Rusty Rear Hubs

ronk

Lifer
Durham
My new to me, was delivered yesterday and as you would expect of an 18 month old car is as new. With one exception, the rear hubs, they are quite rusty and look quite shabby when you look at them thro the super alloys that are bolted onto them. I have seen quite a few BMW's like it - My old E85 had new discs fitted three years ago and were as new when I sold it - Do you think its worth having a twist at the local dealer for a tidy up under warranty ? Yes its cosmetic but its not what I would have expected of a fairly expensive bit of kit!
 
Well known issue with BMWs I'm afraid, a lot of folk paint their hubs with smooth Hamorite or similar, I had to rub down the hubs on my 2 year old 135i when I got it to remove the build up before painting, then no more probs.
I have heard of people taking their cars back to dealers after as little as 6 months with this to be told its only surface rust and therefore not a warranty issue, others have been luckier and dealers have painted the hubs for them.
I think most, mbe all, new BMW now come with a light coat of paint on the hubs, my zed did, but I'll be keeping an eye out for any rust appearing.
Maybe see what your dealer says, you never know they might sort it for you, good luck...
Paul
 
Ours were the same and as you say they do look very unattractive.

I masked up the discs and calipers and then cleaned the rust of the hubs with some wet and dry paper, it takes a bit of time but they will clean up okay. The next time I take the wheels off for their regular 296 crack inspection, I will probably spray up the offending area of the hubs with some smooth silver Hammerite.

One useful tip is to put the gearbox into neutral if you have an auto or DCT before raising the car up on jacks so that you can rotate the hubs.
 
Had mine repainted professionally, along with the callipers for the very same reason, once painted they shouldn't need much attention for years. Check out the results in the gallery link below.
 
Probably a stupid question

In Hammeriting the hubs how good does the prep need to be? Will cleaning off surface rust with hubs on the car suffice?

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Hammerite is pretty tolerant and you can paint straight onto a tarnished/oxidised surface. Like any paint job though, the finish is in the preparation, if you can take off most of the surface rust and get a sound surface to paint on you'll get a better longer lasting result.

The front aluminium hub covers will also tarnish over time, but you're better off cleaning and polishing these up rather than painting them with Hammerite.

Have a browse of the detailing section on this site and also on the 'Detailing World' forum, there's lots of posts on keeping your hubs and calipers looking nice.
 
Had mine painted, and they look good
b55c8558.jpg
 
As posted above, smooth Hammerite is ideal for this and will really last.

I did my hubs in silver and the brakes in gold.

WP_001123.jpg


WP_001112-1.jpg
 
andysat said:
Still its a pi$$ poor effort from BMW shifting expensive cars that have rust on them! :thumbsdown:


Could be worse.....the car could leak!
 
I asked my local dealer and he said "No Chance" of them sanctioning a clean up! The disks however do seem more prone to rust tho. My new one was put away into the garage bone dry last Tuesday and they have a film of rust on them a week later!

This is a distinct contrast to my last E85 - it used to go away Oct and come out Feb and the disks were as shiny bright as they were when it was put away! Some steel has a better resistance against rust - Looks like not the stuff they have chosen for the discs.
 
mine were done the day after it arrived , wheels off , ,lots of paper & masking then BBQ black spray http://www.amazon.co.uk/400ml-Stove-BBQ-Paint-Black/dp/B001W03POA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343942316&sr=8-1
have done 3 other cars in last 5 years with same with great success :thumbsup:
 
It's mostly caused by alloy wheel cleaner.

That stuff really goes for the whee lnuts as well.

Mine are in very good condition and nearly two years old. I don't use wheel cleaner.

Having said that I seen a 1er Coupe in my local dealers that was brand new and the rear hubs were a sight.

I would have been ashamed to put a car in a showroom looking like that.
 
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