OT: BMW replaced my quiet brakes, new ones are not

[ultraman6970]

Noise could be a lot of things, from my poor translation of the problem looks like you arent having a pad issue but more like a clunky vibration like noise when stopping?

If thats the case well could be the pins where the caliper floats are lose or they put the wrong ones or even they are getting stuck and not centering. JUst put synthetic grease could fix the problem because the pins float in rubber tubes.

Never seen all the caliper doing the same thing and thats interesting, when a caliper goes bad it does what you say aswell but why all of them you know, doesnt make any sense.... when the caliper goes bad takes longer to release or they put pressure unevenly creating the problem you are having aswell, again.. if you feel it in all the wheels thats really weird, usually is the front or the back because you can feel it.

That's the reason some stuff is better do it yourself, car brakes arent that hard... pretty straight forward. So if you paid a lot of money I would take the care to them and ask which pads and rotors they put in there, maybe they put after market that the caliper just dont like.

Good luck with this one, hope you have a good relationship with the mechanic.

[GScot]

Originally Posted by Gummee

I've always figured that brakes are cheaper to replace than clutches or gearboxes, so I don't downshift unless I'm driving 'spiritedly.'

YMMV

M

I suppose that's a valid thought. I've always been the mechanic and never seen a worn out clutch other than from racing. I'm aware you can ride the clutch too much and other bad behavior like riding on it to wear it out in no time. Manual transmissions are pretty much bullet proof too. What I will concede gets more wear is the shift linkage, comprised of joints and bushings it's a wear item.

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[benb]

Originally Posted by mktng

Anyone who says "this is how it is. do this to help it" is just being suckered into excuses. No squealing should be heard. Especially with standard oem replacements. We're not driving race cars with crazy carbon ceramic brakes.

Yah but the marketing, they want you to think it's a race car!

This stuff is just nuts, my father has a recent 3 series as well and it ate all it's brake parts in < 20k miles too. These cars do not stop hugely better than competitors that don't have issues.

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by GScot

I'll concede gets more wear is the shift linkage, comprised of joints and bushings it's a wear item.

I'm going to need to do the linkage in my X3 fairly soon.

When that is is up for debate 'cause it ain't broken yet. Sloppier than it was when I bought it, but not busted

M

[GScot]

Originally Posted by Gummee

I'm going to need to do the linkage in my X3 fairly soon.

When that is is up for debate 'cause it ain't broken yet. Sloppier than it was when I bought it, but not busted

M

I hear that. I need to replace struts and figure I'll do all the front end bushings on this S5. And I should pull the injectors and have them balanced. Maybe this winter.

[texbike]

i completely understand your frustration. BMW is the reason I won't own a modern(ish) German car. After non-stop issues with several BMWs, my patience was tested and I decided to drive Japanese cars as daily drivers (Lexus makes fantastic vehicles!) instead and have an old, Euro play car for the weekends/occasional use. It seems to work out well this way...

Texbike

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[zap]

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

It is highly likely I will take a hit and just trade it in along with another car as we are only needing one car in the immediate future. I don’t trust that the brakes are safe and the noise is annoying. Hopefully a resolution will occur but I’m not holding my breath.

Modern BMW's are strange vehicles. From someone I know who is a master BMW and Mercedes mechanic, what can take 4 hours to repair in a bimmer takes 10 minutes in a Mercedes. Of course the MB dealership will still charge you 3 hours labour......

My bil who had the 135 sold it shortly after his brake issues. He had no confidence (reliability wise) in that BMW.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by texbike

After non-stop issues with several BMWs,

is that a brake joke


on topic:

BMWs can get a little complicated under the hood, but the reality is that the brake system is the same as any other car you're going to work on. I've done the brakes a few times on my 3'er coupe and have had good results and excellent braking from that car. i have been using EBC greenstuff brakes on my cars for years with good results. Recently went with some ceramic pads for our Odyssey van though, and they are also very quiet.

the point is that any mechanic can do a BMW brake job, there is nothing special or exotic about it. the other issue i have with the OP post is that it's silly to replace all 4 corners worth of brakes as a scheduled service item. you replace brakes when they wear out, not based on miles or time or whatever. it's also not too common to wear out the front and rear at the same rate.

another issue that has always made me wonder about when people get brake jobs done is that bed-in is really important to how well the brakes will perform, and i dont know if they tell you that.

Anyway, no amount of noise is normal. If i were you i would go through a thorough bed-in procedure and if that doesnt help, go back and have them fix it.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret....jsp?techid=85

[NHAero]

Someone's gotta say it - no one needs disc brakes, rim brakes are fine!!! (ducking)

[Hawker]

Originally Posted by nhaero

someone's gotta say it - no one needs disc brakes, rim brakes are fine!!! (ducking)

ha!

[Ken Robb]

Rim brakes are just disc brakes with bigger rotors.

[summilux]

Long time BMW owner here. My take on this: Your BMW dealer replaced all four corners unnecessarily so they could bill BMW under your free service warranty. Brake service is a big money maker for dealers. With a car on a lift, a decent tech could probably replace 4 rotors and 4 pad sets in 30 minutes. And then bill 2 hours or more o labour. If you needed new pads, your brake pad sensor would have activated. In most cases, rotors need replacing only every other pad change. The tech in question was probably lazy and didn't bother to put the grease on the back of the pads. BMW OEM pads are dusty but they don't squeal.

If you are feeling vibration then something is definitely wrong. One sinister possibility is that they put used, out of true rotors on your car giving you vibration. Can you touch the edge of your rotor through the wheel spokes? Can you feel a lip on the rotor edge? After 5K miles, you shouldn't be able to feel much of a lip. If you feel a defined lip, (1mm or more) then you didn't get new rotors.

[Likes2ridefar]

.