DeBadged/Ferrari Red Brake Calipers/Smoked Reflectors/Side Markers/Rear Lamp

[BMWZ4RIDER]

I thought I post my 1st Z4 Projects completed in late November, among many others.
I de-Bagded the side sDrive 35I and rear Z4 emblems
I painted with VHT Brake Caliper High Heat Paint in Ferrari Red color.
I painted the rotors and backing plates high heat, high gloss silver.
I fully cleaned and polished the wheels and added new Center Caps with CF wrap for the black.
I added BMW Logo Valve Stem Caps with the the stem wrapped in Teflon tape before installation.
With the wheels off I removed the Orange Front and Rear Red Reflectros, removed the White Side Lamp Marker Lights and Read 3rd Brake Light and coverd them with smoked film.
Each wheel tool 45 minutes to clean and poilish with 3 coats of Mother's Glaze cleaner and sealer and then 2 coats of wheel wax.
Each brake took 1.5 hours to clean, mask, 2 coats of paint and final touch up.
This was completded after throughly and heavily cleaning with brake cleaner, SS brushes, heavy sanding and final cleaning of all parts and components.
The result looks fantastic.

[Land_Shark]

Originally Posted by BMWZ4RIDER

I thought I post my 1st Z4 Projects completed in late November, among many others.
I de-Bagded the side sDrive 35I and rear Z4 emblems
I painted with VHT Brake Caliper High Heat Paint in Ferrari Red color.
I painted the rotors and backing plates high heat, high gloss silver.
I fully cleaned and polished the wheels and added new Center Caps with CF wrap for the black.
I added BMW Logo Valve Stem Caps with the the stem wrapped in Teflon tape before installation.
With the wheels off I removed the Orange Front and Rear Red Reflectros, removed the White Side Lamp Marker Lights and Read 3rd Brake Light and coverd them with smoked film.
Each wheel tool 45 minutes to clean and poilish with 3 coats of Mother's Glaze cleaner and sealer and then 2 coats of wheel wax.
Each brake took 1.5 hours to clean, mask, 2 coats of paint and final touch up.
This was completded after throughly and heavily cleaning with brake cleaner, SS brushes, heavy sanding and final cleaning of all parts and components.
The result looks fantastic.

Thanks for sharing with us your project. Red (or any other color of calipers) is not my choice. Kind of reminding me of the VW golf. But certainly, this is my personal opinion and others may not necessarily share my opinion/taste.

I might have gone with black if I really, really had the urge to paint the calipers...

[ManiacGT]

The brakes seem tiny compared to mine (also 35i) I wonder if they fit different ones in the US...

[nicknaz]

nice! Thanks for sharing. Works well with your wheel design where you just see a hint of color showing through the spokes.

[BMWZ4RIDER]

With the Red calipers, I did not immediately think VW Golf.
Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lambo all kinda came to mind.

[Rafale]

wow I did not realize the darker sidemarkers would look this good in a space grey. Thanks for sharing.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by BMWZ4RIDER

With the Red calipers, I did not immediately think VW Golf.
Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lambo all kinda came to mind.

I think the shape of our stock brake calipers is closer to Golf GTi etc than those exotic cars.

[BMWZ4RIDER]

I like them which is all that counts and my personal preference.
I certainly don't consider this $68K car (when new) in the same class with the Golf, other wise a nice GTI would have been in the cards.

[nicknaz]

probably not the greatest forum welcome... sorry!

@ManiacGT: correct the US 35i gets same brakes as 30i.. exUS 35i gets same (larger) brakes as 35is (boo!)

[BMWZ4RIDER]

No issues here. That's what makes these forums fun and open for all opinions. All individual cars and tastes to view and get ideas from (or not)

[Asbjorn]

Well, I just want to say I think, given that you had to mod your car , this is done quite tastefully indeed. And I like your house as well.

Now I want to ask you, because I saw this on the Z4 nightmarish/vampire video as well. What is that shark-fin-thing sitting near your rear center brake light? Mine does not have that.

[Land_Shark]

Originally Posted by BMWZ4RIDER

No issues here. That's what makes these forums fun and open for all opinions. All individual cars and tastes to view and get ideas from (or not)

Sorry if I have offended you, that was certainly not my intentions.

On the red calipers vs the Brambos or the alike Break kits, there is a big difference here.
The Golf GTI used regular disk breaks and colored their calipers. Which in my opinion is not appreciated. But if you have installed a BBK kit with yellow or red calipers, you would have certainly saw my thump up, up...
Again, no offense is meant nor an unwelcome to this forum. Rather sharing my personal opinion, which is certainly not shared by everyone...
Cheers.

[Land_Shark]

Originally Posted by Asbjrn

Well, I just want to say I think, given that you had to mod your car , this is done quite tastefully indeed. And I like your house as well.

Now I want to ask you, because I saw this on the Z4 nightmarish/vampire video as well. What is that shark-fin-thing sitting near your rear center brake light? Mine does not have that.

The fin is the Satellite radio antenna. We do not have this option in Asia

[laz4]

Unfortunately the z4's calipers just are not very beautiful. I wish they were more elegant. Painting them seems like the right impulse before you realize that it won't be enough to transform them.

[VailM3]

Shame the z4 bakes are terrible, would never paint to attract attention to them, should have gone aftermarket.

[jparnes1]

The work you did on Your calipers would be more effective of you had more open wheels. All those spokes hide the results. Too bad.

[Crazykoh]

Originally Posted by VailM3

Shame the z4 bakes are terrible, would never paint to attract attention to them, should have gone aftermarket.

But you're still then stuck with the uggo calipers on the rear wheels thanks to the e brake. No win situation.

[BMWZ4RIDER]

Agreed on the above. I wish I had Brembos or other HIPO calipers, so I am making the best of my stockers.

[VailM3]

Originally Posted by Crazykoh

But you're still then stuck with the uggo calipers on the rear wheels thanks to the e brake. No win situation.

Yeah, wish there was a way around it and still having the ebrake.

[Nkc]

what does Ferrari have anything to do with that red?

[Z4-35i]

Nice work, I like the tinted side indicators, how easy were they to remove?

[BMWZ4RIDER]

The F orange reflectors, the Rear red reflector and marker lights were very easy to remove. To remove the side markers, open the hood. You will see a small slot between the fender and wheel well that is just large enough to slide a trimmed down wooded paint stick in the opening and reach the front plastic release tab on the marker light. This is done by feel as you cannot see the release tab. With the end of the paint stick, push gently on the Plastic tab to release it. Once released the light pops out and remove the lamp wiring. I covered them using a 20% headlight film.