Painted my Calipers-UPDATED PICS

[Denalio]

Finally got around to painting my Calipers. I went with black calipers, polished the anti rattle clips and clearcoated. I also painted the rotor hubs silver with clear coat. I think it looks great, no more rust! I will try to get pics later this weekend. Oh ya the 20's are back on as well. I sealed them with Swixvax Autobahn wheel sealer/wax. Hopefully the brake dust will just wash off. I can't wait for low dust aftermarket pads!!

UPDATE: Here are some pics. I used G2 Caliper paint (black) used the brush included in the kit (2 coats), this a 2 part true epoxy the instructions say that you have 4-6 hours working time, but this will start to set up within an hour. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to paint them moving briskly but carefully. After the 2 1/2 hours the epoxy was quite thick and somewhat goopy to work with. Once dried there were no brush strokes and it was glossy deep black. Then I polished the Caliper anti- rattle clips and gave them a brushed look with an abrasive wheel on my dremel, then clear coated them (2 coats). I also painted the rotor hats with VHT Cast Aluminum color caliper paint (2 coats) then gave them 2 clear coats. Overall I am very pleased. I put the X up on jack stands and did them all at once. I made some jack stand adapters and cut some 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 hollow steel bar to fit into the jack points as suggested by fellow X5world brother nynd (thanks). The prep work is what took the most time. Wire brushes, fine grit sandpaper, dremel abrasive disks, drill with wire wheel and nylon flap wheel. It is amazing how quickly these brakes and rotors get rusted and corroded, but with patience they clean up real well. Also just a note the front calipers are cast iron the rears are aluminum and the clips are tin steel.

[swesson]

Can't wait to see the photos!

[Denalio]

Sorry the X is dirty. Next up complete polish to remove marring and swirls then sealer/wax.

[DELANO]

Great pics! Do you have any before shots? Did you remove anything other than the wheels? I imagine you had to disassemble the calipers. Were you able to cap off the brake lines in order to avoid having to refill all the brake fluid? Not very mechanical, but if you could give a basic step by step this would give me the confidence to take up the challenge.

Cheers,
Delano

[ncx]

That turned out great. Worth the effort.

[ljnlaw]

Wow the hubs look better than new! Nice job I am waiting until I need new pads before I replace the rotors and paint the calipers and hubs...my rusted BMW hubs look terrible can't wait to paint.

[dr.jay]

They look great!!

[LeMansX5]

Great job. Need BMW decal on metal part.

[Denalio]

Originally Posted by DELANO

Great pics! Do you have any before shots? Did you remove anything other than the wheels? I imagine you had to disassemble the calipers. Were you able to cap off the brake lines in order to avoid having to refill all the brake fluid? Not very mechanical, but if you could give a basic step by step this would give me the confidence to take up the challenge.

Cheers,
Delano

You can disassemble the calipers, but it's not necessary if your using a brush or if you use spray just make sure you mask off anything you don't want paint on. I masked of the rotor area around the caliper and placed a drop sheet all round the back of the rotor and taped it up to the hood and front door. Actually I cocooned the whole side of the vehicle because if you use spray the aerosol will get everywhere, better safe than having to remove overspray. Caliper disassembly is very simple. after you remove the wheel, remove the sensor wire on the drivers side front and the passenger side rear with a pair of pliers. Pull on the sensor bulb not the wire. Then remove the two caliper retaining guide bolts (7mm allen wrench/key) at the REAR of the caliper. You will have to remove the two plastic caliper guide bolt caps. Slip the caliper off and rest it on the top of the rotor or hang it by a wire DO NOT LET THE CALIPER FALL OR HANG FROM THE BRAKE LINE. Remove the inside brake pad (the closest to you) it will just fall right out. You can paint them from this point. If you do it this way you don't have to bleed the lines because you are not actually removing/unscrewing the fluid line. Reassembly is the opposite. You may have to use a brake pad spreader ( $7.00 at autopart store) or use a C-clamp to push back the brake piston because it will creep closed to re-install the outside pad. Basically out of a scale from 1-10 this is project is a 3. Mostly dirty work. Removing the caliper should take about 10 minutes per wheel after you have done one. If you use G2 paint you will have to prep and remove all the calipers or leave them on and mask off the areas you don't want painted. There is actually a DIY on this forum on how to replace the brake pads. You can use those instructions because it is almost exactly the same for the e70. One other thing to remember is after the X is up on stands remove the transmission lock key from rear tool kit. Make sure safety brake is off Remove rubber from the front cupholder, remove cover marked with an square, insert key and manually disengage the transmission lock (see your owners manual). The calipers will release and the tranmission is in neutral. You can now turn the rotors by hand.

I did not take any before pics because I just didn't think of it.

[Denalio]

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

Great job. Need BMW decal on metal part.

I was going to. I emailed xenonmods three times and they never got back to me. Are they still in business? Shameful CS! Anywhere else I can get some?