Rusty calipers and wheel hub

[Falafel Combo]

Any solutions? Looks a bit embarrassing.


.

[OFFWHITEX5]

Agreed! I was wondering that too. Mines are looking like this as well. Might just clean and paint them with some Rustolem Silver Paint.

[menelaos]

Maybe sand it first and see if it's deeper?

[DuSh]

That center plate is a thin metal cover - it does catch a rust easily. You can make it a little "over the weekend DIY" if you have a floor jack (I bought one in Harbor Freight lol). In reality I was done in 4 hours from start to finish However, I did watch some youtube videos before attempting that project lol.

1. Take off wheels each at a time (I even did it on my campus parking lot lol) and sand it down a bit with simple sandpaper (won't be hard - it will literally take 3-5 min per corner).
2. Spray with brake cleaner to wash down all dirt and sand dust (1-2 min per corner).
3. I used garbage plastic bags and tape to hold plastic bag that I put over hub assembly completely and then ripping it in the middle to expose calipers only - very easy and fast (took me 5 min per corner - see pic attached).
4. Paint it with any caliper paint (or any paint that withstands heat) - lots of them to choose on local parts store or amazon. It's just shaking cans and spraying 1 very light 1st coat, then 2 generous coats with 1 light clear coat and final generous 2nd clear coat to finish it. 1 coat takes about 30 sec per corner to spray from a can with easy gentle back and forth movements.
5. Letting it dry in between coats - I waited about 10-15 min between coats, but I'm in AZ, it's hot here. In fact most of time is spent waiting for paint to dry.
6. When it's been 20-30 min after last clear coat - you can take the bags off and put wheels back.

Hardest part is to choose color. You can stay silver or go black (or red like I did lol). Alternatively, that plate comes off - and you can paint it separately, but you'll need some tools for that.
Or just pay $300-400 for a local shop to paint for you.

[Russmov]

Originally Posted by DuSh

That center plate is a thin metal cover - it does catch a rust easily. You can make it a little "over the weekend DIY" if you have a floor jack (I bought one in Harbor Freight lol). In reality I was done in 4 hours from start to finish However, I did watch some youtube videos before attempting that project lol.

1. Take off wheels each at a time (I even did it on my campus parking lot lol) and sand it down a bit with simple sandpaper (won't be hard - it will literally take 3-5 min per corner).
2. Spray with brake cleaner to wash down all dirt and sand dust (1-2 min per corner).
3. I used garbage plastic bags and tape to hold plastic bag that I put over hub assembly completely and then ripping it in the middle to expose calipers only - very easy and fast (took me 5 min per corner - see pic attached).
4. Paint it with any caliper paint (or any paint that withstands heat) - lots of them to choose on local parts store or amazon. It's just shaking cans and spraying 1 very light 1st coat, then 2 generous coats with 1 light clear coat and final generous 2nd clear coat to finish it. 1 coat takes about 30 sec per corner to spray from a can with easy gentle back and forth movements.
5. Letting it dry in between coats - I waited about 10-15 min between coats, but I'm in AZ, it's hot here. In fact most of time is spent waiting for paint to dry.
6. When it's been 20-30 min after last clear coat - you can take the bags off and put wheels back.

Hardest part is to choose color. You can stay silver or go black (or red like I did lol). Alternatively, that plate comes off - and you can paint it separately, but you'll need some tools for that.
Or just pay $300-400 for a local shop to paint for you.

Looks good DuSh! Good write up.

[Falafel Combo]

Originally Posted by DuSh

That center plate is a thin metal cover - it does catch a rust easily. You can make it a little "over the weekend DIY" if you have a floor jack (I bought one in Harbor Freight lol). In reality I was done in 4 hours from start to finish However, I did watch some youtube videos before attempting that project lol.


Hardest part is to choose color. You can stay silver or go black (or red like I did lol). Alternatively, that plate comes off - and you can paint it separately, but you'll need some tools for that.
Or just pay $300-400 for a local shop to paint for you.

Dude, you never fail to impress me! Very nice write-up. Thank you!!!


Where did you get those drilled rotors?

[DuSh]

Originally Posted by Falafel Combo

Dude, you never fail to impress me! Very nice write-up. Thank you!!!


Where did you get those drilled rotors?

Thank you. Oh, that was a project I did a while ago - those are F85 X5M rotors - as it turns out front rotors are direct fit to our X5 (but you need to change calipers too - otherwise they won't fit).

