Check out the pics, I have rusty brake hats (I think that's what's called). Is this normal? I checked my other car (Nissan Pathfinder) and it's all silver looking not a single sign of rust. I also looked at other BMWs (not E90s) and they don't have any rust either. I know it don't mess up the brakes, but it just looks awful, especially on the new car. I only have 11K on it, but this been there since about 3-4K. I don't know if pictures show it too well, but you can kinda see it, especially in the one where the sun shines on it, that's the rusty color I have on all four corners.

Do you live close to the ocean?

Not really, live on the East Coast about 1.5hr away driving from Atlantic, and about 30minutes to the bay.

You're must be close enough to the shore to cause the "Rust Look" and the weather maybe just damp where you live. I get the "Rust Look" when I wash the car or when it's raining.... or just humid and I'm no where near a large body of water........

I'm not talking about the rotors surface, just the hats. But the rust look stays on the hats permanently, and brake hats on my other car look brand new with no rust on it whatsoever.

I've even had the disk become all covered in rust, although I can't recall the exact circumstances. Maybe a combination of break heat, humidity and a cold atmosphere?!

I've even had the disk become all covered in rust, although I can't recall the exact circumstances. Maybe a combination of break heat, humidity and a cold atmosphere?!

This happens on my 335 all the time. I work from home and sometimes the car sits for 2-3 days. If this happens the rotors almost always have a light coating of surface rust. The nice thing is the 335 brake pads cover the entire rotor so as soon as you drive and brake, it cleans all the rust off (but not the hats of course). My old C230 rear brake pads don't contact the entire rotor, so there is a permanent circle of rust on there. Very unsightly.

Get yourself some rust paint of an appropriate silver color, a small brush and away you go. I used to do it all the time on my audi. Its just raw metal reacting to moisture. Its one of the reasons I didn't go with the 19" rims...too much open space to the brakes and rotors.....which are usually dirty or kinda rusty.

It's kind of surprising to me that BMW does not paint the rotor hats to prevent this. Even my lowly Cobra had painted hats. In any case, the solution is to pull off the wheels, clean the rust, and spray on some hi-temp paint. I've used VHT with great success. Don't worry about masking the rotor as overspray on the braking surface will come off as soon as you brake.

-Dave

Thanks guys,
I'm just surprised that 45K car can't have painted rotor hats, but my Nissan Pathfinder has nice greyish gloss painted OEM rotor hats and not a single rust spot, and the truck is over a year old. Weird. I guess I just get some spray paint and do it myself. I checked my friends M3 and he doesn't have any rust either, and we live in the same area.

I get the same result. Its noticable immediately after I wash the car (weekly). Then the rust drips on the rim. Its easy to wipe the rim and remove the rust with a hand towel. I don't think I care enough to remove the wheels. Its a battle dealing with the brake dust!