[abpatel]

I have lots of brake dust after only 600 miles

Here's some before and after I cleaned them. Ahhhhh

What are people's suggestions from preventing this from happening?

Also here are some bad pictures of my e90 and the e46 coupe which parks next to me in the garage.

[Mark]

the bane of my existance my friend.... i hate brake dust and it builds up so fast on BMWs because of the pads they use (better braking characterists, but sheds dust like a mother..).

There are dustless pads out there from Axxis that work well, but i've never tried them because I figure, why should I pay for a different set of pads while the car is still under full maintenance and would get brake pads for free from BMW. But if the brake dust bvothers you enough, you can get those dustless brake pads and they really work.

[Broken1]

I pay someone once or twice a week to clean my wheels (if I'm not getting my car cleaned), I even do it myself sometimes...doesn't take too long! I also hate the brake dust.

I once found stuff, where you just spray it on the wheels...and 15 minutes later is has evaporated and the wheels were clean. Can't remeber what it was called though, but it worked pretty well!

[ward]

it's just a BMW thing, they all do this

[res_ipsa]

Just apply wax to the wheels, the brake dust will come off so easily with just a towel. No shame in having brake dust covered wheels, just shows you've been driving your car properly - hard!

[Pangearox]

me and my dad over the years have tried a lot of different things...and we have found that the kitchen cleaner called "Vim" works the best!!!...

and you just have to do it like twice a week...there is really not much you can do about it

[Gnosis]

There are "brake dust shields" that you place on the inside of the wheels which prevents dust from getting to the rims. I wouldn't recommend them though... You can't see the discs anymore and if you drive hard they totally mess up the brake cooling.

Apply several layers of wax and clean often (maybe wíth Vim? why not...)

Don't use acid though (which isn't uncommon....). You risk damaging the protective paint and if your then get acid on the aluminium... bye, bye rims... they'll detoriate within a month....

[shipo]

Originally Posted by abpatel

What are people's suggestions from preventing this from happening?

Last year, after weathering nine consecutive years of dealing with the brake dust issues inherent in all German cars (and most other European cars as well), I switched the pads on my 530i from the OEM full dust pads to a set of PBR/Axxis Deluxe pads, and was stunned at the difference. I noticed zero difference in how the brake pedal felt, even when stopping from high speed, however, there was a huge improvement in the dust issue. My beautiful 2-Piece Type 42 wheels went from perpetually black (after only a couple of hundred miles) to perpetually clean, no washing necessary.

Relative to the E90, I had a talk with the U.S. Rep from the parent company of PBR/Axxis a few months ago, and he indicated that they were going to start the tooling for the E90 pads this Summer with the first shipments leaving the docks in Australia in the mid to late fall. That should equate to the pads hitting our left shores early next year.

I am so over dealing with brake dust that I am actually considering taking a set of pads to Germany next April, and performing a pad swap in the parking lot of the ED center there in Munich before I even hit the roads in my (planned on) new E90 330i.

Best Regards,
Shipo

[bozo5521]

Originally Posted by Gnosis

There are "brake dust shields" that you place on the inside of the wheels which prevents dust from getting to the rims. I wouldn't recommend them though... You can't see the discs anymore and if you drive hard they totally mess up the brake cooling.

Apply several layers of wax and clean often (maybe wíth Vim? why not...)

The easiest and best way...Brake dust although annoying as hell, is a good thing..The more dust, the more ventilation, the less replacing...But "Kleen Wheels" virtually eliminates the dust, and keeps a good amount of ventilation to the brakes apparently..You can order them through www.bavauto.com...

[abpatel]

Thanks for all the good suggestions!

[shipo]

Originally Posted by bozo5521

The easiest and best way...Brake dust although annoying as hell, is a good thing..The more dust, the more ventilation, the less replacing...But "Kleen Wheels" virtually eliminates the dust, and keeps a good amount of ventilation to the brakes apparently..You can order them through www.bavauto.com...

I've known two folks who've used "Kleen Wheels" on their cars; one BMW and one Audi. Judging by the fact that they both had to replace their rotors within 10K miles after installing those devices, I'd call them "Hot Wheels" or maybe even "Hot Brakes". Those tiny vents that they use to cool the brakes are so insufficient that even under moderate driving conditions, your rotors are likely to develop "Hard Spots" (or "Hot Spots" depending upon what part of the country you're from), and once a section of a rotor has become re-tempered, you will feel pulsing in your brake pedal, which will only become worse over time. The only known fix for a "Kleen Wheels" pulsing brake pedal is to remove both the Kleen Wheel dust shields and the brake rotors, and throw them away.

Best Regards,
Shipo

[lumberman]

I've replace the brake pad in my a4 before due to above reason, but half year later on a regular service, my dealer warned me to replace the rotor disc due to excessive wear on them, and I knew I made a bad choice!

[shipo]

Originally Posted by lumberman

I've replace the brake pad in my a4 before due to above reason, but half year later on a regular service, my dealer warned me to replace the rotor disc due to excessive wear on them, and I knew I made a bad choice!

There are a number explanations for needing to replace your rotors. First, since all manufacturers are attempting to reduce vehicle weight, especially unsprung weight, they are using thinner rotors. So much so that many folks (including me) simply replace their rotors with each set of pads. Second, how many miles were already on your rotors before you replaced your pads? If you went say twenty or thirty thousand miles and simply replaced the pads, then regardless of what type of pads you used (OEM or not), your rotors might well have gotten down to minimum thickness levels not too long after the pads were replaced.

Another issue is the type of pads themselves. Using PBR/Axxis as an example, they sell three different types of pads each with its own braking compound. The "Deluxe Plus" pads are kinder and gentler to your rotors (and very similar to German OEM pads in that regard), and virtually dustless. The "XBG" pads (formerly known as "Metal Master") are a little harder (and a little dustier by the way, but no where near as much as the OEM pads), and thus are a little harder on your rotors, however, they have considerably greater fade resistance than the OEM pads. They are so versatile that they can even be used for occasional short duration competition events, providing even better fade resistance than the OEM pads. Then there are the "ULT" Ceramic competition pads that are so hard (and nearly as dusty as OEM pads) that they might could well wear out a brand new set of rotors before the pads themselves are fully gone.

One last possibility is that your dealership was just searching for a means to make a little extra money. No surprise there.

A "bad choice" you say? I rather doubt it.

Best Regards,
Shipo