[Maverik259]

Definitely gonna paint my oem ones black next week when I replace my passenger wish bone. Luckily not rusting yet but will Be soon I'm sure. Then they'll be protected when sitting in a box come this fall when I install the F85 BBK.

[OFFWHITEX5]

Originally Posted by DuSh

That center plate is a thin metal cover - it does catch a rust easily. You can make it a little "over the weekend DIY" if you have a floor jack (I bought one in Harbor Freight lol). In reality I was done in 4 hours from start to finish However, I did watch some youtube videos before attempting that project lol.

1. Take off wheels each at a time (I even did it on my campus parking lot lol) and sand it down a bit with simple sandpaper (won't be hard - it will literally take 3-5 min per corner).
2. Spray with brake cleaner to wash down all dirt and sand dust (1-2 min per corner).
3. I used garbage plastic bags and tape to hold plastic bag that I put over hub assembly completely and then ripping it in the middle to expose calipers only - very easy and fast (took me 5 min per corner - see pic attached).
4. Paint it with any caliper paint (or any paint that withstands heat) - lots of them to choose on local parts store or amazon. It's just shaking cans and spraying 1 very light 1st coat, then 2 generous coats with 1 light clear coat and final generous 2nd clear coat to finish it. 1 coat takes about 30 sec per corner to spray from a can with easy gentle back and forth movements.
5. Letting it dry in between coats - I waited about 10-15 min between coats, but I'm in AZ, it's hot here. In fact most of time is spent waiting for paint to dry.
6. When it's been 20-30 min after last clear coat - you can take the bags off and put wheels back.

Hardest part is to choose color. You can stay silver or go black (or red like I did lol). Alternatively, that plate comes off - and you can paint it separately, but you'll need some tools for that.
Or just pay $300-400 for a local shop to paint for you.

Awesome write up Dush. Definitely a project on my to do list. Thank you

[Maverik259]

Bought the paint today. They didn't have the "caliper" version in clear so I got the engine clear and caliper black. Only difference was $.10 and claim to help with brake dust. Ya ok.

[DuSh]

Originally Posted by Maverik259

Bought the paint today. They didn't have the "caliper" version in clear so I got the engine clear and caliper black. Only difference was $.10 and claim to help with brake dust. Ya ok.

I think it's really fine, from my experience, when I was checking and touching painted side of calipers by hand (after f85 rotor swap) - they weren't really hot, just warm, even when after hard braking when rotor was burning hot to touch - calipers were only warm. So I guess not much heat really reaches the caliper body itself - mainly pads and rotor get hot.

I even think a regular paint would work probably lol. The key is to sand it down gently by hand with 160-240 grit so that paint will stick and surface will be more or less even. And to apply first coat very light. I'm sure you probably know it better than me man.

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by DuSh

I think it's really fine, from my experience, when I was checking and touching painted side of calipers by hand (after f85 rotor swap) - they weren't really hot, just warm, even when after hard braking when rotor was burning hot to touch - calipers were only warm. So I guess not much heat really reaches the caliper body itself - mainly pads and rotor get hot.

I even think a regular paint would work probably lol. The key is to sand it down gently by hand with 160-240 grit so that paint will stick and surface will be more or less even. And to apply first coat very light. I'm sure you probably know it better than me man.

Honestly I suck at painting. Unless it's a wall of a house. I can't paint that pretty easy. I removed the trim around the ideive to paint gloss black 2 months ago and haven't reinstalled cuz I can't get it to dry smooth. Lol. But ya both paints were rated to 500 degrees so I'm not worried about that. The caliper one just said it's good at resisting brake dust and cost 10 cents more than the engine paint.

[NOVA99]

My hubs look like shit as well. Calipers never had and issue with.
E70 did the same thing. It should not happen..at all. Folks that are taking the time to fix this, jack up the rig, pull off the wheels, and go buy paint have too much time on their hands. Fiat and shitty Chryslers do not have this happen. I adore Bimmers for their drive train but this crap is unacceptable. Drive the shit out it and turn it back into BMW when your lease expires. If you didn't lease...sorry.

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by NOVA99

My hubs look like shit as well. Calipers never had and issue with.
E70 did the same thing. It should not happen..at all. Folks that are taking the time to fix this, jack up the rig, pull off the wheels, and go buy paint have too much time on their hands. Fiat and shitty Chryslers do not have this happen. I adore Bimmers for their drive train but this crap is unacceptable. Drive the shit out it and turn it back into BMW when your lease expires. If you didn't lease...sorry.

