EBC Brakes Vehicle Parts

Our interest: we earn a commission if you buy through the link on this page. It costs you nothing. The warranty limits, the five-day fault window and the restocking fees below are reported as published, including where they count against the sale.

EBC is a manufacturer rather than a shop, and a British one. Freeman Automotive (UK) Ltd, Companies House number 01690939, incorporated 13 January 1983, trades from the EBC Brakes World Headquarters on Upton Valley Way East in Northampton, where it says it makes its two-piece brake rotors and Apollo calipers.

What earns EBC real credit is something most brake brands avoid putting in writing: it states clearly which of its products are approved for road use and which are not. Its race pads — RP-1 and the SR sintered range — are described in its own words as “too grippy and therefore not tested or approved to R90 standards”.

That one paragraph is worth more than any amount of marketing, and it is the spine of this page. Below: what R90 actually is, which EBC lines carry it, the one range still in certification, the 12 months or 10,000 miles warranty, and a five-day fault window that is the harshest term here.

ECE R90, and why it decides what you can fit

ECE Regulation 90 is the European type approval for replacement brake pads and discs. A part that carries it has been tested to perform within a set band of the original equipment it replaces. EBC is blunt about its reach: “it only applies legally within Europe”, and “if you live outside Europe, it has no legal implications for the brakes you buy or use”. In the UK, it applies.

Where EBC says it holds approval:

• OEM-style discs — plain, unslotted, undrilled — have “consistently passed testing for years”.
• Road pads, with Yellowstuff listed as “fully ECE R90 approved, ensuring safe, legal, and reliable braking for road use” and an “R90 Approved” mark on the specification table.
• Motorcycle organic and Double-H sintered pads, which EBC says are “now ECE R 90 brake safety test approved and fully TÜV tested”. It claims its DMX compound was “the first ever material to pass” the test.
• Some two-piece floating discs, by named part number — among them SG2F022 and SG2F026 for the BMW M2 G87, M3 G80 and M4 G82, SG2F016 for the 991 Turbo and 718 Cayman GT4, and SG2FC7694 for the sixth-generation Mustang.

Where it says it does not:

• RP-1 and SR sintered race pads. “These pads are simply too grippy and therefore not tested or approved to R90 standards.” EBC adds the obvious consequence: “brakes capable of racing cannot legally be used on highways in Europe”.
• GD and USR slotted discs — still in certification. This is the sharpest detail on the page, and EBC volunteers it: the slotted rotors are “machined in the UK or USA using R90-approved plain rotors”, but “R90 requires that the actual slotted disc be tested separately”, and EBC said it was “currently undergoing these rigorous tests” as of June 2024.

Read that slotted-disc point carefully, because it is a distinction many buyers miss: a slotted disc machined from an approved blank is not itself an approved disc. EBC saying so, in public, is more candour than this trade usually offers.

One limitation to be fair about in both directions. EBC publishes no actual E-mark approval numbers for any product line. The codes above are EBC part numbers, not type-approval numbers. Some rivals do print the approval code — a Bosch disc we looked at elsewhere carries E4-90R-02C-0786/3289 on the listing — so if you want the number rather than the claim, ask before you buy or check the box when it arrives.

The warranty: twelve months, or ten thousand miles

Short and specific, and you should know the mileage limit before you fit anything.

Three exclusions decide most claims. Cover is for “defects in materials or workmanship only”. It “does not cover brake noise or normal wear and tear” — so a squeal is not a warranty matter. And it is “invalid if product is used for taxi/hire car, racing, rally, drifting”.

On discs there is one more: “no warranty is offered for brake vibration suffered due to uneven rotor thickness wear”. Judder, in other words, is on you — which is a reason to bed new discs in properly and to replace pads and discs together.

EBC also states that “there is absolutely no warranty on any EBC product for race use” and that “riders must assess the performance and durability of EBC Brakes’ products themselves”. If you take your car on a track day, you are outside the warranty from that point, and the race-compound pads were never inside it.

Three different companies trade as EBC

This is worth getting straight, because it determines whose returns policy applies to your order.

The third is a different business at a different address with materially different terms, so check which site you are actually buying from before relying on anything you read about returns. The policies below are EBC Brakes Direct’s, the official shop.

Even EBC’s own contact page muddles this, giving registration number 01690939 in the body and “Reg No. 4835479” plus VAT number 816150356 in the footer, without saying that they belong to two different companies.

