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      10-10-2018, 03:13 PM   #1
CAOZKAN
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Essex AP BBK long term ownership review vs CCB

I have been a long time member of this forum and I have decided to write this review about my long term ownership of the Essex AP Racing BBK(CP9660/9449) since I'm really happy with the product and the amazing team who always help me with my relentless questions and queries about the product.

Let me start first with my experience with CCB. I bought my M4 used at roughly around 3k miles and I didn't have much selection and the car had CCB on it. I decided that they look nice and why not give it a try. After using the car for a while I understood that CCBs have many cons such as:
Very noisy, very bad at low temperature(almost learnt this one in the hard way), 1second latency at heavy rain autobahn drive and most of all super costly at track. They have only two pros from my perspective, very consistent braking on track and the looks of them.

I'm going to 20 track days with my car every year and attending 2-3 sessions each time which are 20minutes each. The track which I'm going is Istanbulpark GP track which used to on F1 calendar in the past in the track is very hard on the brakes. After one year my discs were gone, all the markers were in very bad condition and I had to replace them for 6k$.(Thank god I found a forum owner who wanted to sell for this price.) 6 months later, my discs were going bad and I was consistently stressed about them and I was babying them, their markers started to disappear again.

Finally, I decided to move to iron brakes. I had three brands in my mind Essex AP, Stillen AP and Endless. After reading reviews about all three and creating pros and cons, I decided to go with Essex AP due to their extensive racing experience and their BBK being able to sustain much easier and cheaper and their YouTube videos helped as well. I contacted Jeff from Essex AP, he gave me great confidence with his knowledge and with the way he endlessly replied to all my questions with backed up scientific facts. After all, I finally understood that bigger isn't the better in every case


I ordered two brake pads as per Jeff's recommendation one for street Ferodo DS2500 and one for track days Ferodo DSUNO. You can see below how good was packaging and the condition of the boxes even after travelling from USA to Turkey.


Coming to the pros and cons of Essex AP BBK.

Pros : Very little to none squeaking with DS2500, very easy and fast brake pad change(most of the time, I'm doing myself even though I'm no good at mechanics), zero brake fade on track, faster reaction even very wet conditions or low temperature, very good modulation of brakes, very easy and relatively cheaper to sustain vs other brands or CCB(both pads & rotors wise), big selection of brake pads, dealing with good people and chance to get recommendations from really experienced people like Jeff about any subject(he even gave comments/suggestions about my brake duct project design and airflow needs of BBK) , shorter braking distance then CCBs, not much brake dust but 437Ms can be deceiving, last but not least thanks to their featherlight calipers they are very comparable if not lighter than CCB system.


Cons : Squeak like hell with DSUNO(not a problem at track but coming home people looks disapproving of me as if my pads are too old for my car ) , even though stand alone they look very high quality and nice, super big CCBs look more flush. Honestly I cannot find anything else.


I hope I didn't bore you with my long story, please let me know if you have any questions, I would be happy to help.

PS. I have no relation with Essex AP, I just am a really happy customer who became their fan.
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      10-10-2018, 06:04 PM   #2
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Totally agree, very happy with my 9668/9449 setup
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      10-15-2018, 08:28 AM   #3
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Great feedback, any coding done to run the AP kit? Seems to be a mixed bag out there claims that you do or don't. I may switch out my CCB's one day for an Iron kit.

Thanks,
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      10-15-2018, 11:19 AM   #4
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Shouldn’t need any coding, just tuck the pad wear sensors away or short them out manually.
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      10-15-2018, 08:31 PM   #5
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I’m also in agreement. I’m running the 9668/9449 setup and absolutely love it!
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      10-17-2018, 06:45 PM   #6
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I have a set of Essex kit also and can't wait to put them on my M2 Comp when it arrives.

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      01-11-2019, 09:15 PM   #7
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@CAOZKAN F3IGHTY

