pocholin

Any suggestions/warnings about removing and disassembling the front calipers on my E55???? Piston removal special care or something?

I'm taking them to a place to be powder coated, RED!

I had the hardest time finding a Torx T35 to remove the bolt that holds the pad wear sensor to the caliper, I'll be removing them on tuesday (once I'm back home)

I was going to paint them myself, but painting has never been one of my qualities, so I decided to let the professionals do it.

I'll post some before and after pictures

E55 KEV

What about the rear? No paint?

Are you having the powder coat done locally? What is turn around time and prices? Thanks.

Suggestion. Since you have no painting qualities have your wife do it since woman have skills at painting finger and toe nails using small brushes.

pocholin

Yes, there is a couple of local shops, and if I remeber correctly they charge about 35 per caliper, I haven't call them up yet until I get the calipers out.

I think I should do the rears as well, but later, first I'll the the fronts, and if I like them a lot then I'll do the rears.

Interesting point of view about my wife, either her or my daughter , but I think I rather powder coat.

98ML

powdercoating the brakes might be bad actually. I've read on other boards(for Audis) that people who had brakes powdercoated have had the coating peel off due to the heat. I would suggest having the calipers painted with some high-heat paint instead.

E55 KEV

What about powdercoating with heat resistant paint? Use the same paint that comes in the paint kits.

98ML

no idea. reading this thread just made me think of someone saying that their powdercoated calipers were looking terrible due to the powdercoating not being able to handle the heat.

pocholin

I'd think they use heat resistant paint, but I'll make sure that is correct and that's what they use.

Steve Clark

is actually finely pulverized PLASTIC,which is baked/melted on in an oven after application.Makes a nice,shiny durable coating,and
looks really good on a show car.
But the first time you really exercise the brakes,the calipers will be hotter than the oven temp.Have you ever seen plastic that was run way too hot?.Your first clue will be the smell...and cleaning off the cooked plastic will probably call for a trip to the blast cabinet.
High temp paint is a far better choice for this application.

pocholin

Thanks for the input, once I remove the calipers (the car has been parked almost a week by now) and bring them to the shop, I'll make sure to bring all these points to them, I'll let you guys know what we decided to do.

E55 KEV

The do-it-yourself type caliper paint kits use a two part paint. You add the hardener to the paint. Maybe the shop can use the same paint and hardener from the kits.

98ML

then why not just paint them yourself if you're going to use the caliper painting kit?!

Luke@tirerack

caliper painting would be a much better idea because a good G2 paint kit is designed to handle temps up to 950 degrees

you can find the G2 kits here

E55 KEV

Because you want a more custom or professional look. With the powder coating you will get complete coverage and a more durable finish which is baked on. Doing it yourself you are not going to cover the entire caliper all the way to the rear. Additinally, you will not do more than 2 to 3 coats by hand. The powder coat process may be able to give you many more coats of paint.

Those G2 paint kits are good but they still chip and peel over time. They need repainting every year if you desire a fresh new factory look.

pocholin

Talked to the powder coating place, the guy said there is no problem as long as I con clear coat it, clear coat will yellow with the high heat calipers look at. Other than that powder coat will work just fine, cost is about $ 60.00 per caliper.

I didn't talk about warranty, but I'll make sure to ask, I'm taking the calipers to them on saturday, it should take about 10 days due to work load. It looks like two more weeks with out my car!

mkassab

Why don't you just make the appointment for 10 days out and drive your car in the mean time, i.e., take the brakes in the day before?

Mark

pocholin

Because I already have the car on stands, long story, but discount tire messed my wheels when they replaced the tires, so right now they are fixing the wheel, car is parked anyway.

Discount tire tried to give me some replicas yesterday, but I recognized them immediately because they lack the carlsson engraving on the wheel (dumb asses, how can I miss that!!!!)

E55 KEV

pocholin, Discount Tire messed up you Carlsson wheels and then tried to replace them with replicas?! That Sucks!

pocholin

it sure does, thanks for reminding me, lemme call them right now

nukblazi

Poch, why don't you have caliper paint professionall applied?

The powder coat is going to get muffed up even with the clear coat the way you drive (judging by your posts and pics you've posted).

pocholin

I didn't think of that with the caliper paint, but here in Texas, caliper powder coating is a normal thing, they don't apply clear coat to the calipers because that would cause it to yellow with the heat, just the color, it does need maintenance (constant cleaning), but that's it.
I guess time will tell, worst case in 1 year I'll be stripping the powder coat and applying caliper paint.

What gets hotter? valve covers or calipers?

I don't know the answer, but powder coating resist the constant engine heat on the valve covers.