Is it normal for the rear brake hubs to corrode on our new BMW X3?

Our May 2012 UK-supplied BMW X3 has quite severe corrosion on the rear brake hubs. I contacted the local dealers' service dept, was initially ignored, then emailed them a picture yesterday. The guy rang back with the following gem: ”They leave the factory with rust“. I asked for that in writing. Can you help me on how to get them to take this seriously? It’s not rust on stationary discs, ie when the car parked for days, but the hubs.

Asked on 19 January 2013 by AG, London NW

Answered by Honest John
It's completely normal. If you want to prevent this you can have the hubs stripped and painted with Sperex VHT ('Very High Temperature') paint. It's the same on everything. I find that 'Copperease' grease prevents the alloy wheels from fusing to the cast iron hubs of my Fiat. Aeronautical engineers tell me that introducing a third metal (copper) is not the right thing to do, but I think it becomes a sacrificial anode. Whatever, it works.
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