I have a question for you guys. As I mentioned above, I have this BBK as well, but my DS2500 squeal like crazy when I'm about to come to a full stop (10mph and below). When I talked to other people who have this setup, they say almost no noise with DS2500. I already tried bedding them 3 times on the backroads by doing 10+ 60-10mph decelerations pee Essex video on their website. Unfortunately the noise is pretty embarrassing on the street and I need to find a solution. Essex recommended maybe switching to Hawk HPS but I don't want to throw away my DS2500 that easily. Do you guys have any tips or recommendations?
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      01-11-2019, 09:31 PM   #8
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Mine squeek sporadicly, but if you bed them in well (smoking hot) they should stay quiet for a while. It's fairly aggressive for a 'street pad'.
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      01-11-2019, 10:13 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F3IGHTY View Post
Mine squeek sporadicly, but if you bed them in well (smoking hot) they should stay quiet for a while. It's fairly aggressive for a 'street pad'.
Thank you! I guess I couldn't bed them in properly. I tried 10+ 60-10mph decelerations until I felt some fade but was never able to reach smoking hot. How do you bed them in? Also, I assume street driving will clean up the pad material from the rotors over time due to the aggressive nature of the pads, meaning it will require frequent bed ins. How often do you usually bed them in?
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      01-12-2019, 01:41 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cntzl View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by F3IGHTY View Post
Mine squeek sporadicly, but if you bed them in well (smoking hot) they should stay quiet for a while. It's fairly aggressive for a 'street pad'.
Thank you! I guess I couldn't bed them in properly. I tried 10+ 60-10mph decelerations until I felt some fade but was never able to reach smoking hot. How do you bed them in? Also, I assume street driving will clean up the pad material from the rotors over time due to the aggressive nature of the pads, meaning it will require frequent bed ins. How often do you usually bed them in?
Mine only squeak after car wash or when the car is left in a very cold environment for a long time. However in both cases the squeaking goes away with 10-15 min drive. To be honest, I don't bed street pads, I only bed the track pads. I'm really surprised to hear that they are squeaking for you. Maybe you can try to remove them and clean with a pad cleaner then bed them again? When I need to bed my track pads I make 10 times 5-120-5miles stops then drive around 30minutes at 80-90miles.
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      01-12-2019, 01:50 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CAOZKAN View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by cntzl View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by F3IGHTY View Post
Mine squeek sporadicly, but if you bed them in well (smoking hot) they should stay quiet for a while. It's fairly aggressive for a 'street pad'.
Thank you! I guess I couldn't bed them in properly. I tried 10+ 60-10mph decelerations until I felt some fade but was never able to reach smoking hot. How do you bed them in? Also, I assume street driving will clean up the pad material from the rotors over time due to the aggressive nature of the pads, meaning it will require frequent bed ins. How often do you usually bed them in?
Mine only squeak after car wash or when the car is left in a very cold environment for a long time. However in both cases the squeaking goes away with 10-15 min drive. To be honest, I don't bed street pads, I only bed the track pads. I'm really surprised to hear that they are squeaking for you. Maybe you can try to remove them and clean with a pad cleaner then bed them again? When I need to bed my track pads I make 10 times 5-120-5miles stops then drive around 30minutes at 80-90miles.
That's the exact opposite of what I'm experiencing. During the first 10-15min of the drive, there is absolutely no noise at all. Then they start squealing below 10mph. When I go for some spirited driving on the backroads, the more push the car, the louder the brakes get. This almost make me wanna double check they are DS2500s not some other compund. I talked another local friend of mine and he pretty much said the same thing as you.
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      01-12-2019, 02:35 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cntzl View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by CAOZKAN View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by cntzl View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by F3IGHTY View Post
Mine squeek sporadicly, but if you bed them in well (smoking hot) they should stay quiet for a while. It's fairly aggressive for a 'street pad'.
Thank you! I guess I couldn't bed them in properly. I tried 10+ 60-10mph decelerations until I felt some fade but was never able to reach smoking hot. How do you bed them in? Also, I assume street driving will clean up the pad material from the rotors over time due to the aggressive nature of the pads, meaning it will require frequent bed ins. How often do you usually bed them in?
Mine only squeak after car wash or when the car is left in a very cold environment for a long time. However in both cases the squeaking goes away with 10-15 min drive. To be honest, I don't bed street pads, I only bed the track pads. I'm really surprised to hear that they are squeaking for you. Maybe you can try to remove them and clean with a pad cleaner then bed them again? When I need to bed my track pads I make 10 times 5-120-5miles stops then drive around 30minutes at 80-90miles.
That's the exact opposite of what I'm experiencing. During the first 10-15min of the drive, there is absolutely no noise at all. Then they start squealing below 10mph. When I go for some spirited driving on the backroads, the more push the car, the louder the brakes get. This almost make me wanna double check they are DS2500s not some other compund. I talked another local friend of mine and he pretty much said the same thing as you.
This is funny because I was about to suggest the same, it sounds like your squeaking problem is similar to what I'm experiencing with my track pads DSUNOs.
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      01-12-2019, 11:34 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cntzl View Post
That's the exact opposite of what I'm experiencing. During the first 10-15min of the drive, there is absolutely no noise at all. Then they start squealing below 10mph. When I go for some spirited driving on the backroads, the more push the car, the louder the brakes get. This almost make me wanna double check they are DS2500s not some other compund. I talked another local friend of mine and he pretty much said the same thing as you.
You're not the only one with the DS2500s having some noise.

My experience has been as follows:

65+ degrees outside - very loud for the first 5 stops or so, then the noise goes away when driving normally.

40-65 degrees outside - quiet, very minimal noise from start. Not much noise when driving normally.

If I'm pushing the car a little harder on the street, they will definitely get noisy.

Seems like every time I valet though, no matter what the conditions, they are always incredibly loud. I've just gotten use to the looks at this point.
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      01-12-2019, 02:38 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Continental02 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by cntzl View Post
That's the exact opposite of what I'm experiencing. During the first 10-15min of the drive, there is absolutely no noise at all. Then they start squealing below 10mph. When I go for some spirited driving on the backroads, the more push the car, the louder the brakes get. This almost make me wanna double check they are DS2500s not some other compund. I talked another local friend of mine and he pretty much said the same thing as you.
You're not the only one with the DS2500s having some noise.

My experience has been as follows:

65+ degrees outside - very loud for the first 5 stops or so, then the noise goes away when driving normally.

