Caliper Covers - Any Reason Not To?

[Ksquared]

I'm thinking about installing a set of caliper covers in carbon fiber, Bavarian Auto part number 22019-S-FN-CF.

I have a 2007 Z4 3.0si Roadster with 18" 108 wheels. Will these fit without other modification? Is there any downside to getting them?

I think they'd dress up the wheel area a bit.

[3002 tii]

one reason because perhaps you don't have a civic? don't do it!

if you're looking to fill out the gap, don't know what to tell you. if you just want the color, buy g2 caliper paint kit. has a nice finish, very durable and does well against the heat, and comes with brushes so you don't need to take the brakes apart (as opposed to other spray on kits).

[inTgr8r]

.....

[esqu1re]

Looks tacky. Adds a little weight. Serves no mechanical purpose. Pretends to be a fixed caliper. Adds another step when changing pads.

However, if you like it, go for it. It's your car. I can think of much worse things to do to your car.

[Ksquared]

I suppose I should mention that my last car was a Porsche Boxster S (also not a Civic, Dubbledown) which had red calipers and I thought they looked fine. I thought the carbon fiber would be a little more understated with my Alpine Silver Z4 than the red would be.

I can''t understand why they would look especially tacky, since most of the big brake kits I see come with bright red calipers. Do you guys paint those dirty grey?

[The HACK]

The question here is, who are you trying to impress? Those that don't know, won't care. Those that do, will laugh their @sses off at some caliper covers glued onto the stock system.

So if you're trying to impress fellow enthusiasts? Nobody is going to be impressed by some "carbon fiber" caliper covers (since, well, carbon fiber isn't a suitable material to build calipers out of), and the rest of the world won't care that you have these cool caliper covers anyway.

So the ONLY answer that justifies these covers, is if YOU are only trying to impress yourself. If that's the case, go right ahead. Nothing we say here will make a difference (nor should it) anyway.

[Ksquared]

Originally Posted by The HACK

The question here is, who are you trying to impress? Those that don't know, won't care. Those that do, will laugh their @sses off at some caliper covers glued onto the stock system.

So if you're trying to impress fellow enthusiasts? Nobody is going to be impressed by some "carbon fiber" caliper covers (since, well, carbon fiber isn't a suitable material to build calipers out of), and the rest of the world won't care that you have these cool caliper covers anyway.

So the ONLY answer that justifies these covers, is if YOU are only trying to impress yourself. If that's the case, go right ahead. Nothing we say here will make a difference (nor should it) anyway.

I wasn't doing it to impress anyone, but only to "dress up" a rather dingy area of the car, especially with my wheels, which I consider nice looking and VERY open.

However, your point about carbon fiber not being a suitable material for brake calipers is a valid one. I think they would look incongruous from that standpoint.

Thanks for some valid insight. I'm going to give this some more thought.

[r4gs]

i think the bottom line here is a personal one - do u fancy a self-perceived improvement in looks or not? functionally, caliper covers have a negative effect - added weight, mounting, wheel clearance et al.

[inTgr8r]

.....retains heat & brake dust around the caliper

[Ksquared]

Now we're getting somewhere. The idea that they would retain brake dust and heat around the calipers is exactly the kind of input I was looking for.

I'm also intrigued by the wheel clearance issue. Is it possible that there wouldn't be sufficient clearance with my wheels?

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by Ksquared

I suppose I should mention that my last car was a Porsche Boxster S (also not a Civic, Dubbledown) which had red calipers and I thought they looked fine. I thought the carbon fiber would be a little more understated with my Alpine Silver Z4 than the red would be.

I can''t understand why they would look especially tacky, since most of the big brake kits I see come with bright red calipers. Do you guys paint those dirty grey?

As a former P-car owner, more the reason you should realize why it's tacky.

On your Boxster S (or any Porsche for that matter), it looked fine because they were REAL fixed calipers but putting covers on is silly. It's the equivalent of going to Auto Zone and purchasing magnetic stick-on vents. They're clearly fake and your car deserves better than that!

FYI - the reason I mentioned Civic is because that's the only car I've ever seen with caliper covers. I've yet to see any Bimmer with one...

[Ksquared]

Dub:

The reason I was even considering this addition was because my 108 wheels are so open and the stock calipers are so unfortunate looking that I thought the added detail would enhance the car's overall look. I don't see this akin to stick on vents; but more like the CF spoilers that many people have added to the deck lid of their car(s). As I'm sure you well know, the aerodynamic effect of such spoilers is negligible at any speed likely to be encountered on the street, so the functionality of these spoilers is questionable at street speeds. Indeed, without wind tunnel testing the effect at track speeds is also questionable. This does not, however, prevent people from adding them to their vehicles for what, I can only assume, are aesthetic purposes. I did like the look of the red calipers on my Boxster S, but as far as I can tell, the stock brakes are going to be more than sufficient for my type of driving (I never track the car), so a $5,000 mod for front and rear big brake kits doesn't seem to be a worthwhile expenditure.