Hahahahaha how do you get a negative reputation? And some rusty calipers is hardly a reason to turn the car in off a lease bad standing. BMW isn't in the business of making the best quality car on the market. Just the ultimate driving machine. Hahahahahha

[DuSh]

Originally Posted by NOVA99

My hubs look like shit as well. Calipers never had and issue with.
E70 did the same thing. It should not happen..at all. Folks that are taking the time to fix this, jack up the rig, pull off the wheels, and go buy paint have too much time on their hands. Fiat and shitty Chryslers do not have this happen. I adore Bimmers for their drive train but this crap is unacceptable. Drive the shit out it and turn it back into BMW when your lease expires. If you didn't lease...sorry.

I agree it shouldn't happen, but BMW as every other manufacturer saves on everything it can. Just different priorities between manufacturers. Lexus RX350 I tested before X5 - I'm sure has no issue with rusted hubs, but it drove like crap. So I bought X5 with rusty hubs, but better driving dynamics. Can't have everything. It's life man. I don't have to tell you this, you know better than me

There is a MPBK that solves the issue for those who have extra money. No paint will be needed - better treated steel, but more expensive too.

P.S. It's not that I really have too much time on my hands lol, I just don't have money to do everything I want or pay shops to do it. So I have to do some things myself.

[DuSh]

Sorry for offtopic, but for example I recently watched a video about sound upgrade on X5 and it turns out stock oem speakers are made of paper. HK and B&O they are given contracts with a lot of limits and conditions. The whole music system in X5 (speakers, head unit, amplifier etc - is probably about $200-300 and HK and B&O have to work within that budget. That's why they save on everything to make sound at least somewhat descent for a usual owner (who is not an audiophile). Of course later that HK option costs a lot more. B&O option costs $3-4k (don't remember exact option price) to the end buyer.
Same thing Mercedes - have you seen C klass? In stock it has 3 paper speakers if I'm not mistaken lol (probably total cost of $2). Same thing with every other manufacturer. Saving on everything is global unfortunately. So the way I see it - it's not enough to buy a car, but you need to upgrade it later to a good aftermarket sound system, upgrade to MPBK or do other mods. This is all extra money of course. I'm sure majority (not the car guys or car girls) will still drive and won't even notice rusty hubs.

[Russmov]

Originally Posted by DuSh

Sorry for offtopic, but for example I recently watched a video about sound upgrade on X5 and it turns out stock oem speakers are made of paper. HK and B&O they are given contracts with a lot of limits and conditions. The whole music system in X5 (speakers, head unit, amplifier etc - is probably about $200-300 and HK and B&O have to work within that budget. That's why they save on everything to make sound at least somewhat descent for a usual owner (who is not an audiophile). Of course later that HK option costs a lot more. B&O option costs $3-4k (don't remember exact option price) to the end buyer.
Same thing Mercedes - have you seen C klass? In stock it has 3 paper speakers if I'm not mistaken lol (probably total cost of $2). Same thing with every other manufacturer. Saving on everything is global unfortunately. So the way I see it - it's not enough to buy a car, but you need to upgrade it later to a good aftermarket sound system, upgrade to MPBK or do other mods. This is all extra money of course. I'm sure majority (not the car guys or car girls) will still drive and won't even notice rusty hubs.

Do you remember where you seen this video or the name? I'm interested in watching it.
I also agree that it has nothing to do with "too much time on our hands" it's pride of ownership. It's cool to work on your vehicle and see the results at the end. It's enjoyable.

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by DuSh

I agree it shouldn't happen, but BMW as every other manufacturer saves on everything it can. Just different priorities between manufacturers. Lexus RX350 I tested before X5 - I'm sure has no issue with rusted hubs, but it drove like crap. So I bought X5 with rusty hubs, but better driving dynamics. Can't have everything. It's life man. I don't have to tell you this, you know better than me

There is a MPBK that solves the issue for those who have extra money. No paint will be needed - better treated steel, but more expensive too.

P.S. It's not that I really have too much time on my hands lol, I just don't have money to do everything I want or pay shops to do it. So I have to do some things myself.

Haha it definitely has nothing to do with "too much" time in our hands. Lord knows I've got plenty of other stuff to do but I enjoy working on my cars. It keeps me sane. It's time for me to be alone in my garage with my Bose Bluetooth speaker. You don't actually think it takes me an hour to take the wheels off, 2 hours to asses the situation, 4 hours to fix it...do you? Hahahaha but I'd rather do that than cut our wedding invitations and licking envelopes with my fiancée inside. God help me. Besides what would you say to me having to cut the grass instead of paying someone to do that? Too much time on my hands.