Rear Brake Rotor source for early E12 based cars

[Klaus]

Looks like my 1981 633CSi (now 635CSi) will be in need of some rear brake rotors shortly, not sure if I changed them in the last 20 years. I looked and they are still available through BMW, but pricing is quiet high. After checking the usual sources, I was unable to find any aftermarket sources, reputable or not. The 5 Series E12 rear rotors are different as they are not vented.
Anybody have any sources that still might have some stock before is "B"reak "M"y "W"allet at the dealer?

Thanks in advance,

Klaus

[Ralph in Socal]

I had to buy BMW last year Klaus. About $150 each from memory. I searched for a week, had a couple vendors search as well and came up empty. There’s a GM part that’s 2-3 mm smaller diameter but I declined

Ralph

[bpoliakoff]

Try Autohaus AZ. I don't know if they still have them as it's been a while, but I was able to buy the stock type vented rotors for my 81Euro. They were Balo brand which are of good quality. I believe ECS might carry them as well

[GRNSHRK]

Hey Klaus, maybe check out the link in this post

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=32478

I probably haven't bought rotors in 20 years either, maybe I should

[Klaus]

That's pretty much what I found out, even the OEM rotors are in short supply. Autohausaz and the usual WorldPac suspects just list the OEM rotors when you search via part#, no aftermarket sources show up. I contacted a few manufacturers including Balo and a few other well known ones and there appears no interest in producing more anytime soon, as the demand is pretty low.
R1concepts lists only front ones, I actually bought a set during their father's day sale, no rears listed and according to customer service non planned due to supply and demand issues.

Klaus

[bpoliakoff]

Parts Geek shows them, the vented ones

[Klaus]

So, ultimately none of the sources for aftermarket rotors came through with any remaining stock. It also appears that due to the lack of demand no production runs are planned for the near future.

Well, I ended up buying OEM rotors. But what strikes me as odd is that 2 orders were cancelled. Ultimately Jason @ BMW of Silver Springs came through and found stock in Germany. He even contacted me to inquire if I needed the order expedited, which was not the case. He quoted 6-8 weeks, but it actually just took about 2 weeks, I should have the rotors in the next few days.

Looks like we are going to see a lot more parts going extinct, time to stock up...

Klaus

[635sharknose]

Looks like we are going to see a lot more parts going extinct, time to stock up...

Klaus

Not a bad idea. The bad thing is though that the prices of the remaining parts are already quite high

[Slownrusty]

Supply chain is in a mess post CV19.

Having older cars and maintaining them is going to get more challenging for sure, but I am hoping that the pendulum finds its way back to the middle and manufacturing companies realizes there is a genuine demand for these parts and realize the opportunities to make money and also support us.

[bpoliakoff]

Walloth and Nesch in Germany show they have them

[GRNSHRK]

Just to add to this issue, I contacted R1 Concepts and here is their reply, which indicates among other things, that the rear rotors for E12 chassis are not available and no idea when they will be

"Thank you for your response. This part number of 631-31007L/R is for the front and the part number for the rear is 631-31011L/R. Please be advised that when you first receive the rotors, they are completely covered with the silver zinc coating. During the initial embedding process, the silver-zinc coating on the braking surface, the area where the pads come in contact with the rotors will wear off, leaving only the hub an inner vane structure coated. Our rotors and pads are manufactured in Asia. These components are no longer manufactured in the United States or Canada for aftermarket consumption. It's Important to note that the country of origin is not a measure or indicator of the quality of the brakes. Our line of rotors and pads is designed and engineered in-house. We maintain and supervise strict standards in manufacturing processes at our foundries in Asia. Through R&D, we engineer our casting and manufacturing technologies. All steps and parts go through an extensive quality control process before leaving the facility to ensure the perfect fitment and performance. Most competing brands do not offer all these OE features and benefits. Unfortunately, we don't have available rotors for the rear of your vehicle and there is no estimated time for the arrival of the next item's availability. If you need anything else please let us know so that we can help you out."

Too bad, I was really hoping to put a set of these on the shelf

[Dmckim]

Since hoarding is the new smoking, I managed to get a set from ECS for inventory. Took a couple of weeks; BMW OEM.

Dale

[slfan]

Hello everybody,

Quick question: if I cannot locate vented rear rotors for an early 633 (1977), would there be any problem in using the solid rear rotors from the E12 5-series? The car will not be driven on a track and the size appears to be the same.

Thanks and regards,

A

[Klaus]

While the non-vented rotos will fit on the rear hub, keep in mind that the thickness of the vented and non-vented rotors differs significantly. Therefore you would have to use the calibers of an early E12 with non-vented rotors to match the thickness.
Might be more cost effective to buy OEM BMW rear vented rotors, if they are still available.

[slfan]

Good evening Klaus,

Thank you for the explanation. Will definitely go for the standard vented rear rotors.

Best regards,
Angel

[bpoliakoff]

Got mine quite a while ago from Autohaus AZ. Both front and rear vented

[Ralph in Socal]

Make sure you're sitting down before opening the ecs link

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-bmw ... 216890341/

Ralph

[GRNSHRK]

That's gotta be a misprint

Glad I don't need rotors, yet

[bpoliakoff]

Vented rotors $58 at Parts Geek.. I have bought a bunch of stuff from them.Good product and great prices.

[slfan]

Hello,

I only found the front rotors in the Parts Geek catalog. Would you have the link for the rear ones?

Thank you!

[bpoliakoff]

My mistake. However they show some of the rotors are Bendix brand. Maybe you can do some kind of search from there?.

[slfan]

Okay. Thank you.

Regards