Brake calipers from BuyCarParts for 3.0Si Coupe E86

[rich48848]

Are the calipers by Ridex ok? Never heard of them, or Kamoka for that matter! Only £33 per side. No exchange required on the Ridex caliper?

Never heard of any of the brake pad manufacturers either. Ridex, Tomex, ABS, JP group, Master Sport, etc . Delphi is the only one I've heard of!

 

[skelters]

Suppose it all depends on how much you value your life?

Do you feel lucky, punk? As Dirty Harry used to say.

 

[Rich8]

Why risk it?
They are quite obviously going to be made of cheese for £33.
This is the part of your car that stops you hurtling into the scenery and being horrifically maimed.
With a known quality item costing less than 3 tanks of petrol why would you cheap out and take a gamble on the main life-preserving element of your car???

 

[Rich8]

Much better put skelters. Succinct and to the point.

 

[enuff_zed]

You brake, they break, you break.

 

[rich48848]

My thoughts exactly.

So trustworthy brands are?

ATE, Pagid, Mintex, Brembo and Bosch. Any others?

What should a pair of front calipers cost? (They range from £33 to £370)

 

[eddiemunster]

So trustworthy brands are?

Don't mess about, just buy these: 323490571438 (eBay item no).

I bought a pair, genuine BMW that were refurbished and they looked new; £114 the pair, they fit straight on, no gamble with quality.

 

[Singapore stag]

IF, .... you can refurbish/ rebuild your old calipers which you know are genuine BMW, then I would. Otherwise like everyone said get the real McCoy, or a lamp post might just jump in front of you.
Sukh.

 

[rich48848]

IF, .... you can refurbish/ rebuild your old calipers which you know are genuine BMW, then I would. Otherwise like everyone said get the real McCoy, or a lamp post might just jump in front of you.
Sukh.

That contradicts other posts which broadly say, don't refurb as you can't refurb the bore. Just replace with a 'new' caliper, which only cost £15 more than the seal kit!

Orginal calipers are made by ATE I think?

 

[markplant]

You can send them to these guys https://www.bcs-automotive.co.uk/ or http://www.biggred.co.uk/
Bcs did mine

 

[Singapore stag]

You can send them to these guys https://www.bcs-automotive.co.uk/ or http://www.biggred.co.uk/
Bcs did mine
IMG_20191228_115000.jpgIMG_20191228_114241.jpgIMG_20191228_113750.jpg

Thats what I meant by 'refurb'....They look good. Thanks for that. I think I will send mine off for the refurb. Then I know I have the originals.

 

[rich48848]

You can send them to these guys https://www.bcs-automotive.co.uk/ or http://www.biggred.co.uk/
Bcs did mine
IMG_20191228_115000.jpgIMG_20191228_114241.jpgIMG_20191228_113750.jpg

Look good, but £100 each is a bit steep for me...

New Bosch calipers are £60 each

 

[Liam22]

They are a lump of cast iron with a hole in them. They don't fail on 40+ year old cars, so brand new ones without BMW stamped on them are hardly going to fall apart within the car's lifetime.

 

[eddiemunster]

They are a lump of cast iron with a hole in them. They don't fail on 40+ year old cars, so brand new ones without BMW stamped on them are hardly going to fall apart within the car's lifetime.

Cheap ones aren't cast in the same way, or from the same materials, or to the same tolerances, so I wouldn't say they were equal to the OEM part. And yes, callipers do fail on 40 year old cars, I've just had to do mine, hence there's a big market for refurbishment.

 

[Liam22]

Refurbing a 40YO caliper generally means the sliders/seals have worn out. And sometimes the bore. That's not failure.

I'm not saying a £30 caliper is of the same quality as OEM. That's not the same as being unsafe, or unfit for purpose, which is implied by the majority of comments on this thread.

 

[Truth]

I can vouch for Bigg Red. Plus excellent customer service and I rarely say that these days

 

[ph001]

What sort of price do Bigg Red charge?

 

[Truth]

Here u go mate

 

[ph001]

Many thanks. Still a little pricey compared to the oem remanufactured in the earlier post, but looks like an excellent service.