Remove caliper from car.

Spray with brake cleaner.

Wipe with blue towel.

Spray with bomb can.

Repeat bomb can.

Reinstall.

Because a) it's a brake caliper and ii) it doesn't get all that hot and 3) it's going to get filthy in 3 days anyway.

I'm sure others will expand this spectrum upwards.

t
uses a 'stainless silver' that makes it look like I didn't even try.

 

What do you mean by a bomb can ? 😂 also I’m probably going to get them sand blasted first to remove all the surface rust so I’d imagine at least primer will be needed to build up any inconsistencies in the metal. I want to do them properly and to the best I can now do they last and look decent.

 

Bomb can = Spray can of high-temp paint.

IMO the only calipers that should be painted are the multi-piston fixed type, but it's your car...

 

Just think they’ll look a lot smarter painted then the dirty rusty metal they are now 😂

 

Painting brake calipers doesn't require much finesse. As long as you get them reasonably clean, and put on an even coat of paint, you'll be fine. You don't even need to remove them from the car. Nobody will see the backside of the caliper, anyway. But if you leave them on the car, make sure to mask off the area, to prevent overspray.

That said, I'm partial to the DupliColor and VHT brands. But I'm sure there are other good alternatives. I like to use 2-3 light coats of color, followed by 2 light coats of clear. That seems to work well. Also, it's a good idea to wait a week before washing the car, to give the paint time to fully cure.

 

I have free access to a sand blaster. Would you recommend using that? It won’t cost me anything. Or just skip that step and just clean and paint them also do u not use any primer at all?

not cleaning the car won’t be an issue as I put it off as much as I can anyway 😂😂

 

I am of the opinion that when you paint your calipers, the eyes of others goes to that bright spot hiding behind your wheel, and not to the driver. You want the car to look sharp so the ladies submit to your desires?

Keep it clean and don't spend time modding or harping on about it as she'll (he'll) think you care more about an appliance than her/him/they/? (What happens in fanatics stays in fanatics. )

How is your car otherwise in terms of being maintained?

 

I am of the opinion that when you paint your calipers, the eyes of others goes to that bright spot hiding behind your wheel, and not to the driver. You want the car to look sharp so the ladies submit to your desires?

Keep it clean and don't spend time modding or harping on about it as she'll (he'll) think you care more about an appliance than her/him/they/? (What happens in fanatics stays in fanatics. )

How is your car otherwise in terms of being maintained?

Unless you paint the calipers green, then it's OK. Might as well go ahead and paint the tires green too, just to be safe.

Good point regarding overall maintenance though. The painting I did was more of a while-I-was-in-there kind of thing. My main concern was to replace the pads, rotors, and rebuild the calipers so they were actually functioning correctly, rather than for the aesthetics. I chose silver since it was closest to factory appearance. Otherwise the re-plated zinc calipers are gold dichromate which I wasn't a fan of for this application.

 

I bead blasted and painted my calipers when I upgraded to 330i brakes ~two years ago now. Unlike Mark I recommend it, mine still look great.
If the calipers are rusty enough that you want to bead blast them then the factory zinc coating has already failed.

I used VHT silver caliper paint without primer. Pretty sure all of the caliper paints are meant to be applied to bare metal.

 

I bead blasted and painted my calipers when I upgraded to 330i brakes ~two years ago now. Unlike Mark I recommend it, mine still look great.
If the calipers are rusty enough that you want to bead blast them then the factory zinc coating has already failed.

I used VHT silver caliper paint without primer. Pretty sure all of the caliper paints are meant to be applied to bare metal.

How many coats of paint did you use? I think part of the issue I had with the rears was that I didn't go heavy enough or put on enough coats. I dusted on 2 light coats to start just to get coverage, and 2 more medium/wet coats. From what've read the more coats the better to build up a hard candy shell.

So when I did the fronts a few months later, I still started with a few light coats but then put on 5+ coats on just to build it up more. The outer spring clips didn't scratch through the paint when installing vs the rears where they seemed to break through down to bare metal.

And I like the VHT paint better than the Duplicolor I used. Couldn't find any in silver at the time so I went with what Napa had in stock.