40-65 degrees outside - quiet, very minimal noise from start. Not much noise when driving normally.

If I'm pushing the car a little harder on the street, they will definitely get noisy.

Seems like every time I valet though, no matter what the conditions, they are always incredibly loud. I've just gotten use to the looks at this point.
I'm pretty sure I have the DS2500s but tomorrow I'll take off my pads to double check the compound. My car is always noise free for the first 10min or so and then it starts squealing no matter how careful I'm driving. I love this BBK and it's probably the best BBK for track but I need a set of noise free pads for the street. It just drives me nuts.
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      03-17-2019, 09:15 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cntzl View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Continental02 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by cntzl View Post
That's the exact opposite of what I'm experiencing. During the first 10-15min of the drive, there is absolutely no noise at all. Then they start squealing below 10mph. When I go for some spirited driving on the backroads, the more push the car, the louder the brakes get. This almost make me wanna double check they are DS2500s not some other compund. I talked another local friend of mine and he pretty much said the same thing as you.
You're not the only one with the DS2500s having some noise.

My experience has been as follows:

65+ degrees outside - very loud for the first 5 stops or so, then the noise goes away when driving normally.

40-65 degrees outside - quiet, very minimal noise from start. Not much noise when driving normally.

If I'm pushing the car a little harder on the street, they will definitely get noisy.

Seems like every time I valet though, no matter what the conditions, they are always incredibly loud. I've just gotten use to the looks at this point.
I'm pretty sure I have the DS2500s but tomorrow I'll take off my pads to double check the compound. My car is always noise free for the first 10min or so and then it starts squealing no matter how careful I'm driving. I love this BBK and it's probably the best BBK for track but I need a set of noise free pads for the street. It just drives me nuts.
I got the DS2500 as well and below 15mph it squeals a lot, bedding was done properly just can't figure out why as other mention they have no such issues.
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      03-17-2019, 03:00 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by coldsteelrain View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by cntzl View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Continental02 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by cntzl View Post
That's the exact opposite of what I'm experiencing. During the first 10-15min of the drive, there is absolutely no noise at all. Then they start squealing below 10mph. When I go for some spirited driving on the backroads, the more push the car, the louder the brakes get. This almost make me wanna double check they are DS2500s not some other compund. I talked another local friend of mine and he pretty much said the same thing as you.
You're not the only one with the DS2500s having some noise.

My experience has been as follows:

65+ degrees outside - very loud for the first 5 stops or so, then the noise goes away when driving normally.

40-65 degrees outside - quiet, very minimal noise from start. Not much noise when driving normally.

If I'm pushing the car a little harder on the street, they will definitely get noisy.

Seems like every time I valet though, no matter what the conditions, they are always incredibly loud. I've just gotten use to the looks at this point.
I'm pretty sure I have the DS2500s but tomorrow I'll take off my pads to double check the compound. My car is always noise free for the first 10min or so and then it starts squealing no matter how careful I'm driving. I love this BBK and it's probably the best BBK for track but I need a set of noise free pads for the street. It just drives me nuts.
I got the DS2500 as well and below 15mph it squeals a lot, bedding was done properly just can't figure out why as other mention they have no such issues.
Mine squealed like hell below 10mph no matter how many times I tried to bed them in. I had a track day in the rain at Laguna last month and decided to just keep DS2500s on. That's when I was able to transfer a lot of pad material onto the rotors. They never squealed for a month regardless of the driving style or speed. That being said, I found these pads to be pretty damn hard to bed in on the street. Now that they cleaned up rotors slowly with my daily driving, they started to squeal again at low speeds. Thankfully I have a track day tomorrow and hopefully DSUNOs will transfer good amount of pad material on the rotors just like DS2500s did last track day.
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      03-17-2019, 06:15 PM   #17
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FYI Porterfield R4S fit these are are completely silent. I run these for the street and Hawk DTC70 for the track.
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      03-17-2019, 07:04 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blackey View Post
FYI Porterfield R4S fit these are are completely silent. I run these for the street and Hawk DTC70 for the track.
Do you know the code for the pads by any chance that would fit the front 9660 caliper as I can't find one that matches on their site and they have a lot to choose from.
If not I'll call tomorrow and ask them
Thank You
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      03-17-2019, 07:18 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by coldsteelrain View Post
Do you know the code for the pads by any chance that would fit the front 9660 caliper as I can't find one that matches on their site and they have a lot to choose from.
If not I'll call tomorrow and ask them
Thank You
Hawk HB109, PFC7790 (D54)...

Last edited by M3SQRD; 03-19-2019 at 07:59 PM..
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      03-17-2019, 07:22 PM   #20
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AP7768. I bought them at LPI Racing.
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      03-17-2019, 07:26 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3SQRD View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by coldsteelrain View Post
Do you know the code for the pads by any chance that would fit the front 9660 caliper as I can't find one that matches on their site and they have a lot to choose from.
If not I'll call tomorrow and ask them
Thank You
Hawk HB121, PFC7794 (D54)...
Thank you
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      03-17-2019, 07:27 PM   #22
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AP7768. I bought them at LPI Racing.
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