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Finally got my hands on my '11 E63 after returning home from a tour in South Korea. Didn't do a whole lot but drop in some K&N's, new battery and painted the calipers. Waiting on the carbon interior trim, diffuser and lip for the time being. Anyway, here it is after hours of degreasing, cleaning, sanding, masking, paint and clear. I'm very happy with the results. I took 2 full work days on it to ensure the best job without removing the caliper itself. I gotta say I've had calipers done professionally before and these came out just as nice with the VHT kit if you take your time and let it sit for a couple days. Oh and a pre paint burnout
The high heat decals I bought off ebay. They come with 2 large and small. You will need to order two sets of these because the smaller ones are way too small. So I used the same size all around. Once you paint the caliper, you MUST let them dry for at least 24 hrs before placing the decal on. Make sure to trim the excess backing of the decal as much as possible to prevent any possible pulling up of the new paint once the decal is laid down. Once you have measured and centered the decal, rub it on really well. Then I cleared over everything every half hour or so with light coats, eventually laying it on pretty thick around the 4th coat (5 total might be over kill, but it makes it sooo much easier to clean your brakes). You can barely feel the decal now.
The high heat decals I bought off ebay. They come with 2 large and small. You will need to order two sets of these because the smaller ones are way too small. So I used the same size all around. Once you paint the caliper, you MUST let them dry for at least 24 hrs before placing the decal on. Make sure to trim the excess backing of the decal as much as possible to prevent any possible pulling up of the new paint once the decal is laid down. Once you have measured and centered the decal, rub it on really well. Then I cleared over everything every half hour or so with light coats, eventually laying it on pretty thick around the 4th coat (5 total might be over kill, but it makes it sooo much easier to clean your brakes). You can barely feel the decal now.
Thanks HPman. It won't discolor. I did my E350 years ago, no clear coat on the same paint and it held for over 4 years with zero discoloration. So now having the high heat clear on top, it will hold with zero problem. The paint is good for 2000* so unless someone holds a torch to it, it should be just fine. Plus I am back in Korea so the car is sitting in the garage allowing it to cure for months. You just have to be really patient with it and don't rush to drive it after clearing it.
E 63S Wagon Renntech, E55 Renntech, SL65, SL 55 030, ML, bunch of old ones--they come, they go...
I had...
one of the best shops in our region do mine on my CL63. It was a bit costly, but the finish was superb. I told him to do the same thing again on the E63...but wish now that I had used yellow.
Those look really nice.
Very nice DIY, Planning on doing the same to mine next week.
You mentioned sanding, what grade sandpaper did you use and did you use a primer?
Also, did you unhook any of the brake lines or just tape them off?
I used 400 grit paper. It essentially took off all of the "orange peel" off the factory clear coat. As for primer, yes. I used High heat primer same brand as the caliper paint. I did not take any lines off. I just too the brake pad clip off, pads out and taped off the rotors since I could freely rotate the rotor. That made the process much easier, without having to do any bleeding of the brake system.
Last edited by cstanley92; 08-04-2017 at 03:05 PM.
Painting high end calipers comes out so much nicer than painting traditional non-sport calipers and it just looks like a hack job no matter how nicely you do it
Last edited by PeterUbers; 08-12-2017 at 03:27 PM.
07-25-2016, 04:20 AM
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