I had my wheels off and saw how dirty my calipers were and was cleaning them up a bit while checking the pads. I was not in a hurry, so I decided to paint them with high temp 600 degrees, blue paint. Not a practical mod, I realize, but it did turn out well. But after driving around with just the fronts painted, I decided to do the rears too, which I thought would be more difficult but was easier. Here are some random photos of both the fronts and rears as I did them.
See photos HERE
I was able to do all 4 without issue, and without getting any paint where it did not belong (except for a little on the bottom of one of the dust shields, but I sometimes felt like I was getting more on my hands than on the calipers! Maybe use some nitrile gloves? I did not have any on hand.
I am not a car or engine guy for the most part, but I did paint my calipers red on a silver Audi A4 that I had years ago, before trading it on an S4, which came with black calipers and nice S4 badges on the spring clips.
With my bulky wheels, I did not think they would show much, or ever be noticed by anyone other than me. I did it because I enjoy little projects. But honestly, the first day after I did them, I was just going to the convenience store and 2 people complimented me on the car, and said how nice it looked, but did not make mention of the brakes at all. 5 minutes later, someone in the car next to me at a red light also complimented the car. I have had this car for years, and I occasionally get asked about it or people comment on it, but never 3 times in one day, let alone in a half hour. So, that seemed odd to me, and now I wonder if it's just a subtle change that somehow makes the car more noticeable. I know I tend to notice cars more if they have red or yellow calipers, and perhaps blue is an odd color for them, but on this car, what other color would you use? I think I am going to make some small, silver vinyl BMW logos and put them on the front calipers like I put the 4 rings on the red Audi calipers. They stayed in place for the life of the car before without peeling off, so maybe that would be fun, but may not be worth the bother. One other odd thing from the past... After I did the A4 calipers in red with the silver rings, I had it at Carousel Audi in Minneapolis, and my service advisor came out with the tech working on my car, just because the tech wanted to compliment me on how good they looked, which put a smile on my face.
In the end, I do not regret the time and trouble spent on painting these i3 calipers, and I think they turned out well, for the pointless cosmetic modification that it it.
See photos HERE
- Things one would need to do this...
- Tools to remove wheels, socket set to remove caliper bolts (hex drivers for rears),
- Lots of painters' tape
- sheets, cardboard, or other shielding for overspray
- Wire brush
- Compressed air (for cleaning dust off paintable areas)
- Lots of patients!
- Wire or cord to hang the calipers from when removed
- A tool to retract the brake piston (else it may be difficult to get the caliper back on) I have a tool for this, but a large C clamp will do the job too.
- Torque wrench for putting all bolts back on at the correct tightness (this is important)
- Because the brakes are attached by hydraulic brake lines, it is necessary to paint them while they are still connected to the car.
- I suppose one could paint them without even removing them from the rotors using a lot of taps, and perhaps brushing the paint on, but removing them is easier, faster, and should yield a better result.
- 3 light layers of paint with about an hour of dry time worked best for me, but it depends on the environment, paint, and how thick the paint layers are.
- Sheets or drop cloths worked best for me, to shield everything in the wheel well.
- I removed all of the clips and cleaned them with a rotating wire brush. Each front caliper has 2 lightweight spring clips that are chrome, while each rear caliper has a single spring steel clip, which I put a coat of metallic silver on, as they are just raw spring steel.
- I could not find caliper paint that matched very well, so I used engine paint which actually has a higher temperature rating and is the same thing. These brakes never get very hot anyway, due to the regenerative braking.
- When lifting the car to get the wheels off, I highly recommend using some rubber square peg adaptors designed for lifting this kind of car. I use the same, or similar plugs on my Audi and Mercedes cars and SUVs. There is not really any place for jack stands, so a good jack that will hold at the proper height is important.
I was able to do all 4 without issue, and without getting any paint where it did not belong (except for a little on the bottom of one of the dust shields, but I sometimes felt like I was getting more on my hands than on the calipers! Maybe use some nitrile gloves? I did not have any on hand.
I am not a car or engine guy for the most part, but I did paint my calipers red on a silver Audi A4 that I had years ago, before trading it on an S4, which came with black calipers and nice S4 badges on the spring clips.
With my bulky wheels, I did not think they would show much, or ever be noticed by anyone other than me. I did it because I enjoy little projects. But honestly, the first day after I did them, I was just going to the convenience store and 2 people complimented me on the car, and said how nice it looked, but did not make mention of the brakes at all. 5 minutes later, someone in the car next to me at a red light also complimented the car. I have had this car for years, and I occasionally get asked about it or people comment on it, but never 3 times in one day, let alone in a half hour. So, that seemed odd to me, and now I wonder if it's just a subtle change that somehow makes the car more noticeable. I know I tend to notice cars more if they have red or yellow calipers, and perhaps blue is an odd color for them, but on this car, what other color would you use? I think I am going to make some small, silver vinyl BMW logos and put them on the front calipers like I put the 4 rings on the red Audi calipers. They stayed in place for the life of the car before without peeling off, so maybe that would be fun, but may not be worth the bother. One other odd thing from the past... After I did the A4 calipers in red with the silver rings, I had it at Carousel Audi in Minneapolis, and my service advisor came out with the tech working on my car, just because the tech wanted to compliment me on how good they looked, which put a smile on my face.
In the end, I do not regret the time and trouble spent on painting these i3 calipers, and I think they turned out well, for the pointless cosmetic modification that it it.
