Brake Discs & Pads

J

JazzFM28

Member
I have been experiencing some brake judder, and suspected warped discs, and today I was told that my brakes discs were indeed warped by BMW York.

The car is 2years, 6months old, and done 22,000 miles, and expected them to be covered under manufacturers warranty, but despite being told initially there would be no problem, once they got them off the car, I was told a different story, foor the folowing reasons

They confirmed that discs are warped
They confirm thickness of disc as they are today are 27mm
They confirmed that 26.4mm is the min permitted to make a claim, so I'm above that.
They also confirmed that new discs are manufactured to 27.9mm
Therefore my discs are only 60% through their life, given a linear wear rate
Therefore theoretically there is approx 11,000 miles left before they get to 26.4mm

BMW warranty say that they are a wear and tear item, and not covered, yet BMW York said (before they looked at them) said if the car was under manufactuers warranty they would be. Now everyone is doing a 'u' turn, and BMW offer no warranty, nor good will.

If they are only 60% worn, surley they must be covered. Its like saying your three year warranty is only like a two year waranty.

BMW customer care were useless, and just passed me back to the dealer.

However after much discussion, BMW finally agreed to pay 40% towards the cost of the job, or 40% just off the parts if I wished to take the car elsewhere.

What do people think :-

Should I accept the 40% off parts and labour and pay circa £450 ?
Should I accept the 40% off just the parts and pay circa £300, and then do job myself ?
Should I hold my ground and go all out for a warranty claim ?

If I take 1 or 2, it will deffinately be followed up with a firm letter to BMW, as they refuse to enter into a technical debate over the wear limits, and hide behind the service manager and dealer principal. I feel unjustly treated.

Finally, if I choose to take my buisness elsewhere, can anyone recomened where to get discs and pads from, other than BMW, as I'm coming to a complete blank with after market standard brake discs, even black diamond don't list any.
 
I'd say they were wear and tear items and not generally to be covered under warranty. They can fail after as little as 10,000 miles of last over 50,000. If a tyre is supposed to last 20,000 miles and you wear it out in 10,000 would you expect new one free?

I'd be pragmatic, take the 40% off deciding if you want them to do it or elsewhere and not get into a bun fight.

It's all too easy at the keyboard to say ' get stuck in - tell 'em how it is and fight'. The offer seems reasonable and life's too short.
 
I replaced mine at 23,000 miles, but that's because I wanted some sportier pads and didn't want to contaminate them with residue from the old pads.
I do drive mine quite hard though and wouldn't expect more than 30,000 miles out of a set.
As cj10jeeper says, it's a consumable and I'd be more than happy if BMW offered my 40% towards replacements.

Although saying that, in 20 years of hard road/track driving I've never 'warped' a brake disc :|

I'd also like to know how the brakes have become warped, as it'd be good to know if it's due to a bad batch of discs or down to user profile (i.e. miles, type of roads, braking style, etc.).
 
Personally, I would get a second opinion from someone outside if the BMW network,a reputable indi perhaps. I think dealers find it all too easy to say the discs are warped as they just want to sting you for new discs. If they are then get a price elewhere and weigh up best option. Good luck
 
I think cj is right in principle life's too short and they have offered you some discount but you do have to ask why BMW say a warped disc is a wear and tear item? A worn disc yes, down to hard driving style but these brakes are intended and designed for use on fast road/track and should last longer than 20,000 miles otherwise we'd all be queuing up to replace them.

If a component fails on the car during warranty then it's either a consumable such as brake pads-worn, brake discs -worn, tyres-worn, or it's a premature failure of a component- brake disc warped would come under this heading. Why has it warped? Either it was a faulty disc or the brake calliper has been sticking causing overheating, this may be indicated by discolouring of the disc.It might be worth you writing to BMW UK asking for an explanation/refund of your costs, can't do any harm.
 
take the 40% and run, I think that's pretty generous considering they are a wear and tear item.
 