Contact details, for the record: +44 (0) 1604 286028 for EBC Brakes Direct, +44 (0) 1604 583 344 for trade accounts and technical enquiries, and sales@ebcbrakesdirect.com. A technical line you can actually ring is a real advantage when you are choosing a brake compound.

Delivery, priced properly and with a carrier named

This is the best-documented delivery page of any parts seller we have looked at. All figures excluding VAT, and the carrier is named as UPS:

Two things stand out. Northern Ireland is priced rather than excluded, which several rivals cannot manage. And free delivery over £99 explicitly includes the extended areas, so remote postcodes are not quietly left out of the offer.

Cut-offs are published: 2pm Monday to Thursday, 11am on Friday. UK mainland delivery is stated as two to three working days once items are in stock, with delivery hours of 9am to 6pm weekdays. Standard insurance is £8.33 per kilo or £60, whichever is greater, with extra cover at £3.95. Jersey and Guernsey buyers can select their island as the delivery country and UK VAT comes off the order.

Returns: a five-day fault window, and 20% to change your mind

Here is the catch, and it is a real one. “We will accept no faulty goods claims, after 5 days of the goods being delivered.” The same five days applies to shipping damage, and to a short or wrong quantity.

Five days is tight for brake parts. They often sit in a cupboard until the car is booked in, and a casting flaw or a wrong-size pad may only become obvious when the wheel is off. Open the box the day it arrives, lay the pads against the old ones, check the disc diameter and thickness with a rule, and photograph anything wrong immediately.

On changing your mind, the charges are:

• Wrong item ordered: 15% restocking fee on the Delivery and Returns page, reportable within 30 days of the invoice date — though the Terms say “minimum 20%” for the same thing.
• Opened a sealed box: 20%.
• Right to cancel with the packaging opened: 20%.
• Wrong goods shipped by them: replaced free, claim within 30 days.

The cancellation window is stated three different ways across the site — a banner saying returns within 30 days, a distance-selling clause giving 14 working days, and the terms and the returns page giving 7 working days. Work to seven days and keep the box sealed and you are safe under any of them.

Two more conditions: brake kits must go back whole, with individual components refused, and goods “used in any way” cannot be returned under the right to cancel. There is no explicit no-returns-once-fitted clause, but that last line amounts to the same thing. Refunds go to the original payment method within 30 days of the goods arriving back.

Payment is by card through a Barclaycard Merchant Services page, with SagePay named as the gateway, and cheque or postal order by post. Note two firm refusals on the same page: EBC Brakes Direct “do not accept telephone orders” and “do not accept callers in person” — so the technical line will advise you, but you cannot order on it or collect from the factory. No Klarna, no Clearpay and no published finance.

Where it is made, and who picks the part

The British manufacturing is real but partial, and EBC itself tells you where the line falls. The two-piece rotors and Apollo calipers are made at the Northampton headquarters, with EBC claiming it makes “every component in house so we have total control over the entire process”. Ultimax2 pads are “crafted in the UK”, and the motorcycle organic pads are “manufactured in the UK”.

But the SR11 and SR21 race pads are “Made in the USA”, and the slotted rotors are “machined in the UK or USA”. So “British brakes” is true of much of the range and not all of it. If UK manufacture matters to you, check the individual product page.

On choosing the right part, EBC is unusually frank about the limits of its own catalogue: “We can only suggest what parts we think should be fitted to your vehicle”, and “EBC did not make your vehicle and therefore cannot guarantee what parts the manufacturer may have fitted.”

That is honest, and it is also a warning. Search is by part number or filter — there is no registration lookup and no VIN search — so measure the disc you are replacing and compare the pad shape before ordering. Garage labour for fitting the wrong part is not covered.

Product pages show both inclusive and exclusive VAT prices, which is the right way round for a brand selling to trade and public alike. Two live examples from 8 October 2026: Yellowstuff 4000 Series pads DP42424R at £249.52 inc VAT, or £207.93 ex, and DP41835R at £226.86 inc VAT, or £189.05 ex. The car ranges run Ultimax 2, Greenstuff, Redstuff, Yellowstuff, Bluestuff, then the RP and SR race compounds; discs come as standard, GD sport, USR slotted or BSD blade.

Figures were taken from each provider's own published terms on 8 October 2026. Variable rates can change at any time — confirm the current rate with the provider before applying.