01-01-2022, 04:12 PM | #1 |
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Aftermarket brakes with shiny rotor hats?
The OEM BMW brake rotors have the big, rounded "hats" that are very shiny silver. The climate where I live is such that they stay shiny and I kind of like that look through the wheel spokes. Does anyone know if any aftermarket brand rotors are like that? I'm picturing Zimmerman and other brands having that dull gray coating.
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01-02-2022, 09:34 AM | #3 |
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01-18-2022, 03:58 PM | #4 |
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The hat is shiny because the OE BMW rotor is a 2-piece riveted design where the hat is aluminum (which doesn't rust but can corrode over time) and the friction disk is iron. Some aftermarket and OEM suppliers also have a 2-piece product, including Zimmerman, Brembo, and Pagid. The 1-piece design has the rust-inhibiting zinc coating on the rotor hat as well since it's iron, which gives it that dull gray look that will eventually come off. You can powder coat or paint this part to keep the iron hat from rusting.
I would check the product catalog for the part number of the 2-piece rotor and try and get that. These are typically more expensive - often twice as expensive - as the 1-piece one. There are arguments over which is better, but I try to stick with the OE design which is 2-piece riveted for the stock floating calipers.
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01-19-2022, 07:46 AM | #6 |
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02-02-2022, 06:27 PM | #7 |
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On 2-piece rotors, the hat is aluminum so it doesn't have the problem of rusting over time. So it's not necessary to have the zinc coating on this part of the disk. Zimmermann and Brembo rotors may apply different amounts of zinc coating on the hat, which also might vary with the manufacturing batch. The Genuine BMW rotors I got had some overspray of the zinc coating on the hat, but only about an inch into the hat.
I haven't been able to find Zimmermann 2-piece, and I didn't buy the Brembo or Pagid rotors. But from pictures I saw online, it seemed like Brembo didn't coat the hat with zinc coating as much so you might get a shiny hat.
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01-26-2023, 11:32 PM | #8 |
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I have done more research and answered my own question for anyone else wanting to know. The only two-piece rotors with shiny aluminum hats I can find are OEM BMW and Brembo. Brembo's look cool, but they cost quite a bit more than the already-pricey OEM rotors.
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