BBK Install: Dust Shield remove? or trim

[swhat]

For those of you whom installed BBKs, did you guys trim the dust shield? or just completely remove them? Thank you.

[Ervin87]

Most will just trim the shield.

[///M Ryder]

Trim

[kiln]

What did yall do with the brake sensors?

[ashtaron14]

Remove, since they don't really fit.

If they are ultimately important, wouldn't bolt-on BBK that you spend loads of money on come with them?

[swhat]

Looks like most people trim. Thanks for your advice. Now, whats a good way to trim them? Or are there after market dust shields thati can buy?

[dmw16]

I cut mine off because I didn't want sharp metal back there. Sometimes working around the brakes and suspension takes some muscle and I'd hate to slip and cut myself.

[mid-corner fun]

removed front shields, will put them back for the winter. It's a 30min job.

Otherwise you can use a dremel to trim them and a metal file to smooth them out.

[dmw16]

Originally Posted by mid-corner fun

removed front shields, will put them back for the winter. It's a 30min job.

Otherwise you can use a dremel to trim them and a metal file to smooth them out.

On the E46 you need to pull the hubs to get the shields off. Not do on the E9X?

[Richbot]

Real benefit of the shields, IMO, is keeping radiant heat off the rubber bits attached to the knuckle and the very heat-conductive aluminum knuckle itself, I would trim rather than remove if possible for that reason

[mid-corner fun]

Originally Posted by dmw16

On the E46 you need to pull the hubs to get the shields off. Not do on the E9X?

Not on the e9x fronts. They're held in place by 3 nuts, visible once you take off the rotor.

[te37]

I trimmed mine, granted this was a Nissan, felt comfortable knowing something was back there protecting the other side from debris and heat radiation.

[jphughan]

Trimmed for the ST-60 BBK I just had installed, can't see why you'd want to remove it since it still serves a purpose. StopTech instructions say you can use a metal snip and shows the area you need to cut as well as another area that has to be pushed back a bit. I didn't do it myself but it looked easy enough when I got to see the car during install.

Wear sensors were ziptied off, I think near the ABS wiring. I believe if you remove them entirely you trigger a warning, but not sure. The StopTech kit actually comes with racing zipties for this purpose that have metal retaining clips rather than plastic so they never, ever break loose accidentally. Here's their M3 front axle install guide so you can see what they recommend: http://www.stoptech.com/docs/install...60-16D0-02.pdf

Side note about the ST-60 kit if that's what you're considering. The tech who did my install at my mechanic/instructor buddy's shop had trouble getting the included pads installed into the calipers; the backing plate was essentially too "tall", based on the pad's vertical orientation when it's about to be installed into the caliper. That was also true of all of the PFC 08 track pads I'd ordered when I tried a test fit in both calipers. The tech said he might have been able to hammer them in, but was worried that with a fit that tight they might "bind" inside the caliper, i.e. be unable to slide freely between the piston and the rotor, which is obviously necessary for proper function. So instead he used a metal grinder to file off a small amount of the metal backing plate on each end of all of the pads, less than 1 mm total. StopTech confirmed that the caliper variant specific to the M3 has an extremely tight fit by design as an anti-rattle measure, and both they and the tech that did my install suspected that this would become a non-issue by the time I was ready for a new set because the current pads would wear down the abutment plates a bit during normal use. Time will tell, but seeing as I haven't read cases of people needing to grind the backing plates off their pads to make them fit into these calipers, I suspect that will prove to be true. Still, just a heads-up in case you end up ordering the ST-60 brand new.

UPDATE: Seems there's now a thread about the fitment issue I just described: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14262499

[swhat]

I actually got 380mm Brembos. But thank you for the detailed instructions jhughan. People with stoptechs will definitely use this thread for Stoptech Installation. Do you know if Brembos trimming is the same as Stoptechs? And have a pictures or can post a picture of the trimmed dust shield front and rear? Thank you.

[jphughan]

^ I don't know whether Brembos have the same trimming requirement, but if they do I imagine it would be mentioned in their install guide? I won't be in a spot to post pictures of my own dust shields any time soon, but StopTech's guide is very precise showing you where to cut, so it shouldn't be difficult to extrapolate what it looks like. I also only got a BBK for the front axle. I was planning to buy the rears until I encountered StopTech's own article arguing AGAINST rear brake upgrades in almost every case: http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...brake-upgrades. I figured if a company that makes money selling brake upgrades is telling you not to buy certain brake upgrades, it was advice worth heeding, and I certainly didn't mind saving a few grand. So at the track I'm going to run track pads up front and keep the Street Performance pads in the stock rear calipers, which others seem to have been doing for a while without any ill effects since the rears perform relatively little braking.

Out of curiosity, what made you spring for the rear kits and Brembos in general given how much more expensive they are than just about every other kit except maybe PFC? I haven't read anything to suggest they're a significant improvement over other kits, and there also don't seem to be as many track or street pad options for the Brembo BBK -- plus the Brembos don't allow pad swaps as easily as the StopTechs and don't clear nearly as many aftermarket 18" wheels, which is the most popular size for tracking; the only notable exception I'm aware of is the APEX EC-7.

[swhat]

I was actually looking at AP, Stoptech Trophies, and Brembos. I just happened to find a good deal on the brembos so went ahead and ordered them. For brembos, I believe there are endless pads and Pagid for tracks. I was planning on sticking with those two brands. And yes, it is harder to find 18" wheels for them, but I was going to eventually get EC-7 for the track since they are the cheapest options.
I wasn't too concerned about the time it takes to swap out pads, someone said they could do it in 10 mins for each corners with jacking up the car, so hopefully I can be that fast one day.

[bigjae1976]

I trimmed on my E90, cut them off on my E46. On my E46, I do have to dry the brakes after I go through a puddle since the back of the rotor and caliper get wet.

IIRC, doesn't the E9X have a brake drying feature?

Originally Posted by dmw16

I cut mine off because I didn't want sharp metal back there. Sometimes working around the brakes and suspension takes some muscle and I'd hate to slip and cut myself.

Sheesh...no you don't ...just don't expect to use them again.

[BikeGeek]

I cut them and removed on my E92.

The speed sensors got dirty and triggered a bunch of ABS, DSC and other errors, but after tearing down the rear brakes and cleaning up I haven't had another occurrence.

Next time I will trim them to fit. I was very excited to install everything and figured the quickest route was the "dust shield delete".

[Endless619]

Trim..

[Richbot]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

I trimmed on my E90, cut them off on my E46. On my E46, I do have to dry the brakes after I go through a puddle since the back of the rotor and caliper get wet.

IIRC, doesn't the E9X have a brake drying feature?



Sheesh...no you don't ...just don't expect to use them again.

Yes, but only if the wipers are on I believe, I often don't bother with the wipers on track once at speed, the air often does a better job

[jphughan]

^ +1, the E9x definitely has brake drying, but I believe it does require that the rain sensor be enabled and that it mandate that the wipers be turned on. I remember reading a white paper about the braking system a while back, had a lot of detail about some very cool brake system features overall.