Discs + pads - BMW, or upgrade?

[Mister_dj]

Hi everyone,

I mentioned in another topic that I would be taking my car to a BMW dealer due to a vibration when braking. They've just come back to me saying this is due to corrosion, which is not covered by AUC warranty, and that I need new discs and pads.

Quoted prices are £463 for the fronts, and £428 for the rears, therefore I am facing a bill of £891.

My question is should I go for this, or try doing this change elsewhere? My skills with a toolkit are very poor, so buying the discs and pads online and doing a DYI job is not an option.

For this sort of money I imagine I could get some better brakes and pads than the BMW ones? Which ones? However if I don't do the job at BMW I have to pay the cost of the inspection - around £100.

Please help me to decide!

 

[GAZA62]

Personally i find the brakes on my 04 3.0 very good so would not bother changing to something else but would most likely buy the parts from BMW and have my friend who is a BMW Tech fit them for me so if you know a good mechanic or indi garage you may choose that route.

 

[KERMIT1970]

dj,try ,http://mtecbrakes.co.uk/ i have fitted them to my z3 in the past and now to my 3.0si total cost £220 approx for discs & pads front & rear work very well & look great drilled & grooved.easy job to fit or go to a indy 2hours labour tops !

 

[Mister_dj]

EBC Ultimax Sport discs are £222front + 201 rear, and EBC redstuff pads £70 and £53. Therefore total in parts would be £546 + fitting.

Does this sound reasonable? I would imagine these disks and pads would outperform OEM brakes...

How much would a fitting cost in an indie? I am based SW london, so if there's any you recommend, please let me know.

 

[Bradders75]

I don't think you even need to spend that much. I recently replaced my front discs and pads with Pagid who a decent aftermarket brand. Parts were £105 and fitting was £45 (one hours labour) from an independent. I can't tell any difference in performance from OEM.

 

[Eurohooner]

Might be worth challenging their original findings. My car went in for exactly the same problem with vibration under braking and the dealer said the front discs were warped and replaced them both under AUC. Worth a shot for that kind of money.

 

[ben_p]

Call euro car parts and buy the stuff from there.

Take to a garage and get them to fit

or

Go to a good local garage and get them to supply and fit, you will find that both will come in about half what BMW quote

 

[Mister_dj]

Might be worth challenging their original findings. My car went in for exactly the same problem with vibration under braking and the dealer said the front discs were warped and replaced them both under AUC. Worth a shot for that kind of money.

The dealer I went to today was not where I bought the car from. What they recommended was for me to call the dealer from where the car was bought, explaining the issue, to see if there is something they can do. After all the car has 21k miles, and when was bought had 18k. If this does not work I think I'll do it outside BMW dealerships.

 

[GAZA62]

EBC Ultimax Sport discs are £222front + 201 rear, and EBC redstuff pads £70 and £53. Therefore total in parts would be £546 + fitting.

Does this sound reasonable? I would imagine these disks and pads would outperform OEM brakes...

How much would a fitting cost in an indie? I am based SW london, so if there's any you recommend, please let me know.

Ran EBC Turbo grooved discs and Greenstuff pads on my Calibra and they were nothing special and would not say any better than OEM and they are noisy due to the grooves only thing i really liked was the low dust levels from the greenstuff pads.

Re the upgrade after lots of posts i have read and the above i would imagine the only way you are going to notice any real difference is with an increase in disc size plus better calipers and hoses but i am no expert must be people on here who can put me right.

The price you have above is not a lot cheaper than BMW once you add labour for fitting

 

[IK.]

How often do discs and pads typically need replacing?

 

[DanEvs]

My brakes were a little juddery after a period where the car stood post washing and there were slight signs of corrosion/pitting on the rotor surfaces. I just warmed the brakes up a bit then wound it up a little :wink: and jumped on the brakes. :driving:

Job done, no more judder and nice sparkly clean discs. 8)

Worth a try???

 

[wegras]

Hi everyone,

I mentioned in another topic that I would be taking my car to a BMW dealer due to a vibration when braking. They've just come back to me saying this is due to corrosion, which is not covered by AUC warranty, and that I need new discs and pads.

Quoted prices are £463 for the fronts, and £428 for the rears, therefore I am facing a bill of £891.

My question is should I go for this, or try doing this change elsewhere? My skills with a toolkit are very poor, so buying the discs and pads online and doing a DYI job is not an option.

For this sort of money I imagine I could get some better brakes and pads than the BMW ones? Which ones? However if I don't do the job at BMW I have to pay the cost of the inspection - around £100.

Please help me to decide!

Worth challenging from original dealer has it vibrated from collection .Does sound like warped disk caused by corrosion usually caused by sitting on car lot in all weather,
without regular use cleaning the disks (same happened to me on A Volvo owned S80 had sat for months awaiting bid from Dealer network All done under warranty)

try leaving a piece of cast iron out in rain and see what happens to it

 

[GAZA62]

Hi everyone,

I mentioned in another topic that I would be taking my car to a BMW dealer due to a vibration when braking. They've just come back to me saying this is due to corrosion, which is not covered by AUC warranty, and that I need new discs and pads.

Quoted prices are £463 for the fronts, and £428 for the rears, therefore I am facing a bill of £891.

My question is should I go for this, or try doing this change elsewhere? My skills with a toolkit are very poor, so buying the discs and pads online and doing a DYI job is not an option.

For this sort of money I imagine I could get some better brakes and pads than the BMW ones? Which ones? However if I don't do the job at BMW I have to pay the cost of the inspection - around £100.

Please help me to decide!

challenging from original dealer has it vibrated from collection .Does sound like warped disk caused by corrosion usually caused by sitting on car lot in all weather,
without regular use cleaning the disks (same happened to me on A Volvo owned S80 had sat for months awaiting bid from Dealer network All done under warranty)

try leaving a piece of cast iron out in rain and see what happens to it

This is very true my friend mentioned above checked over a used Z4 for a friends daughter and this was one of the probs all for discs needed changing as it had been sat on a lot for a long time he asked the salesman if they ever run the cars and the answer was they just turn them over now and then so they never move except on test drives.