what color calipers?

[mladen]

on my new ride

should i go with the traditional red or something else?
thx

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/6/web/2178000-2178999/2178647_3_full.jpg

[leedawg]

are you painting them?

[mladen]

yea

[mladen]

yea

[98BMW323is]

red for sure.

[leedawg]

Um im thinkin id do red for sure, it just looks bad ass :) Are you going to do it yhourself ?

[mladen]

yea ill do it myself, i did like 5 cars so far in red, well it was clear since all i owned was red camaros and red bmws, heheh

[Mitch]

I've got some red caliper paint that's been sitting on my shelf since summer... I need to do this before I forget.

[leedawg]

So do you just spray them down real well with that brake cleaner stuff, then spray paint them red ? Sounds pretty easy I think I might try it myself and it looks bad ass:D

[mladen]

you can do either that or u can get the other kit where u have the paint in the jar and u apply it with a brush. i prefer that better for some reason, but u get a litttttle bit better of a result with a can

[mladen]

the cool thing is that if it ever chipps off u can retouch it up with ur wheel on too with a small brush

[M52 POWER!]

That brake cleaner stuff is crap, to really get them clean I had to use a wire brush on a dremel tool. 3 coats of ceramic high temp paint and they look awesome!

[thedude]

Mine are red, but i wish i went with black or silver now. There's no reason to attract attention to small stock calipers. But i guess anything is better than rust color.

[leedawg]

Hum mine are just the dark blackish brown oilly grease color :D Yeah silver is a great idea. Where do you get the pain to paint them with? Just an auto parts store???

[Jeffrie]

Black is best IMO.

[adamnur]

Mine are red, but i wish i went with black or silver now. There's no reason to attract attention to small stock calipers. But i guess anything is better than rust color.

Hey, where did you get your caliper paint? How's it holding up? I wanna paint mine silver, but I'm having a hard time finding good quality high-temperature paint.

[leedawg]

Yeah black sounds bad ass too. Granted my car is silver so might not look that bad. Wow though I have noticed a huge increase in brake dust with these cross drilled rotors that I put on the car. Its horrible.

[Don Nguyen]

dang, usually everyone hates on red cause it is a "ricy" color. I'd probably paint it mine black or silver.

[DeanP]

VHT makes a black or red brush on kit. The kit comes with a can of paint, a can brake clean and a brush. I did the red it was fairly easy. VHT offers several other colors in spray cans, besure you get hi-temp brake caliper paint. I think the brush on is better. It allows you to get a much thicker coat on the caliper. The brush on stuff is about $10, a very cheap mod. Check in any regualr parts store, NAPA, Carquest, Autozone, O'Reilly...any of them and ask if they can get VHT product.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/dport135/redcaliper.jpg

[chemguy]

Black. Paint your rotor hats black while you're in there.

[leedawg]

Thanks for the input ill check out autozone today see if they have anything in the way of paint.

[hellrot325]

Black. Paint your rotor hats black while you're in there. I agree, stealth is best. Red makes it seem like a Brembo poser. Of course I have the same as leedawg, that sweet grime and rust job!

Next rotors are getting annodized!

[Bimmersoul]

I also used VHT... very pleased with the results!

[leedawg]

I agree, stealth is best. Red makes it seem like a Brembo poser. Of course I have the same as leedawg, that sweet grime and rust job!

Next rotors are getting annodized!

You would really put the money into anodizing your rotors? That would cost a bit there. Just paint the the ol calipers up and the insides of the rotors youll be fine :)

[hellrot325]

You would really put the money into anodizing your rotors? That would cost a bit there. Just paint the the ol calipers up and the insides of the rotors youll be fine :) The nice thing about anodizing is that it keeps the inside of the rotors, the cooling veins, not just the hats, from rusting. and it looks uber cool. Not that expensive either. I think it would great w/ the grey skirts! :D

[Panzer_M]

black or Roundel Blue(just to be different since Red is played out)

Silver maybe, I'd have to see it.

[mladen]

i think blue would be extra rice IMO.

[leedawg]

Im still thinking silver would look good. YOu have to keep them clean though if you paint them. That kinda sucks its hard enough keeping the wheels clean.

[Storamin]

go with silver...

red is for BBK's.

[Tylan71]

Go with black, very understated and classy.

136127
Before painting....

136125
After

[hellrot325]

...very understated and classy. Unlike the wheels! :eek: ;)

[leedawg]

LOL well this thread inspired me to paint my calipers. So while the forums were down I went out and bought some caliper paint and painted mine. Here is the before picture.

