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      07-22-2019, 10:52 AM   #1
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Anyone tried Caliper Wrap Film

Trying to improve the look of the ugly stock calipers. Wondering how this would work:

Rvinyl 3M Caliper Wraps Reflective Vinyl High Heat Temperature Film (Light Blue) 4 Sheets x (12" x 12") W/App Card https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N8JPCDS..._kRDnDb9CSHZQZ

Or would it be easier and safer to just paint instead?

Last edited by McLaren720s; 07-22-2019 at 02:06 PM..
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      07-22-2019, 11:26 AM   #2
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Never tried it. I do use this, which works very well, and is easy to touch up. The price is right too.
https://www.amazon.com/PlastiKote-CP...4&sr=1-11&th=1
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      07-22-2019, 02:06 PM   #3
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I was also looking at caliper covers but not sure if they fit

4 BLUE BMW M Power Brake Caliper Cover Disc Front Rear 330 335 340 530 540 550i https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F132920646445
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      07-22-2019, 02:52 PM   #4
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I painted mine on the car, it actually went really well, looks great and the paint has lasted through 2 winters already. I think vinyl is a PITA on irregular surfaces.
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      07-22-2019, 03:01 PM   #5
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They look nice, I don't think I'd want to be the first to try them.
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      07-22-2019, 03:15 PM   #6
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The covers look tacky and I wouldn't trust vinyl on brakes. Take the brakes off, clean them, sand them, base coat and clear coat
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      07-22-2019, 04:53 PM   #7
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Or even lazier method. Mask off rotor and spray calipers. Took longer to mask than to spray. I used blue plastikote.
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      07-22-2019, 09:39 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren720s View Post
Trying to improve the look of the ugly stock calipers. Wondering how this would work:

Rvinyl 3M Caliper Wraps Reflective Vinyl High Heat Temperature Film (Light Blue) 4 Sheets x (12" x 12") W/App Card https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N8JPCDS..._kRDnDb9CSHZQZ

Or would it be easier and safer to just paint instead?
Check out G2usa.com for G2 Caliper Paint. Many stock colors and custom colors. Inexpensive- $43 at TireRack. Brush it on and it levels out like it was sprayed. Brush it on right on the car. I researched and G2 was by far the best solution. See photo. I also painted the sides of my rotor hats with G2 Silver to prevent the usual BMR ugly rotor rust. Hope this helps!
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      07-23-2019, 10:41 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnung View Post
Check out G2usa.com for G2 Caliper Paint. Many stock colors and custom colors. Inexpensive- $43 at TireRack. Brush it on and it levels out like it was sprayed. Brush it on right on the car. I researched and G2 was by far the best solution. See photo. I also painted the sides of my rotor hats with G2 Silver to prevent the usual BMR ugly rotor rust. Hope this helps!
Problem with the stock calipers is that they don’t have a smooth finish. They’re like sand paper to the touch so I’m not sure how the paint would look on them.
Plus, they’re incredibly ugly, especially the rear.
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      07-23-2019, 11:08 AM   #10
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This is how my front caliper looks after painting. I kept it the original silver color:



It might not win a best in show beauty contest but it looks a lot better than it did before I painted it:

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      07-23-2019, 04:01 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren720s View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnung View Post
Check out G2usa.com for G2 Caliper Paint. Many stock colors and custom colors. Inexpensive- $43 at TireRack. Brush it on and it levels out like it was sprayed. Brush it on right on the car. I researched and G2 was by far the best solution. See photo. I also painted the sides of my rotor hats with G2 Silver to prevent the usual BMR ugly rotor rust. Hope this helps!
Problem with the stock calipers is that they don’t have a smooth finish. They’re like sand paper to the touch so I’m not sure how the paint would look on them.
Plus, they’re incredibly ugly, especially the rear.
I understand your concern. Please note that G2 doesn't go on like typical hi-temp spray paint which is thin and shows through a poor surface, like you mentioned.

G2 is a two-part epoxy type paint. It goes on thicker with a much more solid pigment that fills surface imperfections. The finish really flows. It is definitely not thin like spray paint. A better spray paint analogy would be if you sprayed 3-4 coats of a primer filler before you sprayed that final coat or two of color.

I attached a photo of a rotor that I brush painted with G2 Silver Caliper Paint. Only the visible sides of the rotor hat are painted. I didn't paint the tops of the rotor hats because I read a couple engineers caution against a coat of anything between the rotor hat surface and the inside wheel surface where they contact each other because the coating could compress and effect the final torque of the wheel bolts.

I think you can see that the silver painted area on the sides of the rotor hats looks much better than any simple spray paint. And a year later on the car, they look just as good as they did the first day.

Hope this helps!
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      07-24-2019, 02:29 AM   #12
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I had mine painted by BMW (on previous car and current car) for about 300 dollars, with warranty for 2 years. This of course included brake fluid change etc.

I really can't say I advocate these hand painting methods or wraps on that part of the vehicle. Get it done right.

Also - if you want flashy brakes (mine are small and were painted dark grey, just not rusty) - go source some 2 piston ones in 370mm from bigger engined cars (and get coding for that done of course!). I wouldn't bother with these cheap mods on cars as nice as yours... IMHO best bang for buck is these bigger brake upgrades. I just didn't plan to part my car out later, so I upgraded the look of existing parts, but for most the bbk upgrade using second hand or new parts is the best way to go. If you have big brakes - just paint them right.

Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren720s View Post
Problem with the stock calipers is that they don’t have a smooth finish. They’re like sand paper to the touch so I’m not sure how the paint would look on them.
Plus, they’re incredibly ugly, especially the rear.

Happy to post mine later today. They look very ok IMHO painted.
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      07-24-2019, 04:57 AM   #13
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Plastikote blue on the caliper and black on the hub.



The blue was done in May about 3k miles ago. The hubs I did two weeks ago. I should’ve painted them before I did the brakes but I didn’t think about it till afterwards.
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      07-24-2019, 11:29 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chowser51 View Post
Plastikote blue on the caliper and black on the hub.



The blue was done in May about 3k miles ago. The hubs I did two weeks ago. I should’ve painted them before I did the brakes but I didn’t think about it till afterwards.
Looks great!
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      07-25-2019, 12:07 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest View Post
I had mine painted by BMW (on previous car and current car) for about 300 dollars, with warranty for 2 years. This of course included brake fluid change etc.

I really can't say I advocate these hand painting methods or wraps on that part of the vehicle. Get it done right.

Also - if you want flashy brakes (mine are small and were painted dark grey, just not rusty) - go source some 2 piston ones in 370mm from bigger engined cars (and get coding for that done of course!). I wouldn't bother with these cheap mods on cars as nice as yours... IMHO best bang for buck is these bigger brake upgrades. I just didn't plan to part my car out later, so I upgraded the look of existing parts, but for most the bbk upgrade using second hand or new parts is the best way to go. If you have big brakes - just paint them right.

Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren720s View Post
Problem with the stock calipers is that they don't have a smooth finish. They're like sand paper to the touch so I'm not sure how the paint would look on them.
Plus, they're incredibly ugly, especially the rear.

Happy to post mine later today. They look very ok IMHO painted.
2-piston brakes are on rear over 345mm rotors

370mm are Front 4-piston calipers
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      07-25-2019, 02:35 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnung View Post
2-piston brakes are on rear over 345mm rotors

370mm are Front 4-piston calipers
typo, meant 4 piston yup. thanks!
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