# Pleased with the overall fit and finish



## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

Had an opportunity to take advantage of the good weather we are having here in the mid-Atlantic to put a coat of wax on my "d". Very pleased with the overall fit and finish as I did not detect any areas of bad paint coverage, orange peel, etc. The black sapphire does look very nice when it is clean but will be a chore to keep that way. Checked the tire pressure and decided to go with 36 psi all around rather than the recommended max pressures of 39 front and 41 rear as I will be the only occupant 95% of the time. Will increase the pressures if we go on a road trip with luggage in the trunk and an extra passenger. Mileage could suffer a little so I may try increasing the presdures later and see if it makes a difference. Multi-spoke wheels will also be a challenge to keep clean as brake dust, especially in the front is still a BMW trait. When the times come I will spring for a set of ceramic pads as I have found they decrease dust by about 90% with no appreciable decrease in braking performance. Happy Motoring.


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## F32Fleet (Jul 14, 2010)

Interesting PSI.. I go with 33 all round.


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## dunderhi (Dec 10, 2006)

The 2011's have some fairly low dust brake pads already. I didn't know it when I bought the car and was confused as why my front wheels were staying so clean.


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

dunderhi said:


> The 2011's have some fairly low dust brake pads already. I didn't know it when I bought the car and was confused as why my front wheels were staying so clean.


Yes, I was a bit surprised how little brake dust was on my wheels today after a week's worth of driving. There was considerably less dust than what I find on my Z4 after just a short drive. Perhaps BMW has finally started using pads that don't produce so much dust so quickly. Time will tell.


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## KarlB (Nov 21, 2004)

my 2011 D doesnt have a brake dust problem at all, it seems BMW finally figured this one out:thumbup:


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## GB (Apr 3, 2002)

KarlB said:


> my 2011 D doesnt have a brake dust problem at all, it seems BMW finally figured this one out:thumbup:


I believe it was a mid-year MY2010 change for the lower dust brake pads. My 2/2010 build has them and they definitely put out less dust then other BMW's I've owned.

Graham


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

Since I have a 2009 with the dusty pads on all four corners, I found a brush that works well with those wheels the OP has. If interested I can dig around for when I mail ordered it, think I got it off of Autogeek.com


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

There must be close to 20 spokes to clean with little room between them, not a fun chore.


Sent from my iPhone using BimmerApp


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

It is not too bad, I do it pretty much every other week. My routine is something like this: 
- spray them down with some Meguiars wheel cleaner(this breaks up the brake dust but does not really take a whole lot off)
- let that sit for however long the bottle says
- spray them down with water
- then while washing the car I have an old wheel brush I run over them but do not bother trying to really get in between things with that one
- after washing the car I then use the other brush I have that will get up in between the spokes and inside the wheel
- rinse wheels
- after done drying the car itself I use an old towel to go over the wheels and that will grab any left over brake dust

I have the older pads though, so I get a lot of brake dust in no time at all, like just a day or two of driving. My method of cleaning them though leaves the entire outside brake dust free and actually it leaves most of the inside of the wheel brake dust free.


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## railroader (Apr 12, 2010)

GB said:


> I believe it was a mid-year MY2010 change for the lower dust brake pads. My 2/2010 build has them and they definitely put out less dust then other BMW's I've owned.
> 
> Graham


Ditto for me; I also have a 2/10 build like Graham and see almost none of the traditional "brake dust" we're talking about. Rmorin's car looks great, but I'm glad I've got the previous year wheel spoke pattern. I can clean those babies in pretty short order-- not as many "spokes" as the 2011's. By the way, I use a dedicated spoke brush sourced from my Harley Davidson dealer for the BMW's wheels; fits the gaps perfectly and it's an organic brush that is really gentle on the finish. They cost about 8 bucks and are standard stock at any HD dealer-


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

Now I need to go look at my wheels because I really remember mine looking just like rmorin's.


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

railroader said:


> Ditto for me; I also have a 2/10 build like Graham and see almost none of the traditional "brake dust" we're talking about. Rmorin's car looks great, but I'm glad I've got the previous year wheel spoke pattern. I can clean those babies in pretty short order-- not as many "spokes" as the 2011's. By the way, I use a dedicated spoke brush sourced from my Harley Davidson dealer for the BMW's wheels; fits the gaps perfectly and it's an organic brush that is really gentle on the finish. They cost about 8 bucks and are standard stock at any HD dealer-


Didn't realize BMW changed the wheels from 2009. I know the SP wheels have much fewer spokes than the non-SP wheels.


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

rmorin49 said:


> Didn't realize BMW changed the wheels from 2009. I know the SP wheels have much fewer spokes than the non-SP wheels.


I don't think they did, i am physically looking at my car right now and looking at your signature, our wheels look the same to me.


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## mecodoug (Nov 30, 2007)

Col., time to change 'mein auto'.....R32 is gone isn't it?

Definitely my '11 has much less dust and longer pad life than my '06 E90.


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## rmorin49 (Jan 7, 2007)

mecodoug said:


> Col., time to change 'mein auto'.....R32 is gone isn't it?
> 
> Definitely my '11 has much less dust and longer pad life than my '06 E90.


You are correct, R32 is gone. Change made.


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## EYE4SPEED (Apr 19, 2010)

For those that have dirty wheels... I have some wheels for sale in my signature. Helps the brake dust escape.


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