[leedawg]

And here is the after. What do you guys think. To flashy ? I actually kind of like it. I dident want to go red either, because I dident want to be labled as a poser :D I do like the rondell blue though and it looks a lot less noticable when you have the wheels on.

[leedawg]

With the wheels back on the car.

[DeanP]

Looks good with the wheel off. Kind of hard to see with the wheel on. I klike the color though.

[PrestoMB]

looks prety good. Should try to get a shot with majority of the caliper in an opening of the wheel.

[DTM325]

it's funny how red calipers on a honda is rice, but on a bmw it's hot....:rolleyes

Black or silver...

mine are silver...

[GENE328is]

Silver definitely.

[IchLiebeBMW]

I would do red, its a classic you cant go wrong with that.

[sandspeed]

I painted mine black (VHT), and then went crazy. One trip to WalMart, four auto paint touch-up pens, and the "M3" on my calipers now matches the colors on the M3 badge. Well, at least as closely as you can get. I'll try and get some pics later.

[Jeffrie]

And here is the after. What do you guys think. To flashy ? I actually kind of like it. I dident want to go red either, because I dident want to be labled as a poser :D I do like the rondell blue though and it looks a lot less noticable when you have the wheels on.

Liked before much better.

[leedawg]

Liked before much better.
Really you think it looked better before :( Crizzap Itll be a bitch to grind it all off now. Mabye go to black. LOL THanks for the input guys yeah I can take another one with the wheel in a more open part, but I am glad its kinda hard to see and low key. I dident want anything super flashy on there. When the brake dust overwhelms them it will really tone it down nicley.

[BCM M3]

I vote for black or silver. Red only works on cars with a BBK.

Mine are black with the small embossed ///M logo painted in the appropriate colors.

[mladen]

yea i think that the blue is overkill...way too flashy, i think that nice silver would be bad ass, thats what ill most likely do

[Jeffrie]

Really you think it looked better before :( Crizzap Itll be a bitch to grind it all off now. Mabye go to black. LOL THanks for the input guys yeah I can take another one with the wheel in a more open part, but I am glad its kinda hard to see and low key. I dident want anything super flashy on there. When the brake dust overwhelms them it will really tone it down nicley.

I may seem blunt but no reason to overeact. To each their own, sure lot's will like this, I'm just not one of them...

[leedawg]

HUm well thanks for the input any way. Appreciated :)

[kabal]

what about yellow???????

Guess it also depends on what colour car you have? In my mind, red will only work with a Black, White, Silver, or Blue car :)


Anyway how do you guys paint these?? do you take the caliper off?

I love the idea of haveing an ///M logo on them. What is the best way of doing this?

[DeanP]

With the brush on style paint, I painted mine while on the car. I took the pads out and left them bolted to the spindle. It was easier than holding them.

[luckytopher]

i think blue would be extra rice IMO.

i had blue on my black car (not an e36 though) and always got great comments

http://www.****************.com/new2/driverside1.jpg

http://www.****************.com/new2/bluedecal.jpg

was done with "metalcast" anodized paint... gave it a blue anodized look...

have been considering doing the same on my white e36...

[Daved]

go with silver...

red is for BBK's.
+1

[leedawg]

i had blue on my black car (not an e36 though) and always got great comments

http://www.****************.com/new2/driverside1.jpg

http://www.****************.com/new2/bluedecal.jpg

was done with "metalcast" anodized paint... gave it a blue anodized look...

have been considering doing the same on my white e36...
Do it I want to see them :)

[choffa]

The product I used is called FoliaTec. It is a catalyzed high temp paint. One kit is enough to apply several coats on all four calipers. I did mine three years ago, still looks like new.

http://neasport.com/cart/customer/product.php?productid=16886

For the rotors I used silver high temp paint, VHT prints are perfect for this, readily available.

Cleaning the calipers & rotors is critical, a wire brush is the best, get several sizes to get in all the nooks & crannies. Wash down with solvent before painting.

The color is debatable, my Hellrot 328is looks great with Red, black would look cool as well & not as Ricey. Cleaning once painted is a breeze, I use standard OEM type pads, lots of dust, but better grip for my easy driving style. A shot of simple green and a dish washing brush gets in between the rim & caliper nicely.

Best of luck, this is a great visual upgrade.

CJH