Brake Job & Brake Cleaners

[Pima Roadster]

Finally after ten years of ownership, the 3.0 Roadster will get improvements. Wheels, style 42, roll out for repair & refinish next week along with new tyres-yippee! The Comp T/A set which have tramlined since the day we brought the car home eleven years ago will go away. Also planned is the refresh of the brake components, including flexible lines, rotors & pads. In the past, on non-BMW vehicles, I have used Akebano pads & a slotted rotor which is the route I will go on the Z3. What are folks using on the brake calipers to clean away the crud? A basic wheel cleaner, non-acid type, will be the first step but what about an iron remover to get the really nasty crap off? Some of the iron removal cleaners say not to use on bare metal calipers but I cannot recall if the calipers are OEM painted. Look forward to comments about this. TIA!

[fmcfad01]

I like Centric rotors for the price/quality. I put some low dust Textar pads on my M5 that I really like. They work great, have excellent bite, and are fairly low dust. From what I have read elsewhere, Textar makes the OEM BMW pads, IIRC. I think you'll hear a lot of folks here tell you there is little to no point of slotted or drilled pads. The blanks are really all you need.

[s8ilver]

OP didn't ask about rotors, nor pads. Do people not actually read the questions anymore?

I've had success with wheel cleaner but I usually just use brake cleaner and a brush. To my knowledge, your calipers are not painted from the factory.

It's pricey, but I use Sonax Full Effect on the wheels. They say it's fine on bare metal wheels, so must be good on calipers. It's very gentle and takes all the iron away (turns from green to red). I imagine it'd work just as well on the calipers.

[Mr Bingley]

Media blast the calipers and paint/powder coat them for best results. I used the G2 system several years ago with great results that have stood the test of time, but it's all in the preparation and application--HVLP spray gun--no rattle can, like I said, media blast the calipers clean clean clean, replace the pistons and use ATE rebuild kits.

[Pima Roadster]

@Mr. Bingley, your work looks great. I have the style 42 wheels with tyres dismounted & off they go for refinish & repairs in a couple of days. Appears that the calipers are painted silver & the finish is in good shape. @s8ilver the reviews are good on the Sonax product. Dug deep into my cache of detail products & found an unopened bottle of Wolfgang Wheel Cleaner. It is a non-acid base liquid so I will try that first. My concern with brake cleaners is what they might do to the rubber pieces. Hopefully the product mentioned will not be a problem. And now my next query is posted on this project in regards to rear brake pads. Thank you again!

[cleanerPA]

If you're not going to refinish the calipers, I would use Sonax wheel cleaner- the stronger version. Works very well to get old brake dust and other stuff off. It's not harmful to the rubber, so you'll be fine. If that doesn't do it, I use Castrol Purple Power, which is a very strong degreaser. Spray on a wet surface (pre-spray water first), agitate with a brush, rinse off immediately. Wear gloves and eye protection. That stuff is really basic (as opposed to acidic) but works really well.

Brake cleaner is really for the rotors.

[lelandr]

I would just replace all of the rubber components. They are inexpensive and will tighten up the feel. The only rubber parts are the boots, seals and guide bushings.

Based on the age of the car, these will all likely improve the brakes essentially for the long run.

I have a very neat Hazet caliper brush that I bought while living in Germany. It does a good job. Brush the calipers dry first to see what you can get clean before adding a solvent which turns everything to mud. Do this in a well ventilated area.

After that, copious application of brake cleaner, or you can use a power washer.

I usually pull out the caliper guides before cleaning, but leave the seal in for dry brushing as popping the piston out makes a goey mess of iron fines and brake fluid.

Use either ate assembly lube (hard to find) or the permatex high temp brake assembly lube when installing the piston. It MUST insert easily by hand. If it gets difficult, pull it back out and try again. It may take a few tries to get it right, but don't succumb to frustration and use a clamp or the like. It will go in easily by hand. I promise.

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[Mr Bingley]

Use either ate assembly lube (hard to find) or the permatex high temp brake assembly lube when installing the piston. It MUST insert easily by hand. If it gets difficult, pull it back out and try again. It may take a few tries to get it right, but don't succumb to frustration and use a clamp or the like. It will go in easily by hand. I promise.

+1 on ATE Assembly Lube.

[Pima Roadster]

Thank you to all who have responded to my query. In years & projects past, my starting point is with the least offensive/aggressive cleaner & work my way up as the need requires. I have bottle brushes & several shapes of tooth brushes (human & pet applications) which work well on cleaning out gunk. @lelandr, I hear what you are saying about the rubber pieces especially for the guide pins. I was considering the replacement of those rubber pieces but will stop there & leave the caliper pistons seals until another time unless I find one is torn. Not familiar with the Ate assembly lube but it is likely similar to the AP Lockwood assembly lube which I have a shoe polish size container of that is many years old!

[Andryuha]

Slightly OT, but I would also highly recommend replacing the piston seals (and pistons if needed) on your calipers. This is really cheap and easy to do and now would be the perfect time to do this.

[Pima Roadster]

@Andryuha I hear what you are saying. Will give it more thought. The Z has only 38,500 miles on it & accumulating about 1,000 miles a year currently. When I flushed the brake fluid three years ago, the condition of the fluid told me two things. First that the fluid had been flushed before, how many times is unknown, & second it was not dark which tells me that most if not all of the rubber components are in good condition. However, from past experience, there is always residual grunge found in the calipers when disassembled.

[Andryuha]

@Andryuha I hear what you are saying. Will give it more thought. The Z has only 38,500 miles on it & accumulating about 1,000 miles a year currently. When I flushed the brake fluid three years ago, the condition of the fluid told me two things. First that the fluid had been flushed before, how many times is unknown, & second it was not dark which tells me that most if not all of the rubber components are in good condition. However, from past experience, there is always residual grunge found in the calipers when disassembled.

To be honest, you can easily check the condition of the seals when you remove the pads.

[Pima Roadster]

Decided against rebuilding the calipers. Rubber dust boots are soft, pliant & no holes. I did use the Wolfgang Wheel Cleaner on the calipers. First step after removing the caliper & plugging the line hole, I sprayed Simple Green & went at it with an old tooth brush. That removed the light weight dirt. Follow up was with the cleaner which did a remarkably good job of removing the crud. The calipers& holder appear to be cad plated which is what I expected. The caliper looks almost new. This cleaner is likely the same as others on the market which turn purple when the chemical reacts with the grunge. On to the other three!

[Mr Bingley]

Pics please.

[Pima Roadster]

@Mr. Bingley, here you go! Attachment 687911

[Mr Bingley]

Those look pretty darn clean.

[Pima Roadster]

I was surprised as to the outcome from a little elbow grease & the cleaner. Next will be a coat of Carnauba wax to finish the job.