New Products: AP Racing by Essex Front & Rear Road Brake Kits for BMW M2, M3, M4

In 2019 AP Racing granted Essex Parts Services exclusive North American distribution rights for their “Road Car” line of brake products. Previously, Essex was AP’s exclusive distributor for their Competition line of products, but we did not have access to Road components. AP had a separate distributor on the west coast handling their Road Car products, but that relationship is no more. Essex is now the exclusive North American Distributor for ALL AP Racing products, road and competition. In summary, if you reside in North America and want an AP Racing product of any sort, it will come through Essex. The AP Racing by Essex Road Brake Kit is engineered for the driver that wants to run on both the street and the track.

What does this mean for North American enthusiasts?

It means that you’re now going to have a lot more choices when customizing your car! Our AP Racing by Essex Radi-CAL Competition Brake Kits have become the gold standard for drivers participating in HPDE, time trials, and club racing. Now we’re taking our gained knowledge from that arena and professional Motorsports and applying it to a more road-oriented product that many of our customers have been seeking.

Haven’t we already seen AP Racing brake kits that use road components?

Our goal with our new ‘Road Brake Kit’ product line is to provide our customers looking for a slightly less hardcore brake kit with the same outstanding ownership experience that our Competition Brake Kit owners have come to enjoy. That means our clients can now expect a properly designed brake kit that seamlessly bolts to the car, integrates smoothly with vehicle systems, performs incredibly well, provides years of trouble-free service, and retains a great deal of value. It also means you’ll have a product that is backed by Essex’s over-the-top customer support, as well as fast and easy access to reasonably priced spares. AP Racing is in complete support of our brake kit program and have authorized Essex to offer our kits through their global distribution network.

So, what exactly are we talking about?

When you want to stop your car, and everyone walking past it! AP Racing by Essex Road Brake Kits are the finest systems available for enthusiasts wanting to run their car on both the street and track. While some of our more hardcore customers favor our track-focused AP Racing by Essex Competition Brake Kits, others are looking for something with more street-friendly features such as dust boots, painted calipers, and stock-like NVH levels. For these customers the Road Kits are the perfect fit, as they are equally at home on the daily commute or at the occasional track day.

How are these different from your current Essex Competition Brake Kits?

Whether you're looking for the most gorgeous brake package to fill up your 20" wheels, or you're trying to cut every hundredth of a second from your lap times, Essex has an AP Racing Brake Kit to fit your needs. Essex offers AP Racing Brake Kits in two main varieties, Road and Competition. How you plan to use your car will determine which product category best suits your unique needs. The owner profiles below will help guide you towards your best fit. However, please keep in mind while reviewing these profiles that you'll likely fall somewhere between these two owner types. That's completely normal and is true with most of our clients. You'll just have to decide where your priorities lie, and where you want to take your car.

What's in the box?

The specification of these systems varies by application, but some general features and benefits include:

• Carefully chosen piston sizes for proper brake bias and integration with OEM master cylinder & ABS systems
• Calipers painted red, black, or silver with dust boots that add durability in inclement weather conditions
• Low noise, vibration, and harshness for a very OE-like experience during daily driving
• Front kits are designed to mate with stock rear brake components or our rear AP Racing solutions
• Larger than stock discs to improve system thermal capacity and fade resistance, while increasing longevity
• Calipers feature extremely large pads that last a long time and hold heat well
• Lightweight, anodized aluminum disc hats and caliper mounting brackets
• Optimized to allow for a wide range of wheel fitment
• Ferodo DS2500 Brake Pads and Spiegler Stainless Steel Brake Lines included with every kit
• All associated mounting bolts, hardware, and detailed installation instructions

When can I get one for my car?

These kits will start shipping in about two weeks, but pre-orders are open now!

Click the links below to see the detailed specs for each kit on our website:

E90/E92/E93 and 1M
Front e90 AP Racing by Essex CP9561/380mm Road Brake Kit
Rear e90 AP Racing by Essex CP9541/380mm Road Brake Kit

F80/F82/F87 M2, M3, M4

Front F80/F87 AP Racing by Essex CP9561/380mm Road Brake Kit

Rear F80/F87 AP Racing by Essex CP9541/380mm Road Brake Kit

Unsure which type of AP Racing by Essex Brake Kit is right for you?

AP Racing by Essex Road Brake Kits
If several of the bullet points below describe your relationship with your car, an AP Racing by Essex Road Brake Kit is likely your best choice.
• I drive my car on the road the majority of time, and only take it to the track once in a while
• I want big discs that fill up my wheels, and I want painted calipers that turn heads and get attention
• I don't want my brakes to make any more noise than my stock brakes
• I sometimes drive my car in wintry conditions, and my local roads are salted to melt ice
• I'm not terribly concerned about saving every ounce of weight possible
• I don't need 50 different race pad choices, and I don't plan on swapping pads all that often

AP Racing by Essex Competition Brake Kits
If several of the bullet points below describe your relationship with your car, an AP Racing by Essex Competition Brake Kit may be in your future.
• I spend as many weekends at the track as possible, and driving my track car on the road bores me to tears
• Component durability and keeping my brake consumable costs low will be crucial to the long-term success of my marriage
• I'm okay with a few squealing and scraping noises from my brakes, because race car!
• I don't drive my car on salted winter roads, because that's why winter beaters exist
• I want to save every ounce of unsprung weight, and I've even gone on a diet to bring my race weight down
• I'll be wrenching on my car fairly often, and I want tons of brake pad options

Below are some pics of our kits installed on customer cars.