 

don’t paint the pad’s ear slider areas. clean and tape off.

 

I don't use primer either. I also don't bead blast the calipers. I just clean and paint them.

But then again, I'm in Florida. We don't salt the roads. So YMMV.

 

I ordered my brake kit as a basic metal gray color. I just didn't want the bling of colored calipers. I know newer cars come with a variety of colors on calipers but as a purist of early 2000's E46 that came with single piston calipers, I didn't want the attention and look of aftermarket calipers on my street car.

 

is your car a “show car”?
then just use brake cleaner and a wire brush.
no primer needed.
I painted my coupe’s calipers long time ago black. held up great. I also sprayed with high temp clear to protect.
you really want to keep the “sliders” clean. even BMW does this on my CSL/ZCP calipers that they powder coat black.

 

my BMW CSL brakes. you can see they leave the sliders and even anti rattle clip areas clean. on my coupes I didn’t leave anti rattle area clear and was fine. you can prob just leave small area clear if wanted.

 

POR-15 Caliper Painting Kit

Dress up your calipers with POR-15 Caliper Painting Kit! Clean, prep, & paint with our complete brake caliper paint system, available in 5 beautiful colors.

por15.com

Might be worth a try. I've always had good experience with POR-15 stuff.

 

POR-15 is the bee’s knees!

 

I am a bit of a purist, if you drive a non M car, it doesn't make sense to draw attention to the ordinary sized brakes. I have gone with black on my E46 and now on my E92.

 

IMO the only calipers that should be painted are the multi-piston fixed type, but it's your car...

Because of electronic parking brake you can't even get multi piston caliper on new M3, M4 and even M8. You pay >$100K (make that >$200K in my country) for sh*t color rusted rears after two rains. Personally I'm over it.

 

Brembo 18Z's on my wife's VW Touareg. VHT Engine Enamel. Still going strong after a year. Just cleaned them up with brake cleaner and sprayed on 3-4 coats. No muss, no fuss.
As an aside... 2008 Touareg - 6 pot Brembos (350mm rotor) up front & 4 pot Brembos (355mm rotors) out back. This thing stops like you hit a brick wall! I get into my 2004 330xi, and my brakes feel like mush in comparison.

 

I've actually been toying with adapting those since the calipers are much less expensive than the 996 ones have gotten to be.

 

Been considering this also, but these things are huge! Wheel fitment alone might require a 19. We'll see...

 

I have painted my brake caliper in red and they look good. According to my experience, you need to first clean the caliper with the brush and brake cleaner. Remove dirt rust and grease. then mask off the areas you don’t want to paint by using masking tape. Use a high temp primer that is compatible with your paint. Spray in light coats and let it dry between coats. Follow the directions on the can. Use a high temp clear coat if you want a glossy finish. Let the paint cure for at least 24 hours before driving the car. Also, keep these in mind don't do hard brake for the first few days.

 

I've had rattle can paint hold up reasonably well over the years. If I really want them to look glossy and last and use the brush on epoxy paint that Tire Rack sells, I believe it's called G2. Because it's an epoxy paint t with a hardener it cures very strong. It brushes on easily and self levels to a nice smooth finish. You do need to be set up and ready to go, because the working time is limited. I usually get 2 coats on with that. Color choice is a bit more limited.

And if you don't want it to turn rusty and crappy in short order, please paint the whole thing. Nothing let's the corrosion in like bare metal on the back side. And when those of us in the repair profession see half painted calipers, painted brake pads, etc we shake our heads and laugh. 😉

 

A bit late ( 2024 ) BUT for anyone looking at this thread.... if your not tracking the car and your just commuting throw some Rustoleum 2X on em that doesn't require a primer.... As long as it's Enamel u can't go wrong as most people do not know what heat standard enamel paint can take as it's been kept a secret from those High Heat / Caliper Paint manufactures... Give this a thought - How do plastic stickers ( You know, the ones a lighter can melt / burn ) stay on calipers ?? ) - Give that a thought for one minute.... If u don't believe me then take it from the experts...