Essex / AP Racing Brakes Installation Guide BMW M2/3/4

Here's the complete guide to installing a front and rear AP Racing brake kit on your BMW M2C and M3/4 with CCB option. M2/3/4 with the base "blue" brakes will have slightly different removal, but the same installation. Check out my overview of the brakes to get an intro: • Essex / AP Racing Big ...
Don't forget to wash the rotors with soap/water to remove the protective oil coating.
If for some reason the studs come out of the brackets (this can happen when trying to removal an AP caliper), their torque spec back in is 18 ft-lbs.
Index:
0:00 Intro
0:13 Prep work
0:57 Removing the wheels
1:22 Brake fluid reservoir access
2:27 Front caliper removal
4:38 Front rotor removal
5:05 Front dust shield removal
5:25 Front brake hose removal
6:29 Front AP caliper bracket installation
7:12 Front AP rotor installation
7:41 Front AP caliper installation
8:44 Front Spiegler brake hose installation
9:39 Front AP pads installation
11:28 Securing the Spiegler brake hose
13:11 Rear caliper removal
15:28 Rear rotor removal
15:53 Rear dust shield removal
18:53 Rear brake hose removal
19:38 Rear AP caliper bracket installation
20:52 Rear AP rotor installation
21:36 Rear AP caliper installation
22:38 Rear Spiegler brake hose installation
24:10 Rear AP pads installation
25:33 Securing rear wires
25:51 Bleeding the brake system
28:42 Closing up engine bay covers
29:17 Wheels installation
*Affiliated Links:
-Brake Bleeder Nipple Wrenches: amzn.to/3mRNCAC
-Schwaben Pressure Bleeder: amzn.to/2WLYvth
-Schwaben Brake Fluid Catch Bottle: amzn.to/3rtjXRL
-Cheap DOT4 brake fluid for initial bleeds (want 2L/qts): amzn.to/3mVBoXE
-Castrol SRF Brake Fluid (1L needed for full flush): amzn.to/3rtkx1T
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DISCLOSURE:
Some of the product links on this page are Amazon affiliated so I earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

[@andrewthompson6893]

I think I've told you this a million times, but your videos are just the very best. I always check your channel before I do any sort of work to my car, and if there is a video there for it, I'm like doing a happy dance immediately. Keep up the great work!

[@FaRKle0079]

Thanks! I really appreciate it, and am glad you're finding it helpful!

[@nathobean8582]

Used this to perform the same upgrade. Thanks!

[@javierbacelis1416]

You're videos are amazing. Keep making them.

[@tbone1493]

Thank you for posting this. I will be doing my install next week so this is very helpful. Hope to see you out at the track some day.

[@Herbotis]

This was extremely helpful! Thank you!

[@projectssap1]

Great how-to! I'm be doing this to replace my CCBs in 2 weeks.

[@FaRKle0079]

Congrats on the new kit!

[@in2zion478]

why is your car so clean!! Your wheel well is new lol! Thank you for the informative video

[@FaRKle0079]

Haha, it IS a new car! Had about 400mi on it when I did this.

[@carsstuff9914]

Very informative.. I might need to do that for 2021 season lol

[@TheJPenguin]

Great video! Compared to when I changed to braided brake lines on my OG M2 it looks like depressing the brake pedal does make a huge difference in the brake fluid dripping, I'll definitely remember this for the next time I disconnect the lines. It's a pain that BMW use a different set screw for holding the rotors on for the front vs rear rotors, I didn't realize this originally and only got the 1 set screw size, BMW say to change these every time, I'm not sure I'd go that far but I'd throw a bit of anti-seize on them (they don't actually need real clamping force since the wheel provides the real clamping force, depending on the back of the wheel face the bolts are often also held in place so even if it backed out, you wouldn't lose it), my originals seized up really badly on the fronts, probably due to a combination of extreme heat from track days + road salt from Canadian winters.

[@FaRKle0079]

Yup, pressing the brake pedal is a huge help. Not one single drop of brake fluid dripped out of the hard lines using that method. I also found it amusing at the different brake rotor screw sizes and the fact they used the smaller hex for the larger front rotor. I agree with you that they don't strictly need to be one time use.

[@mpower265]

Excellent.

