I am replacing my front calipers with the BMW 330i ones based on a tech article at Pelican. I am going to have the rotors turned. Is there any reason to keep the protector? I have Riviera wheels and the protector scrapes the weights that are glued to balance the wheel. (so I bent the protector slightly out of the way).

Thanks in advance.

it's perfectly acceptable to remove them from the front and rear ...

mine looked like damnit so I threw them away...

I also did the BMW front brake conversion and I kept mine.
I had to trim around the caliper a bit. I think I removed about a quarter of an inch.
My opinion is they put them on for a reason.
Probably, to protect the calipers from excess dirt buildup from road grit.
I'd trim clearance for the caliper and weights and use them.

QUOTE (Always Looking @ Jan 27 2006, 02:27 PM)

Is there any reason to keep the protector?

protection?

Those things are intended to keep huge amounts of water off the rotors. Sometimes they hold gravel. Toss em'. None of my cars have them.

They also hold in the heat from braking. Basically operate as heat reflectors. Without them you will get more airflow for brake cooling.

I removed all of mine (I seem to recall needing to remove the rear rotor when I removed mine.)