The disc warped on a slow (30mph) very steep descent behind a tractor, on a narrow road so couldn't get past. After about a mile and half the discs had warped.

My main gripe is being told they were unconditionally covered, and then the 'u' turn once they had the car.

I'm taking the 40% off parts, and then writing to BMW for a factual reply. In the mean time I'll have them measuerd independantly, to get very accurate figures.
 
Yeah so it was just soaking up heat for a long period of time, same as driving with the brake on.

That would obviously warp it but I think 40% is generous as for all they know you were driving like you stole it and caused the damage through no fault of the product.

I personally wouldn't expect discs or pads to come as a warranty item same as tyres, as they are so dependent on the driver's enthusiasm.
 
All sorted, new discs and pads on, just an hour in the garage.

Its amazing just how much difference there is now, which goes to show just how bad they were.
 
JazzFM28 said:
The disc warped on a slow (30mph) very steep descent behind a tractor, on a narrow road so couldn't get past. After about a mile and half the discs had warped.
Click to expand...
I'd personally change down a gear or two to save the brakes myself, but I've done mountain passes with heavy braking every 100 yards and still not warped a disc
I have had vibration from the brakes plenty of times but that is due to pad transfer to the discs, especially with the normal chocolate teapot pads, and a few miles later they're back to normal.
 
JazzFM28 said:
The disc warped on a slow (30mph) very steep descent behind a tractor, on a narrow road so couldn't get past. After about a mile and half the discs had warped.

My main gripe is being told they were unconditionally covered, and then the 'u' turn once they had the car.

I'm taking the 40% off parts, and then writing to BMW for a factual reply. In the mean time I'll have them measuerd independantly, to get very accurate figures.
Click to expand...

Why would you drive like that? You're almost certain to damage disks and pads using the brakes to continually slow a car down on a hill. It should be in a low enough gear to hold without using other than periodic touches of the brakes. I'd also really question if the disk was warped. Delaers, garages. etc often blame warped disks but once returned to manufacturers just a small percentage turn out to be warped. Most are other brake related problems such as pad transfer to the disk as ///M notes.

Don't forget to correctly bed in the new one now fitted.

EDIT If you want to read up on warped disks (or the lack of) thne this is a great article http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml
 
I'am on my 4th set of discs now!!! And she's only covered
11500 miles in total all been replaced under warranty,
all warped some within 1000 miles! Still not too happy with them now
steering wheel judder at low and medium braking , but must say under hard braking
no problem at all at the mo. See my 1st post bout the brakes :?
 
budgie195 said:
I'am on my 4th set of discs now!!! And she's only covered
11500 miles in total all been replaced under warranty,
all warped some within 1000 miles!
Click to expand...

I would think your car has another problem causing the issue. The disks should even easily handle multiple trackdays as long as they are maintained (cool them down on in-lap and warm them up before heavy braking on out-laps) so day to day driving should not be an issue. Driving style could maybe cause issues but I won't insult you by telling you to check it :D.
With drilled disks I would actually expect cracked disks to be more of an issue but this doesn't seem to be the case with M cars, and I doubt warped disks should be much of a problem either. As others have said, there are other brake problems that may seem like warped disks (ie pad transfer).
 
i got 2 ate front discs and pagid pad,brake wear sensor from eurocarparts for £289 which i think is great value :thumbsup:
 
I am new here however BMW's and Warped discs are generally a myth.

See below:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml
 
Rags said:
I am new here however BMW's and Warped discs are generally a myth.

See below:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml
Click to expand...

Welcome Rags and I agree with you.

Did you read this thread? That's the same link as I posted on the previous page..
 
etedlm said:
i got 2 ate front discs and pagid pad,brake wear sensor from eurocarparts for £289 which i think is great value :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Is that on an M? If so how do they compare to the standard setup? Are they still drilled?
 
not on the car yet.the discs are ate discs which are the same ones you would buy at the stealers.yes,my car is an ///m :thumbsup:
 
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