[@RichieCue]

👍 good job on the video

[@karlxu782]

Thanks for sharing, it's really detailed info. I am planning to install this kit too. I live in Canada where snows almost half years, I only do 5-10 track days in summer this is mainly my daily car, I am afraid this kit won't fit for the winter use. The AP street kit on the other hand, seem like too much cost for such small improvement.

[@FaRKle0079]

Yeah, I wonder how everything would hold up to the harsh conditions and salted roads. It'd be interesting to see what Essex says.

[@Ally.MacMillan]

Great video, your car is incredibly clean underneath.! Like some, I still can’t quite get my head around exactly how it works when you press in the brake pedal for this job. I do understand how the fluid won’t drain out as essentially you are stopping air displacing the fluid, but when you push back on the pads, where is the fluid going when the valves are closed? Can it get back to the resevoir? Many thanks for sharing the video, great work

[@Chris-zu1jg]

Great video. Does removing the dust shields, which also act as heat shields, expose the ball joints to higher temperatures potentually causing premature failure?

[@autofanaticasia2746]

Past 6 months are they worth it? Any significant NVH? Hope you can share or make a review video. Thanks 🙏

[@_jasonj_]

Great video. My front AP package is arriving tomorrow! I'll definitely reference this again. Question, any recommendations on a bleeder kit?

[@FaRKle0079]

Congrats on the kit! I like my Schwaben pressure bleeder because it has a shutoff valve at the end of the line as well as QD coupler for the reservoir adapter. I also have their bleeder catch bottle, but you can just as easily use tubing and a soda bottle.

[@MikaelBertlinSwe]

Great video! Nice tip with depressing the brake pedal. I'll try that out when doing my brakes. What pressure system are you using? I notice you fill-up the fluid reservoir between the calipers. I have a pressure system that holds the fluid for me.

[@FaRKle0079]

I'm using the ECS Tuning/Schwaben pressure bleeder. You can also fill that one with brake fluid, but I don't like to do that since it's a pain to clean.

[@_jasonj_]

Hey Farkle, just started working on my AP kit install. Was curious on the 2x4 and holding the brake pedal. Doesn’t that clamp all the brakes tight to the rotors ?

[@FaRKle0079]

It does, but nothing a pad spreader tool can't overcome.

[@Ramarraro]

Great video as per your usual. One curiosity, did you have to do any other adjustment with your electronic? I heard of people with F30s who had to reprogram the brakes. thanks

[@FaRKle0079]

For the "M" cars there's no brake programming required. One of the things I checked between the regular M2 and the M2C was the brake HW (master cylinder, booster, ect.) and all of it is the same between them. Additionally, Essex specifically designed this AP Racing kit to have very similar brake torque as the stock M2C setup so that there wouldn't be anything funky with ABS. For the F2x/F3x cars, the base brakes (single piston floating caliper) are pretty different from the 4/2 piston "M-Sport/M-Perf" brakes, so it's understandable why there'd be programming differences. With the M2C I went from 6/4 piston to another 6/4 piston.

[@vittorioascani5615]

@@FaRKle0079 great! That’s pretty straightforward. What’s the out come with the new brakes? Are you still on stock fluid? They look great btw

[@FaRKle0079]

@@vittorioascani5615 I'm just running some cheap Prestone DOT 4 fluid right now since I'm not tracking the car yet (just about to hit the break in mileage service). I'll be putting in SRF when I start bringing it to the track. It's probably more the pads than the brakes itself, but with DS2500 the pedal feel is more gradual and natural on the street. Some people complain the M2C stock brakes are "touchy," and I understand why they say that. They can grab pretty suddenly if you're not smooth with the pedal.

[@cryalowicki]

Interesting strategy to keep the brake pedal depressed to stop fluid loss. But how do you get the caliper off the rotors when they're clamping? I always cringe when I see you use the driver to start bolts. You've never stripped threads using that method?

[@FaRKle0079]

Even with the brake pedal depressed, a pad spreader tool can move them off just enough to get the pads off. The trick with the impact is to only give the trigger light pressure when starting the bolts, so it's not going full bore from the start. It's really easy to feel whether there's bind or not. Happy to say I haven't stripped anything!

[@scottkim844]

So you do not need brake dust shield with AP BBK? Do we need that for stock brakes?

[@FaRKle0079]

The "need" is about the same for both. So you can remove the shields from your stock calipers too. Likewise, you can still run them with the AP kit, but may need to trim a bit for caliper fitment. Running without the shields is better for cooling the rotors. That said I probably would leave them installed if I was doing a lot of dirt/gravel road driving.

