Yellow brake calipers on blue 640i GC

[hasBmw]

Had my brake calipers professionally painted on my 640 GC Meditarranean Blue.

Can't fault the workmanship looks smooth like factory finish but not sure about the yellow now, looks too bright. Think I'm beginning to hate it lol.

Really wanted the Porsche Speed Yellow, a darker yellow.

What do you guys think?

And if I wanted to change the colour can I just clean with sugar soap and respray over, as its been primed, srpayed and lacquered?

Or should I rub over with scotch pad first and clean then respray?
And how do I remove the M decals cleanly?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[FlyinLowSD]

I agree, too bright.
No, you can’t just repaint. You’d have to scuff it up so that new paint has something to hold onto.
Delete the M decals altogether. It’s not an M car. Maybe a nice BMW decal.

[hasBmw]

Agree its not an M car but I like the decals.

Any tips to cleanly remove the M decals?
As I have to remove them anyway to respray.

So just rub with scotch pad to remove lacquer and scuff up, clean and respray over?

This is the yellow I want. Thoughts...

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by hasBmw

Agree its not an M car but I like the decals.

Any tips to cleanly remove the M decals?
As I have to remove them anyway to respray.

So just rub with scotch pad to remove lacquer and scuff up, clean and respray over?

This is the yellow I want. Thoughts...

You are not really removing any clear cost, except just the tiniest amount necessary to scuff the surface. Or you can use wet/dry sandpaper (the black stuff). Use 400 or 600 grit. I've never used a pad for that, so not sure how well it will work. As stated above, the new paint needs a slightly rough surface to bite into so it does not just peel off. In the business it's often called "tooth." As for the decals, try a bit of acetone. Or they could be under a coat of clear. If you get a firm rubber sanding block, you could wet sand them off.

[Opie55]

The Porsche yellow is much better, but in some ways painting those BMW calipers a bright color highlights that they are not particularly pretty calipers. The Porsche ones are so smooth and streamlined. Ours look like industrial equipment by comparison.

[FlyinLowSD]

@hasBMW: yes the yellow on the Porsche monoblock brakes looks good! Have at it! You will lose your decals and have to replace them. They are definitely not reusable . Please consider putting nice BMW ones on!

As to ours looking industrial, well, yeah, of course. Monoblock calipers always look better. They decrease the flex in multi-piston caliper systems. Considering upgrading to Brembos if I decide to track (a little) in the future.

[JBF650]

Yeah not a great colour tbh. And as has been highlighted the calipers on our cars simply aren’t that nice or streamlined to look at and painting them a stand out bright colour simply highlights this …. If it were me I’d have just left them black.

[Zoro85]

I agree the color is on the bright side in contrast to the blue…I like the decal I have an Msport as well and I’m looking to do a similar job with my calipers paint job looks great on yours btw

[shine775]

I don’t think it’s too bright. It looks good with the color of your car.

[hasBmw]

Originally Posted by Zoro85

I agree the color is on the bright side in contrast to the blue…I like the decal I have an Msport as well and I’m looking to do a similar job with my calipers paint job looks great on yours btw

Yeah the paint job is good very smooth, just the colour is too bright.

Though on passenger side it was a bit rushed and seems like paint about to peel or flake off but its not like most people will kneel down and observe so close up. As long as it looks good from a standing position near the car I suppose.

[hasBmw]

Originally Posted by JBF650

Yeah not a great colour tbh. And as has been highlighted the calipers on our cars simply aren’t that nice or streamlined to look at and painting them a stand out bright colour simply highlights this …. If it were me I’d have just left them black.

All the new BMW's are coming with blue or red calipers in a similar industrial looking caliper, unless its a M car then I think it will have these Monoblock calipers you guys speak of. Personally not bothered by the industrial look.

[hasBmw]

Originally Posted by Opie55

You are not really removing any clear cost, except just the tiniest amount necessary to scuff the surface. Or you can use wet/dry sandpaper (the black stuff). Use 400 or 600 grit. I've never used a pad for that, so not sure how well it will work. As stated above, the new paint needs a slightly rough surface to bite into so it does not just peel off. In the business it's often called "tooth." As for the decals, try a bit of acetone. Or they could be under a coat of clear. If you get a firm rubber sanding block, you could wet sand them off.

It has a lacquer clear coat on top so does this need to be fully removed and all gloss taken off first, not sure?

If its just a case of scuffing the surface with a fine 3M scotch brite pad and removing the M decal, and then cleaning up with brake cleaner.....then this should be okay.

Wary of using acetone as it may just remove a patch of paint and then it will get messy :-(

Anyway its already yellow so I reckon will only need 2 light coats of the porsche yellow once the prep work is done.

[JohnSmith1612]

The bright colors are always good for car. But some people prefer ligth color also. The eye catching colors for car is jet black, dark blue, dark purple and red these are some color that shine and always look like new. So you can also take help from affordable web design to design your car and make some modified in your car.

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by hasBmw

It has a lacquer clear coat on top so does this need to be fully removed and all gloss taken off first, not sure?

If its just a case of scuffing the surface with a fine 3M scotch brite pad and removing the M decal, and then cleaning up with brake cleaner.....then this should be okay.

Wary of using acetone as it may just remove a patch of paint and then it will get messy :-(

Anyway its already yellow so I reckon will only need 2 light coats of the porsche yellow once the prep work is done.

Under no circumstances do you need to remove the entire clear coat from the whole caliper. You are just roughing up the top surface of it. If your badge is under the clear coat then the top coat will need to be removed there until the decal is gone. Again, I have never used them but I suspect a 3M pad is not the best tool for this job. When you rub the pad on section of caliper, what does it look like? Is it still shiny but with some scratches or dull spots? The best end result is uniformly dull/satin when dry. No shiny spots. If the pad can achieve that, fine. But on the decal, you probably need a stiffer rubber block for either the pad or sandpaper so you can evenly sand that flat surface.

[hasBmw]

Will order the 3M pads and try it out on a small section and report back, probably in a couple weeks. These pads are essentially like contour sanding pads, to easily get to and scuff the curved and small areas nooks and crannies of the caliper.

What's the alternative? To use 400-600 sandpaper with wet sanding?
Is wet sanding with just a mist of water?

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by hasBmw

Will order the 3M pads and try it out on a small section and report back, probably in a couple weeks. These pads are essentially like contour sanding pads, to easily get to and scuff the curved and small areas nooks and crannies of the caliper.

What's the alternative? To use 400-600 sandpaper with wet sanding?
Is wet sanding with just a mist of water?

Yeah, I know what Scotch Brite pads are it's just that I've not used them on something like car paint. Yes, the alternative is 400-600 grit paper. Maybe even 320 for part of you need to sand off the sticker. No, its not a mist of water. You cut your pieces of paper and drop them in a bucket of clean water. They can sit in water for months - it won't hurt the paper if you buy wet/dry paper (the black stuff). The water is a lubricant, but mostly it carries away the slurry of what your are removing so it does not clog the paper. When the paper is not wet anymore, rinse it off in the bucket and keep going.

[RJV3]

Slightly on the bright side. But if you want something long lasting, I’d recommend powder coating the calipers instead of painting them. And if you have the m sport package then the decal is a nice touch.

[Low Country Larry]

Well, I will add a contrary voice. I think the yellow calipers you have look great. The contrast with the blue is striking and attractive. I do not mind the "M" at all. It doesn't scream at you, and it would not be at all unusual to have an M part on a non-M car. But what do I know? I have a blue 650 convertible with a red top ...