Of course you're criticizing the choices of others! This whole thread is about painting the calipers, why, so they'll look like high performance calipers! The covers just take it to the ultimate end. I see by the list of options and goodies you've put on that you're not immune to the bling! You make your choices and I will refrain from calling them silly.

just did the red vinyl mod to the "4" in ALL4, calipers will probably be next.

Car is Royal Grey with black roof/mirrors, and flat black twin spokes for summer-silver twin spokes for winter.

red is always the best color for calipers...afterall, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

I am on the fence about painted calipers as it draws attention to stock stuff. IMO if it is going made to be more noticeable, it should at least be worth looking at. To me stock brakes are not much to look at as they come with the car (they do need brakes after-all). If you order JCW brake or put a BBK on the car, by all means show it off and be proud.

Sorry if my comments were regarded as a personal attack, not the intent. Many worse things have been said about the covers in the past and I was quite civil. Sometime people have an opinion about plastidip and how cheap and cheasy it is; should have had the chrome painted or vinyl wrapped. I too did what I wanted to and I took the cheap, easy way out. Call if silly if you want to, heck call it whatever you want, it isn't going to change what I have done or will do my cars.

No need to be all offended over the word silly. I see no advantage, but rather a disadvantage to the covers. I know they are marketed with lots of hype about what it does for the car other than looks but I don't buy it one bit and thing those that do have just wasted $200, if they were $60, maybe. I just imagine one day they will be on a discount or autozone store shelf and to me that is the epitome of the cheap mods often seen of ricers. That is where I will leave this conversation. If you like your covers and feel they were worth it, then that's cool. Please don't put 35 stick-on chrome "vents", that is where I draw the line.

PS: If I ever see you in traffic, no hard feelings, I expect a wave back :) I see we are nearly neighbors. Don't need any bad MINI blood of brake covers right...

IMHO, if you want to do $200 for covers, if that is indeed what they are, so be it.
For me, I would have done Goodridge SS braided lines, ceramometallic pads and $10 for a rattle can of red high-temp caliper paint, ttl budget, just about $200. If you want some bling, glue some domed decals on top of the calipers after the paint is well set. Instant result, better looks, much more solid brake pedal feel, 90% less dust, better stopping power. Wins all round. Thats just me.
And my earlier comment was simply about a safety aspect, nothing more. I added functional hood louvers to my S to get rid of some of the ridiculous amounts of heat the tiny turbomotor generates and I got equal parts scorn and +1s, so to each his own. At the end of the day, its still your car.

I don't feel too bad about painting them since the brakes that are now standard in the US on S models were the JCW brakes in the R53 days. They're bigger than what you get on a Cooper, but they're not the massive Brembo brakes.

http://www.outmotoring.com/images/P/...Wbrakes_md.jpg

http://www.mini2.com/galleries/data/...rts_Brakes.JPG

https://i190.photobucket.com/albums/...P3020077-2.jpg

This......$200 on plastic covers? really? :lol:

Aluminum, front and rear.
http://www.calipercovers.com/_e/2011...per_Covers.htm

Product Detail:

Add Distinction To Your Ride

• Enhances your wheel appearance
• Reduces brake dust and keeps your rims cleaner.
• Simple Straight Forward Installation.

Engineering Excellence

• MGP Caliper Covers are laser cut from 6061-T6 aerospace aluminum.
• Bridge union is TIG welded for strength.
• Graphics applied using proprietary CNC high speed engraving techniques.
• Hydraulically formed to fit OEM brake caliper configuration.
• Patented stainless steel fastening system is secured with locking nut.
• High quality powder coated finish for all-weather toughness and durability.

Installation

• Installation is approximately 10 minutes per wheel. No drilling, no grinding, no tape or adhesive, no paint, no cleaning and no messy prep work. All you need is a jack, lug wrench, 3/8" wrench and you'll be ready to roll in less than an hour.

• Required clearance between wheel and caliper of 1/8 of an inch minimum (equal to the thickness of two quarters). Please verify clearance before submitting your order.

Warranty

• 3 year warranty against any manufacturer defects.
• Made in the USA.

Red would like great with the Orange

So, 18 months out, how do you like the covers? I am thinking of ordering for my 2013 CMS. A bit easier than painting (IMHO) and they advertise it cuts down on brake dust, so another plus. Thanks!

Jumping on the bandwagon
 

Painted mine last weekend using a brush-on kit from Duplicolor. It was more work than spraying, but I like how it came out.

Nice job Detours. One kit have plenty of paint for all four calipers?

Sent from my iPhone using NAMotoring

Plenty. I had my doubts about that little can, but we put two full coats on all four calipers and still had half a can left. If I had known how little we needed, I would have cleaned and prepped something else to paint.

I'm glad we had extra brushes though. The one they included fell apart halfway through the first coat.

Everything prepped and ready!

I have the G2 kit 'en route' for painting my front calipers (R53 if it matters). Obviously removing the calipers will give a more professional finish, but how involved is that? A YouTube search seemed to suggest 4 bolts is all you need to remove. I'm definitely non-mechanical and don't want to end up with brake pads falling out or sensor wires being pulled out....

Any help appreciated.

Anyone try these covers from ABS?

http://www.rvinyl.com/Caliper-Cover-.../CC-R-029.html

Collectively as a community, its safe to say we all flinch at the though of plastic covers i reckon. You are free to do so as its your car, just saying its a bit of a faux pas on a mini\bmw etc.