[@ecliffg]

nice install vid. What made you decide to go for the AP Racing brake kit?

[@FaRKle0079]

This is my "fun car" vs "daily driver" so I was willing to go to something a bit more track focused, and much lighter weight. I think I might've chosen something a bit more conventional if I was DDing this car. It was also an absolute requirement for me to be able to swap pads without having to take the calipers off.

[@ecliffg]

@@FaRKle0079 nice. Yeah, I was a bit disappointed to find out that the 6-pistons required the caliper to be removed. Do the AP racing calipers that you've installed work with 18 size wheels?

[@lucassganderlla7305]

They do

[@umrickaa]

really unfortunate that i want to do this for the sole reason of fitting some 18s. The 2NH are massive lol

[@FaRKle0079]

That's a perfectly logical reason!

[@talyoudim3076]

I don’t understand, wouldn’t depressing the brakes cause more brake fluid to leak when you release the brake line’s because of the pressure one the system?

[@FaRKle0079]

Pressing the pedal all the way closes off the valves. It's a similar effect to putting a straw into a cup of water, sealing off the top with your finger, and then pulling the straw out. The water that was in the straw when you sealed it stays in the straw and doesn't fall out even after pulling it out of the water.

[@mabskha7917]

the M2 brakes are huge! is it necessary to go AP racing?

[@FaRKle0079]

Definitely not necessary!

[@MorganDSP]

Hi where can i buy spring black plastic for rear caliper please ?

[@FaRKle0079]

Here's the "pad tension kit" for the rear calipers I have: www.essexparts.com/essex-designed-pad-tension-kit-for-ap-racing-cp944994509451-caliper

[@MorganDSP]

@@FaRKle0079 thanks you 👍

[@f32_boost52]

Any reason why you are removing the stock brakes? The stock ones seem impressive.

[@FaRKle0079]

The stock ones are quite beefy, but the AP ones give me lighter weight and more features I want for the track. You can see their benefits in this other video of mine: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYmsp6qtqaiipJI

[@karlxu782]

the stock caliper offers nothing but good looking. It's heavy, soft, inconvenient, can't fit any 18 inch wheels and most of 19. And it looks so out of proportion if you run 20 inch wheels. If you ever want to get decent aftermarket wheels, you will get rid of those gigantic front brakes. they are even worse than the standard blue brakes in many aspects.

[@jamesphares244]

Do you still have the old comp brakes looking to buy

[@FaRKle0079]

I sold them a while ago, sorry.

[@jamesphares244]

@@FaRKle0079 no problem thanks for the reply

[@sambonefarmer9139]

Is remove the dust shield a must? I have to think BMW put them on there for a reason!

[@FaRKle0079]

Essex recommends removing it for better rotor cooling, but it's not an absolute must. You can always try with it on first, and remove it later. There is the possibility of needing to trim it a bit for the AP caliper fitment though.

[@sambonefarmer9139]

@@FaRKle0079 Got ya, thanks!

[@michael2nicolaisen]

What size are the discs?

[@FaRKle0079]

372x34mm front and 365x30mm rear for this kit.

[@1valic]

How much the front AP kit cost?

[@FaRKle0079]

You can see the current prices here: www.essexparts.com/my-vehicle/2020/BMW/M2%20Competition/All I bought mine during the Black Friday sale last year.

[@SirJamesTND]

No pad grease/lube?

[@FaRKle0079]

Nope, that stuff doesn't hold up to track temperatures, AP racing doesn't call for it in their instructions, and on the stock 6/4-piston Brembo calipers BMW specifically says to not use grease on the back or sides of the pads in their procedures.

[@nicolas3pa]

Are those fixed or floating discs?

[@FaRKle0079]

The AP rotors are floating.

[@nicolas3pa]

@@FaRKle0079 Can these calipers be used with fixed rotors? I use my m4 70 daily 30 track and I found the clanking sound in everyday driving unbearable.

[@FaRKle0079]

@@nicolas3pa Floating rotors shouldn't make noise. These AP ones certainly don't. If you managed to find a fixed hat rotor with the similar thickness and same offset it'd work.

[@elpeladodelsamba]

Wanna sell stock brakes ?

[@FaRKle0079]

Already did!

[@chrishall5985]

What a waste. I’ll take the Brembo M calipers/rotor u took off any day of the week over these.