Painted wheels caused brake discs to warp!?
Discussion
I got the wheels on my 3 month old X7 powder coated as didn't want them silver. No big deal, did the same on my 350Z and M3 and use the same place in Manchester.
However, 8 weeks later - getting some vibration through the steering under braking - probably the tracking as the wife smacked a kerb hard. So i take it in to my local dealer and they inform me they can't do anything as its due to my getting the wheels painted and it is ruining the heat distribution, they even have a BMW Service Bulletin on this.
I'm very perplexed on this. I took the wheels back to the company that painted them and they took them off to inspect the paint and make sure it wasn't over any of the vents, and it wasn't. They've done thousands of these and never had a complaint.
Anyone else had or heard anything like this?
Currently I'm looking at a £1300 bill for new discs which they say will keep happening unless I strip all the paint off my wheels, or buy a new set. They didn't even look at the tracking on the car as soon as they saw the wheels had being painted.
However, 8 weeks later - getting some vibration through the steering under braking - probably the tracking as the wife smacked a kerb hard. So i take it in to my local dealer and they inform me they can't do anything as its due to my getting the wheels painted and it is ruining the heat distribution, they even have a BMW Service Bulletin on this.
I'm very perplexed on this. I took the wheels back to the company that painted them and they took them off to inspect the paint and make sure it wasn't over any of the vents, and it wasn't. They've done thousands of these and never had a complaint.
Anyone else had or heard anything like this?
Currently I'm looking at a £1300 bill for new discs which they say will keep happening unless I strip all the paint off my wheels, or buy a new set. They didn't even look at the tracking on the car as soon as they saw the wheels had being painted.
There should be no paint on the mating face of the alloy wheel at all!
If they've powdercoated that surface it needs to be removed - a palm sander will soon have that done
It does have an issue in stopping the heat from braking from being distributed properly, but, you'd have to have been absolutely anchoring on your brakes and getting them stupidly hot for this to be noticed really
Brake discs don't warp on road going cars!
They can be crap from factory; or there are pad deposits on the face of the discs that need to be removed (generally hard but safe braking will do this) or there's crap between the mating surface of the disc & hub / disc & wheel and/or the powdercoating has left an uneven surface etc
If they've powdercoated that surface it needs to be removed - a palm sander will soon have that done
It does have an issue in stopping the heat from braking from being distributed properly, but, you'd have to have been absolutely anchoring on your brakes and getting them stupidly hot for this to be noticed really
Brake discs don't warp on road going cars!
They can be crap from factory; or there are pad deposits on the face of the discs that need to be removed (generally hard but safe braking will do this) or there's crap between the mating surface of the disc & hub / disc & wheel and/or the powdercoating has left an uneven surface etc
I had exactly this problem recently. New discs and pads on to cure brake shake, but it came back quite quickly and after checking everything, they concluded it was the wheels. They cleaned up the mating surface and fitted new brakes, which cured the problem.
Sort the wheels out before you fit new discs and pads!
Sort the wheels out before you fit new discs and pads!
MikeM6 said:
I had exactly this problem recently. New discs and pads on to cure brake shake, but it came back quite quickly and after checking everything, they concluded it was the wheels. They cleaned up the mating surface and fitted new brakes, which cured the problem.
Sort the wheels out before you fit new discs and pads!
Did you have to buy new wheels?Sort the wheels out before you fit new discs and pads!
PinkFatBunny said:
MikeM6 said:
I had exactly this problem recently. New discs and pads on to cure brake shake, but it came back quite quickly and after checking everything, they concluded it was the wheels. They cleaned up the mating surface and fitted new brakes, which cured the problem.
Sort the wheels out before you fit new discs and pads!
Did you have to buy new wheels?Sort the wheels out before you fit new discs and pads!
It's an easy job to do
It’s a known problem, if you remove the powder coating from the mating flange then the problem doesn't occur, whenever I have wheels refurbed I ask for the coating to be removed from the mating flange or I sand if off before fitting.
The first time this happened on my old M5 I had the disks skimmed on the car and sanded off the powder coat, the disk skimming only removed a little material and was many times less expensive than new disks, maybe you should consider it.
Dave
The first time this happened on my old M5 I had the disks skimmed on the car and sanded off the powder coat, the disk skimming only removed a little material and was many times less expensive than new disks, maybe you should consider it.
Dave
Edited by DVandrews on Wednesday 21st September 09:39
My wife bought an approved used Z4 and soon noticed vibration on heavy braking. Took to our local BMW dealer and they reported that the disks and pads had been contaminated by a wheel refurb. As it had been purchased like that, the supplying dealer paid for new disks and pads all round.
I bought a 2022 X3 M40i CPO.
In the 7 months i have owned the car it has eaten 3 sets of brakes/rotors. The dealer changes them, car drives smooth, then after a few 1000 km braking vibration starts.
The dealer just identified that the wheels had been repainted by the previous owner and that the wheels are causing the brake issues leading to the vibrations.
I haven’t seen the back side of the wheels myself but the dealer said that the interface of the wheels to the hub on the car was not painted. So this is just a case of bad paint job messing with the braking. Crazy.
I need to buy snow tire setup. I guess i wont go with aftermarket painted wheels.
In the 7 months i have owned the car it has eaten 3 sets of brakes/rotors. The dealer changes them, car drives smooth, then after a few 1000 km braking vibration starts.
The dealer just identified that the wheels had been repainted by the previous owner and that the wheels are causing the brake issues leading to the vibrations.
I haven’t seen the back side of the wheels myself but the dealer said that the interface of the wheels to the hub on the car was not painted. So this is just a case of bad paint job messing with the braking. Crazy.
I need to buy snow tire setup. I guess i wont go with aftermarket painted wheels.
BMWs are very picky about pristine and perfectly flat hub faces, and also disc quality.
After some similar woes I just bit the bullet and paid BMW for the expensive 370mm discs and pads and it's been perfect ever since. 20K since fitment and not a single squeak or pedal wobble. No idea who makes BMWs discs as they're unbranded, but clearly the steel quality of theirs far exceeds aftermarket stuff unless you go for AP Racing or Alcon rotors.
After some similar woes I just bit the bullet and paid BMW for the expensive 370mm discs and pads and it's been perfect ever since. 20K since fitment and not a single squeak or pedal wobble. No idea who makes BMWs discs as they're unbranded, but clearly the steel quality of theirs far exceeds aftermarket stuff unless you go for AP Racing or Alcon rotors.
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