ECS brake rotors for BMW: MADE IN …CHINA !!!

Originally Posted by BimmersGarage

OP,
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Seems like a small case of mislabeling a few of the products' place of origin.
At least the vendor was quick to communicate and hopefully they will tag those products correctly on their website for the future.

I'm of the same opinion, thanks.

Just to reiterate some points here:

Our 2-piece rotors are manufactured largely in the United States, with some applications being manufactured in Taiwan. Regardless of manufacturing location, our rotors are designed in-house by the engineers in our Research & Development Department. We are dedicated to the quality of our product line and invests countless hours of engineering, testing, and quality control to ensure our products meet our standards.

Give our 2-piece rotors a try for yourself!

E82 135i | E88 135i | E46 M3

Originally Posted by ECSTuning

Our 2-piece rotors are manufactured largely in the United States, with some applications being manufactured in Taiwan.

Ok, I was the unlucky guy who took the taiwanese...

Originally Posted by ECSTuning

Regardless of manufacturing location, our rotors are designed in-house by the engineers in our Research & Development Department.

Super! But excellent engineering can be easily blown away by inconsistent manufacturing

Originally Posted by ECSTuning

We are dedicated to the quality of our product line and invests countless hours of engineering, testing, and quality control to ensure our products meet our standards.

It is so easy, then: please explain more in detail what you actually do once you receive the rotor blanks from wherever outside the US:

• how do you check that the correct alloy has been used
• how do you ensure that correct forming has been performed in the Chinese/Taiwanese/wherever foundry
• how do you verify that the proper heat treatment has been applied in the Chinese/Taiwanese/wherever plant
• how do you check that blanks have been handled properly
• and so on...

As you can see, it'a all about details.
Answer to this and, be sure, I will be happy.

We will attempt to answer your pointed questions as clearly as possible. Rest assured that we at ECS are passionate about what we do and we take pride in our products and great responsibility in how they are designed, manufactured, quality inspected, and tested. These are rotors that we are proud to run on our own cars, including but not limited to an Audi R8 and BMW E90 M3.

How do you check that the correct alloy has been used?

We subject products from our suppliers to not only dimensional quality inspection, but also material analysis. First production samples are submitted to a materials testing lab to verify that the material meets specifications. In this case, we are working with suppliers that we have a long standing manufacturing partnership with and can assure you they are made of the high quality materials we have specified.

2 Piece Rotor Rings:

• Our rotor ring supplier is ISO 9001 certified.
• Our rotor rings are made from FC-30 (equivalent to US ASTM standard 45A/DIN GG30) cast iron with a carbon content as high as 3.3%.
  
• Why cast iron?
  • Cast iron actually gets stronger between 500-600F and displays stable mechanical properties up to and over 1000°F
  • Hardness and strength aren’t compromised due to heat which contributes to great wear resistance, particularly at elevated temperatures.
  • Excellent thermal conductivity and heat absorption properties. High heat capacity (heat absorption) combined with high thermal conductivity make it a great material to absorb and dissipate heat more quickly
  • One of the best materials for good vibration damping properties; contributes to quiet braking and no rotor induced squeaking

2 Piece Rotor Hats:

• CNC Machined from billet 6061-T6 aluminum.
  
  • Why 6061-T6?
    • T6 temper 6061 has an ultimate tensile strength of at least 42,000 psi (300 MPa) and yield strength of at least 35,000 psi (241 MPa). Coupled with it's excellent strength, light weight nature and superior thermal conductivity, we are able to produce a much lighter rotor that is better able to dissipate heat, and withstand the stresses of thermal expansion pushed to the limit.

How do you ensure that correct forming has been performed in the Chinese/Taiwanese/wherever foundry?

• Are you referring to casting defects? Rotor rings are cast, then CNC machined to our specification. In this case we are at the mercy of our supplier, who is ISO 9001 certified, to correctly cast a rotor ring. Final machining/dimensional inspection is easily performed in house.
• Any casting defects are easily found during the machining process, again being processed at a facility that is ISO 9001 certified.
• Rotor hats are CNC machined from 6061-T6 billet. There is no "forming process", as you call it.

How do you verify that the proper heat treatment has been applied in the Chinese/Taiwanese/wherever plant?

• For our 2 piece rotors, the heat treatment that is performed is only for stress relief after the casting process. This stress relief is to reduce the potential for stress cracks and warping due to residual stresses left over from the casting process.
• Our ECS GEOMET® rotors follow standard casting and machining best practice for a high quality OE replacement rotor.

and so on...

To answer a few relevant questions you didn't ask:

• ALL ECS suppliers are subject to scrutiny regarding their quality management systems. All are either ISO 9001 certified, or have clear and documented quality control systems in place.
• All ECS designed products are subject to incoming quality inspection at ECS with a CMM (coordinate measuring machine) by our team of R&D engineers. This internal quality inspection system is well documented and serves to ensure our suppliers are consistently giving us product that meets our quality and performance expectations.
• All ECS designed products are subjected to test fitment and road testing.
• Our 2 Piece Rotors have been subjected to thousands of miles of hard street use and to the elements (including snow and salt) for years. They have also been subjected to scientific brutal stress testing at the track, performing countless high speed stops in quick succession. We have measured stopping distances and elevated rotor temperatures of over 1000*F for long sustained periods (to the point of rotor bluing and catching brake pads on fire), as well as subjecting rotors to careful post-test inspection for signs of irregular wear, warping, stress cracking, or any other signs of failure.
• Our rotors have proven themselves to be robust, demonstrating excellent wear characteristics, no warping, no thermal stress cracking, no signs of hot spots and minimal pad glazing.
• Ever do 100 emergency stops from 100 to 0 mph in quick succession? We have, many times. It's nauseating and exhausting.

We are confident these rotors will perform well. Any further information regarding the development and design of these rotors is deemed proprietary and confidential. No further questions will be answered.

Thread closed.

OP, looks like you just joined this forum to bash ECS on their product. Although you are not satisfied with what you received they even offered you a return which you did not take.