[silverbmwz3]

More or less every 3 series e90 I've seen lately with gappy alloys (like the M Sport ones) has this problem visible. Even a 56 reg I saw last night. I'll watch with interest to see what Rochester gets as a result, but I'm tempted to do mine as soon as they show.

[MattOz]

Here are the pics...........









You get the idea anyway. From rusty to clean and tidy in a day. Well worth the effort.

Matt

[NFS]

Originally Posted by silverbmwz3

More or less every 3 series e90 I've seen lately with gappy alloys (like the M Sport ones) has this problem visible. Even a 56 reg I saw last night. I'll watch with interest to see what Rochester gets as a result, but I'm tempted to do mine as soon as they show.

I have to say - I have no rust on mine - none at all.

[Rochester BMW]

Matt, your pics seem to show rust on the disc itself... this is not the case with my car... I have it all over the metal hub thats between the back of the alloy and the disc....

(your car looks spottless, thats some serious cleaning, very nice)

Regards
Lee

[stevew]

I've got some pics of what I think is a similar problem. How do I attach pics to a post?

[NFS]

Either:

Use the red '+' button to upload the pic from your computer.

Or:

Upload to an image site - e.g. imageshack.us and then insert the link to the image using the button that looks like a picture of a mountain.

Back on subject - I think there must be an environmental factor here.

I have seen a lot of BMW's with rusty hubs and I know this is also a problem on e60's. My e60 had a little bit, but my e90 has none at all.

Could it be down to air quality, water quality or maybe even detergent use?

I knew there was a reason why I don't wash my car much.

[Rochester BMW]

Ill take some pics of it tonight and 'try' to post them tomorrow....

[ShereKhan]

Hmm

My E90 320si has some serious rust on the hubs. The amount of rust has got worse in the last month. I've been meaning to post pics on here - but not had a chance too busy working! By the way Needforspeed I washed my car last week for the first time in three months!!

I'm going to get my lease company to sort it out for its first service.
Which should be very soon.

The mileage is......
now 18k so i'm not sure if I'll get goodwill - but my lease company will get lots of stick from my fleet manager

Whilst we are on about poor quality of parts. One of my central locking slave units is now whining away anyone else had this problem?

[MattOz]

Hi Lee,

The rust on the disk is purely because I'd just washed the car! The rust on the hub was terrible. What you see in the pics is the re-painted hub. I used silver smoothrite for the hub itself.

I sold my E90 to a mate of mine and it's now done 25k miles. The re-painted hubs and calipers look as good now as they do in the pics.

It's just a shame that we spend £30k+ on a car and have to make these cosmetic enhancements because the factory finish/anodising is poor on hub and caliper.

Cheers
Matt

[Rochester BMW]

Originally Posted by MattOz

Hi Lee,

The rust on the disk is purely because I'd just washed the car! The rust on the hub was terrible. What you see in the pics is the re-painted hub. I used silver smoothrite for the hub itself.

I sold my E90 to a mate of mine and it's now done 25k miles. The re-painted hubs and calipers look as good now as they do in the pics.

It's just a shame that we spend £30k+ on a car and have to make these cosmetic enhancements because the factory finish/anodising is poor on hub and caliper.

Cheers
Matt

sorry i didnt realise they were painted....

they look really good though! I might end up doing this, as I know BMW will just replace like for like and the chances are it will just come back again....

how much did this cost you ? how long did it take ?

[MattOz]

No probs!

I used the following bits and pieces.

1 x 20mm wide paint brush - £5
1 x 5mm wide paint brush - £3
1 x Wire brush and some wire wool - £3

1 x Hammerite (smooth) Gold paint - £5.99
1 x Hammerite (smooth) Silver paint. - £5.99

Mix Silver and Gold paint in old jam jar. Approx 80% Silver and 20% Gold. Stir until thoroughly mixed together. Adjust quantities according to personal preference. I went for as close to OE look as possible. N.B The pad retainer is painted silver, as are the hubs. Only the caliper itself is painted in the Gold colour.

Calipers are painted in situ and therefore not removed. I didn't even bother masking the disk up etc. Thorougly wire brush and wire wool the caliper and remove excess corrosion with a flat-headed screw driver if required. Steel wool the hubs to remove rust.

Before painting. wash caliper with scrubbing brush, fairy liquid and hot water to degrease. Then allow to dry before painting caliper gold, pad retaining springs silver and hub silver.

Leave for 10 mins before re-mounting alloy. Naturally, you'll have cleaned the inside of the alloy and applied a layer of wax whilst waiting for the caliper to dry a little.

You can always go over the top and completely clean and detail the arch as below....



It takes about an hour per corner, so about half a day in total. The cost is that of the materials listed above and your time.

Cheers
Matt

[Rochester BMW]

Great write up!

I think im going to follow your advice and just go down this route... at least I know it will be done properly that way...

What made you think of mixing gold and silver together? I would have just thought of silver....

Did you consider any other colours? (always wondered how gloss black would look)

how many miles have you done since the mod? how is the paint holding up?

Thanks
Lee

[MattOz]

Hi Lee,

I decided on the silver and gold mix because the OE finish on the caliper is a light gold colour. I got it as close as I could.

I've now done 4 cars in this way and they have all looked so much better afterwards. The finish has held up to numerous Nurburgring trips and has never chipped or worn off. To be honest the calipers never get that hot. My E46 330d did 3 Ring trips and 43k miles before I sold it. The calipers looked as good as new.

I did think about gloss black as the E60 M5 has gloss black calipers. It just seemed a little boring!

I've just done my 535d in the same way and it looks great. I'll post some pics when I've cleaned it at the weekend.

Cheers
Matt

[MattOz]

Hi Lee,

Found some more pics of the before and after, just to give you an idea.......

Before:




After:





Can you spot the difference?

Matt

[Rochester BMW]

Hi matt,

They do look good! Ill proberly give this a go over the easter weekend...

Did you paint the wheel hub in the same silver/gold mixture or were they painted in pure silver?

Cheers
Lee

[rjs]

Originally Posted by Rochester BMW

Did you paint the wheel hub in the same silver/gold mixture or were they painted in pure silver?

From Prev Post:

N.B The pad retainer is painted silver, as are the hubs. Only the caliper itself is painted in the Gold colour.

[Rochester BMW]

Its early friday morning.... thats my excuse

[MattOz]

Originally Posted by Rochester BMW

Its early friday morning.... thats my excuse

Lee,

You stick to that one

Repainting the hub/caliper is well worth the effort IMHO. It certainly lifts the look of the car.

Cheers
Matt

[rjs]

do all cars do this? is it worth doing when you first get one?

[MattOz]

rjs,

Most cars do it. It generally depends on the factory finish on the caliper or bell housing. Porsche and Ferrari seem to have it right with the OE paint on the calipers, but even that can crack and discolour over time.

I believe that because BMW's are mass produced and clearly keeping cost low is a factor, some of the parts used do not have a great finish on them. Unfortunately the calipers are one such area.

I guess that we're only really seeing these "issues" now as wheels have become increasingly large and open and we are car enthusiasts after all, so we like our cars to look their best.

I've done 1 x E46 330d, 1 x E46 M3, 1 x E46 330i, 1 x E90 330d and my current E60 535d all in the same way. Most of my neighbours think I'm nuts! LOL

Matt

[rjs]

They do look a lot better afterwards.

I'll have a look around the dealer car park next time I go, see what the extent of the issue is.

Surely BMW can afford a few pence of paint to sort this issue at the factory? Guess they are trying to keep costs down.

[silverbmwz3]

Is there anything that can be done on the disks themselves? That still lets them down doesn't it....