements, for $150 each I might have kept the kit. If you're stuck with $350 rotors with Stoptech, I'd go with Wilwood. They make goodstuff, too.

Granted, the life of the Stoptech rotors was measured in years, not events, but still.

[MassiveWalrus]

Holy crap thats bank... I have the ST40 BBK and my rotors are $160 direct from stoptech.... I keep forgetting how overpriced retail is for them.

[DocWyte]

TXBDan, yeah the rotors are expensive but like you said, they last years and years. The only time I've had to replace a set was on a set of Stoptechs I bought used....

[m3bs]

Holy crap thats bank... I have the ST40 BBK and my rotors are $160 direct from stoptech.... I keep forgetting how overpriced retail is for them.

Wow. How do I get in on that kind of pricing?

[DocWyte]

Yeah, me too...

[MassiveWalrus]

Wow. How do I get in on that kind of pricing?

My buddy works for Centric.

its all on who you know....

[DocWyte]

I'm sure it wouldn't raise any eyebrows if he ordered a dozen rotor rings at once, right?

[MassiveWalrus]

[jjwilson89]

So,
An update. After some deliberation, I pulled the trigger on a massive brakes setup kit from Lee, using Wilwood 120-13235 and 120-13236 Calipers along with the blank Wilwood discs 160-12787 and 120-12786.

http://www.massivebrakes.com/brake-systems.php

Reasons for doing this rather than the Wilwood 120-11779 kit posted above:

The "Narrow" forged calipers take smaller pads. They are designed to fit under more wheels but that is not an issue with my car. Therefore, using the Calipers above I can fit 20mm Pads up front = more longevity, more value for money. This meant going with Lee's Massive Brakes kit.

Whilst buying the calipers, and if anyone is interested, I toyed with the idea of buying 4-pot calipers 120-13277 as they have more piston surface area than the 6 pots (5.16 sq inches vs. 4.14 sq inches), and they are cheaper.

However, after consulting with Lee, this would upset the brake balance of the car with my current stock rear brakes. The 6-pots I bought are very close to the stock setup in terms of sq inches of piston, which wont affect braking stability of the car.

I loved the Stoptech's, but Wilwood's are an absolute equal product with cheaper replacement discs. I'm fortunate enough to know quite a few guys in the NASA circuit and endurance events and all of them couldn't give a reason to buy one over the other. Bottom line, both companies make good stuff.

Replacement rotors from Wilwood are $195 for blanks, $210 for slotted. I decided against slotted (which is my current setup) as both Lee and another racing buddy prefer blanks as they don't tear up the pads.

For anyone interested, the total cost ~$1650 without pads.

Next Dilemma - WHICH PADS TO GET.....?

Willow Spring on the 27th, I'll let you know how I get on!

John

[21deep]

Any long term reviews for the Wilwood kit sold by massivebrakes?

[olemiss540]

21 deep,

I have almost BRAND NEW (2 days use) wilwood 4 piston calipers (with brake lines) appropriately sized for an e36 m3 front application if you decide to go to a BBK. All you would need is a 60 dollar set of rotors and a 200 dollar bracket to go.

Also have 3 sets of hawk DTC70 pads as well. PM me if you are interested and I will cut you a deal.