Squeaky Breaks

oo7ml

Active member
Hi, my brakes are starting to squeak every now and again. What are the main reasons for this. How often (miles) should the brakes be replaced (pads, calipers, etc), thanks in advance
 
Are the squeaking on heavy breaking? When it rains? is it a squeak or more of a squeal? Haven't had my Z4 but a year and haven't yet had to replace the pads/rotors so I don't know how long they last. The front pads on my 325 lasted 50,000 miles (dealer changed them out just before warranty ran out).
 
Thanks for the reply... it's more of a squeak and it's only heard under very light breaking with no rain (i'm not sure if it squeaks when it is raining as it only started to happen yesterday. The pads were last replaced 3000 miles ago. Any ideas, thanks in advance
 
It may be that the anti-rattle/squeal spring isn't seated properly, or they didn't put any copper grease behind the new pads when they fitted it.

Or it might simply be overnight corrosion causing vibration on initial light application of the brakes.

Does it happen all the time (under the same condition of course), or only for the first couple of miles.
 
Is it possible the pads are glazed ? When I had this problem with (relatively) new pads that was the explanation from the garage.

There seem to be 101 different methods for fixing glazed pads available through Google. From putting the pads in the dishwasher to doing 2 or 3 emergency brakes in a row.
 
It tends to happen all the time, i had travelled 40 miles today with a lot of stop start traffic and the brakes were still squeaky when i got out of the car... thanks for the replies
 
During that 3000 miles, did you do some heavy braking? Most pads need about 1000 miles to properly break-in and seat. A little squeaking isn't going to hurt anything-disk brakes always used to squeak more than drum brakes did. If it really concerns you, have a mechanic look at them.
 
Ok thanks, i didn't do any heavy breaking, just wanting to keep the car in best condition as possible so i was just wondering if there was something wrong with the brakes, i have the car booked in for a service on Saturday so i'l get the mechanic to check it out for me, thanks guys
 
oo7ml,

Perhaps you have be driving in an area that has allowed dirt and dust ( maybe even a rock )to get between the pads and the rotors and in braking there has been a hard spot created on the pads. IMHO I would try to rebed the brakes. Take and try to force some water between the pads and the rotors, Then do several hard braking events. What I meen by this is Getting in a place where you are not in traffic or anyone behind you. Take the car up to 60-70 MPH and brake hard like in an emergancy, do not allow the car to stop, stop braking when you get to like 20 MPH. Do this 2-3 times and let the pads clean themselfs and to put some heat on the pads. When you do this do not let the car come to a complete stop as this will put a hard spot back in the pads. I don't know if I have used all the correct terms or not, however this has worked for me in the past.
 
I'd just add to this that if you do bed them in as IMZ4N suggests (and I think it is a good idea) that you preheat them a little first by either lightly braking as you drive for a short distance or a couple of more gentle stops, as it's pretty cold here Vs Bob's Californian back yard and you don't want thermal shock on the rotors.

If that fails to cure it your into any one of the million ideas from of adding copper grease to the back, chanfering leading edges of the pads off, deglazing manually and on and on.
 
Back
Top Bottom