Brake caliper guide bolts

[Shankster]

Bentley says to assemble these dry?? Whats the consensus? Dry or use the grease?

[Macv]

I just cleaned them off with a dry towel. So basically dry with whatever tiny amount of grease is on there.

[Adnan]

Probably to prevent gunk building up and causing binding.

Regards,
Adnan

[BMWCCA1]

I use disc-brake caliper grease from the local auto-parts store.
http://www.itwconsumer.com/productfiles/product_176.jpg

[yaofeng]

Bentley says to assemble these dry?? Whats the consensus? Dry or use the grease?

If you use grease, it'll burn off in no time under that high temperature environment.

[Brandon J]

Well, you can do either. Because of the heat and gunk build-up, dry lube is preferrable or use specific lube for brakes. Careful with some lubes as they can deteriorate the guide bushings quicker because they are made of rubber. If you don't know what to get or use as of yet and need to finish the brakes, just clean any dirt and reassemble dry.

[Dr. evil]

If you use grease, it'll burn off in no time under that high temperature environment.
most sytheitic bracke lubes can handle the temps.


http://www.lubegard.com/automotive/brake_calipergrease.html

[BMWCCA1]

Well, you can do either. Because of the heat and gunk build-up, dry lube is preferrable or use specific lube for brakes. Careful with some lubes as they can deteriorate the guide bushings quicker because they are made of rubber. If you don't know what to get or use as of yet and need to finish the brakes, just clean any dirt and reassemble dry.Okay, certainly use the right stuff but what I use, pictured above, is available at any auto-parts store for about $2 and if it caused any problem with rubber or gunk I think I'd have found out by now since many of my BMWs have well over 200k on them. The guide pins had some grease on them from the factory, that's why they have the rubber boots to keep the dust out. If they were simply fitted dry they'd be like the pins on a 4-piston (E28 M5) caliper---out in the open and no one would care about keeping them clean. But since on our cheaper brakes the whole caliper has to move, you want the sliding surface to be more than clean, you want it lubed for the long term.

[Ross]

New ones dry. If reusing bolts with light corrosion then I use lube.

[Brandon J]

New ones dry. If reusing bolts with light corrosion then I use lube.
Yeah, that is another good point to mention. If there is corosion, the pins can be lightly sanded to make the surface smoother. The pins do have caps, but dirt can still enter from the other end. If you don't have the caps go get them. They make sure the pin heads don't get stuffed with gunk so it is easier to remove. There are a lot of lubes out there that can handle the heat. The brake lube is good as well as dry lube. Dry lube does not attract the dirt and brake dust, but still acts as a very good lube for this application. I have used brake, lithium, graphite, etc. on the brakes on all lube points. I do like the lithium (hi-temp), and graphite. I use the brake lube on the pad ears to carrier points. I would not recommend bearing grease. Do not over grease, it is only a light lube.

Again, if you need to get the car done quickly, e.g. you have to drive to work the next day, install it dry without taking much of the existing lube away. Then go to the auto parts store and look/research the different lubes you can use. Add the lube the next time you have a chance. The key here is to do your homework on lubes and see what is readily available at your local parts store. You can even open the bottle and dab a little on your hand to see how they feel.

Good luck with your brake job and hopefully we all have given you enough information to do it well.

[Dr. evil]

i used them dry for a long time and never had any problems. went to the bavauto caliper upgrade kit and the dirt sticks to the grease like a magnet. going back to OEM next brake job.

[Shankster]

Thanks everyone. Went with the grease.

Now, anyone know the bleed screw size for the rear calipers if i want to get an aftermarket replacement??

#5 in this picture:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HE53&mospid=47410&btnr=34_0395&hg=34&fg=10

[632 Regal]

wire wheel, install dry, I lube threads with synthetic grease.

[Dr. evil]

5012

wire wheels