I was concerned about negative effects of the mod, so I posted the question. That was the long and short of it. The feedback I received on the potential negative effects has caused me to decide against the addition. So I guess I'm just going to have to live with the look as it is, unless I decide to go for some new wheels and tires.

Wasn't looking to pick a fight. No hard feelings.

[jra]

I'm going to admit that I have only read the initial post...i try to stay out of these types of threads. if you are dead set on caliper covers, get the MGP covers they seem to be well built and are pretty popular

[shitbrownMcoupe]

it's either real or don't do it...
you wanna impress a girl.. you did it already.
you wanna impress a fellow car enthusiat.... if they cared about your feelings, they'd just look and walk away.

don't ruin your nice ride

[xkegto]

Couple things here. On the G2 caliper paint: I wish they made the classic "caliper grey" color; I like silver but can't see how you can get any metalflake color right with a brush. It has to be mixed and shot through a paint gun. Silver paint in a can looks like grey with black swirls. Second on the caliper covers holding heat & adding weight: True but guess what. Big money new Porsche's and Ferrari's have powder coated calipers and that finish will hold more heat than a cover any day. Powder coat (material) is polyester and it's applied on thicker than paint.

[JJZ4MR]

I recently purchased my 2006 Z4 M Roadster. I have been wiping a lot of brake dust off the wheels which seems to accumulate very quickly. I considered changing brake pads that produce less dust but I've been advised on this forum with that these brake pads will decrease my stopping power and heat up much more quickly, which I would think would increase my brake fade I'm going to start off with some autocrossing and graduate to HPDE in the future. I care about the looks as well as the performance and I think my Factory calipers look terrible on this car. I've seen a few things on covers and right now I have Bavarian Autohaus pulled up with the MGP wit the red covers to fit the car for $199. I saw sets on eBay for $ 90 but they are glue on not bolt on as the MGPs are. Three things are stated on the description as my title indicates 1) reducing caliper Heat 2) reducing brake fade 3) decreasing brake dust accumulating on the wheels. All of these things sound beneficial to me and also I think increase the looks of this area of the car as I believe the calipers are completely hideous. I don't really understand the TACKY factor that has been discussed here as I think these big red powder coated covers would actually increase the good looks of this wheel area. Mini performance sports cars have these big brake systems which all look pretty much identical to theses red covers, they stand out and I think they look good.

So can anyone tell me if any of this would be true, From what I've read on this thread there would be no benefits and they would look tacky. And as far as getting to the brakes during a brake change they are bolt on, installation is stated as taking 10 minutes per wheel, so I don't really think time would be a factor of taking these covers off when I would need a brake pad change

[inTgr8r]

^how can a cover possibly reduce heat?
A cover by nature would keep heat in.

[dc_wright]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

^how can a cover possibly reduce heat?
A cover by nature would keep heat in.

The "reduced heat" claim is based on increasing the effective surface area, similar to adding the heat sink to the processor or power supply in your PC. In reality, the covers only have point contact with the caliper leaving a very high resistance thermal path which provides no added cooling.

JJZ4MR, the G2 caliper paint does a great job of dressing up the calipers and I'd consider that before the covers. Just my $.02.

[inTgr8r]

^Exactly!

[JJZ4MR]

I just ordered a can of Armor All Outlast Brake Dust Repellant, good reviews, some cool sponsored videos and some Lug Nut Brushes both from Amazon ( Prime ), going to detail the wheels soon, seems like I should clean up the calipers and get some G2...wonder how close to Imola Red I can get...Time to Google...My thanks as always

[dc_wright]

Originally Posted by JJZ4MR

I just ordered a can of Armor All Outlast Brake Dust Repellant, good reviews, some cool sponsored videos and some Lug Nut Brushes both from Amazon ( Prime ), going to detail the wheels soon, seems like I should clean up the calipers and get some G2...wonder how close to Imola Red I can get...Time to Google...My thanks as always

The G2 red is a lot closer to BMW Hellrot than it is to Imola unfortunately.

[JJZ4MR]

I checked out a bunch of reviews on G2/Dupli color/POR15...think I'll put this on the back burner for now. G2 red is not very red, more like burnt orange, the 900* rating is better than the others, looks like a pretty good project to get the car all up on stands ( tough for me at the time ) then all the cleaning prep/masking. Going to just do the detail.
My lug nuts are pretty crappy looking, thinking about getting a brand new set. Has anyone ever tried an aftermarket lug nut, or just stick to OEM ?