Brake Overhaul - help me plan my steps to minimize downtime

[Ricky Bobby]

Well guys its up to the next round of maintenance on my X5, shortly after my alternator dumped on me a few weeks back I realized I probably should address other systems on my car to ensure I don't get stranded again (and to get some of the age off my X5 at the same time) - thanks to Tim on the forum for helping me with my newly powdercoated lug bolts I also want to address the rest of the wheel/tire area.

Many thanks to the help of Stephen (StephenVA) our resident brake guru, I think I've narrowed everything down. I'd like to accomplish the following on this overhaul and get rid of my rusty rotors and dusty Pagid pads.

-Centric High Carbon E-coated rotors and new stainless retaining screws
-Power Stop Z17 pads and 2 new wear sensors
-Stoptech or ECS SS brake hoses/lines and a brake flush (last one was 2 years ago, and before that the last one was in early 2012)
-Parking brake hardware/shoes inspection, cleaning, and adjustment (I'm sure there is tons of grime on the back
-Caliper overhaul with fresh painting or powdercoat

The last part for me is the hardest, in talking with Stephen yesterday he assured me that my calipers although 13 years old are probably not driven hard enough to be "cooked" so I could probably get away with rebuilding the front and rear seals, and getting new ATE bushings and guide pins, and have many more years of trouble free operation.

I currently have a coat of G2 caliper paint on there, and have been happy with it, but thought to myself maybe I should have them completely stripped and powdercoated going forward.

Theres a powdercoater not too far from me in PA who would do my calipers and brackets for $50 apiece which is excellent - however they would like the calipers disassembled, which isn't a problem. Only thing I'm worried about is the downtime (about a week), but I guess I could accomplish all my other repairs during that week, and I need to double check with them that they want the dust boots and piston removed - I only worry about damaging the fresh powdercoat with grease or brake fluid if I have to reinstall the pistons on the newly coated calipers.

I am going to email them to be sure, ideally I'd like to clean the bore and piston and replace with new seals and have all other bushings and hardware removed and have them mask off the piston area when it gets powdercoated.

Alternatively, and I spoke to Stephen about this too, in order to minimize downtime, RockAuto sells Centric rebuilt ATE calipers for $36-40 apiece after core charge, I would still get fresh ATE bushings, guide pins, and seals (if the powdercoater requires the pistons removed) - so I'd be at about double the cost but less downtime.

3rd option will require 24 hours of cure time plus the prep work, but I could just do another coat or two of the G2 caliper paint on my calipers and skip the powdercoating completely.

I think I have the brake system covered, any thoughts on what to do with the calipers or the best way to accomplish all of the above? I don't have compressed air to get the pistons out but I have a bicycle pump or I could just take the pads out and pump the brakes to get the pistons out. With 89k miles and 2 flushes in the past 5 years, I'm theorizing that my pistons and caliper bores should be in pretty decent shape.