Caliper Guide Pins

[AG]

Should the caliper guide pins be lubed and if so, with what? I can't remember what the TIS says and I think the Bentley manual says not to do it.
Also, is there a way to remove the rubber stock guide pin bushings and what is the best way to clean them?

[1996 328ti]

Bentley says not to lube them. The dealer lubed them when I had them work on my brakes. Personally I lube them before track events while swapping pads. I think it's 6 of 1 or half a dozen of another.

The idea of not lubing them stems from the thought that the lube will attract dirt.
Since I have a deep appreciation for my brakes, I inspect the pins closely.

[AG]

Any idea about the bushings?

[1996 328ti]

Any idea about the bushings?

I grab them with a pair of pliers and pull. I don't remember if I yankthem from the front or back. I generally don't reuse them if I had toremove them.

[JoelG]

Should the caliper guide pins be lubed and if so, with what? I can't remember what the TIS says and I think the Bentley manual says not to do it.
Also, is there a way to remove the rubber stock guide pin bushings and what is the best way to clean them?

I lube them with brake grease.

Remove the rubber bushings by pulling on them with your fingers. They come off easy once the guide pins are out. Clean them by wiping them off with a rag.

[mlytle]

i have a bunch of extra new rubber caliper bushings if some one is interested.

[Keith1998M3]

Doesn't the grease get cooked if you lube the pins? I think that might make it harder to get them out the next time, but who knows?

[Sonti2x]

Doesn't the grease get cooked if you lube the pins? I think that might make it harder to get them out the next time, but who knows?

In my experience, brake caliper grease will change in consistency after a hard track event. This does make the pins harder to get out the next time, but not impossible. I also found that the rubber bushings on the pins will melt.

If you find that this is happening, you might consider replacing them with the brass guide pins available from some of the BMW vendors (ex. TMS, Bimmerworld). No rubber to melt, and the tolerances are supposedly tighter, allowing less flex and better brake response.

It was suggested to me that these be used without any grease, but I worried about binding (not sure if this is justified) and so use anti-sieze on the pins instead of grease. It doesn't seem to change to as sticky/hard a consistency as the grease did. If anyone is aware of disadvantages of using anti-sieze on the guide pins, I'd love to hear them.

Sonti
'95 325i

[1996 328ti]

Although the solid guide pins will be more prone to betting dirty.
Some people say that caliper lube attract dirt.
I use a little before track events.
So far I haven't melted the rubber bushings but I have been melting the O ring around the piston.

[mlytle]

the brass guide bushings are great for track use, not so great for street use. they keep the caliper twisting down under heavy braking. downside is that they need to be cleaned and lubed frequently. they have no protection so dirt just jumps right on in at every opportunity. for full time track use where you work on your brakes all the time this isn't a problem. for street or occaisional track use where you don't look at your brakes for months at at time it is a problem.