So I finally got round to painting my calipers :)

[GP20]

Umm.....you have an '06. Your calipers are already painted silver from the factory, which means they shouldn't have rusted. And if they are, BMW should replace the calipers under warranty.

 

[Z4 NY]

Anyone ever look into powder coating their calipers instead of just paint?

 

[Tommo]

The calipers on my Z4 are quite rusty. When I bought the car from dealer 2 weeks ago, the salesman said they could clean and paint the calipers. But when I picked the car up, he said if the paint comes off and get into between disc and pad. It will invalidate AUC warranty. So only the hubs were cleaned and painted silver.

Can the rust on calipers be cleaned and restored to original colour (silver)?

I spent about an hour on one of the calipers with a wire brush and It was never going to come up as a nice colour.

What are the chances of the paint coming off and getting inbetween the disc an pad?

 

[ksher]

The calipers on my Z4.





Will AUC warranty cover rusty brake calipers?

 

[GP20]

Something's seriously wrong with your brake calipers, especially since they should come painted from the factory. I've never seen any BMW's brake calipers (even really old bimmers) in worse condition than those. The dealer seriously let you take delivery of your Z4 with the brakes looking at that?

 

[ksher]

Something's seriously wrong with your brake calipers, especially since they should come painted from the factory. I've never seen any BMW's brake calipers (even really old bimmers) in worse condition than those. The dealer seriously let you take delivery of your Z4 with the brakes looking at that?

I think I should talk to the dealers or BMW GB about this. The calipers could be badly made. The car is less than 3-year-old. They should replace all calipers for free under warranty.

 

[DannyBoy]

Looks like the culprit may be road salt. If they function it is unlikely any reliant warranty will not cover the aesthetics sadly. Worth a punt tho!

A wire brush, scrub and paint may be the order of the day. This should get them lookin good as new! 8)

 

[ksher]

Looks like the culprit may be road salt. If they function it is unlikely any reliant warranty will not cover the aesthetics sadly. Worth a punt tho!

A wire brush, scrub and paint may be the order of the day. This should get them lookin good as new! 8)

You are right. I rang 3 BMW dealers, and they all said as long as brakes work effectively, even New Car Warranty does not cover the rust on calipers. I should consider a pair of front Brembo brakes.

 

[cj10jeeper]

Oh - they're just plain nasty and I echo GP20's comments. To mee they look unused or have been subject to salt assisted corrosion. Those discs look shot at too with those deep score marks in.

I'd be back to BMW - find a 2006 on the forecourt to compare with and then take it up with them

 

[ksher]

Oh - they're just plain nasty and I echo GP20's comments. To mee they look unused or have been subject to salt assisted corrosion. Those discs look shot at too with those deep score marks in.

I'd be back to BMW - find a 2006 on the forecourt to compare with and then take it up with them

I think the car had been with the dealer for few months until I bought it 3 week ago. The HPI check from dealer was done about 5 months ago. What would make the score marks on the discs?

 

[Wondermike]

Those calipers are seriously bad, I bet someone has used some kind of mega-aggressive cleaning product on them :thumbsdown:

 

[ksher]

Those calipers are seriously bad, I bet someone has used some kind of mega-aggressive cleaning product on them :thumbsdown:

I went to Halfords and bought something called "Kurust" from Hammerite. It says it converts rusty metal to a clean surface in 15 minutes.

 

[Wondermike]

Yep used it before,you'll be OK with that, and the rust on your calipers is just superficial and once you paint over them they'll look great.

 

[ell_p]

They look worse than mine, I had the same problem on my 06 3.0si. I was gonna take it to BMW to look at they said if it was bad enough they could replace them but i just decided to spray the rotors and paint the calipers. Best thing I have ever done they look new now.

 

[cj10jeeper]

ksher
It's difficult to judge from a photo but those sort of groves are typical of someone having worn the pads to the point that the backing metal scores grooves. Feel them with your nail and see if they are deep or just a superficial mark

Kurust is great to convert rust, but remember it needs painting over quickly, else it will simply rust again.

 

[ksher]

ksher
It's difficult to judge from a photo but those sort of groves are typical of someone having worn the pads to the point that the backing metal scores grooves. Feel them with your nail and see if they are deep or just a superficial mark

Kurust is great to convert rust, but remember it needs painting over quickly, else it will simply rust again.

I checked the discs, and they are only marks. I just want to use Kurust to restore the original silver colour. If they rust again, then I will paint them black.

 

[Wondermike]

ksher, the Kurust won't bring back the silver colour, you'll have to paint them for sure.

 

[cj10jeeper]

You MUST paint any metal treated with Kurust. It has simply converted the rust into a stable compound prior to painting. Any kurust remaining on the caliper also has to be washed off, else if it gets onto the alloys it could damage them. Pretty nasty stuff.

Glad the discs only have marks on them

 

[Lucy]

Well i got round to painting mine on Saturday woohoo Took me around 4 hours alltogether, painting them whilst still on the car, and i'm very pleased with the results.
Pictures can be seen in this thread:
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8805&p=145526#p145526

 

[Nerra]

I did mine this weekend. I ended taking the calipers apart, didn't disconnect the brake lines but took the brake pads out. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow.