[frivas]

Hi all!!!
My car is at the dealer right now (it's a 2011 535i), and they quote me a price of USD 2K to change the rear and front brake discs and pads. The iDrive says that the front pads are ready for a change, and the rear ones have 7500 miles still left.

My question is why to change the discs, with just 31k miles? is this normal on this car?
Also, it's right that the front pads/discs are about 30% pricey than the rear ones?

They told me that the front discs are 27,6mm wide, and 17,8mm for the rear ones. The front pads have 3mm left, and the rear ones have 4mm left...

Only for the discs (front and rear ones) the quote is almost USD 900 (just for the parts, without the sensors or pads!!)

regards

Francisco.

[Lesterh1]

Ouch. That does not sound normal. Pads should last at least 50k miles unless you're doing track days. Most last a heck of a lot longer than that. Rotors should last longer than pads unless theyre warped-you can usually grind and resurface them once. You definitely need pads if theyre that worn, but I'd take it somewhere else for an estimate. I'd be getting a pretty Brembo/Stoptech setup for not a whole lot more if it was mine.

[bake]

Originally Posted by Lesterh1

Ouch. That does not sound normal. Pads should last at least 50k miles unless you're doing track days. Most last a heck of a lot longer than that. Rotors should last longer than pads unless theyre warped-you can usually grind and resurface them once. You definitely need pads if theyre that worn, but I'd take it somewhere else for an estimate. I'd be getting a pretty Brembo/Stoptech setup for not a whole lot more if it was mine.

50k on pads.... What are you smoking. And just so you know, BMW does not resurface rotors. OP, If you got 31k out of your rotors you got plenty. I don't think anything is unreasonable here. BMW's are not cheap cars to maintain, it is just part of the game. The Ultimate Driving Machine has to stop somehow. Go ahead and drop the 2k or find a good indy mechanic and save a few bucks, but make sure he uses OEM rotors and pads. Brakes are not something to go cheap on.

[Lesterh1]

Originally Posted by bake

50k on pads.... What are you smoking. And just so you know, BMW does not resurface rotors. OP, If you got 31k out of your rotors you got plenty. I don't think anything is unreasonable here. BMW's are not cheap cars to maintain, it is just part of the game. The Ultimate Driving Machine has to stop somehow. Go ahead and drop the 2k or find a good indy mechanic and save a few bucks, but make sure he uses OEM rotors and pads. Brakes are not something to go cheap on.

Are you kidding? 100k miles is not uncommon on a set of pads these days. We're at 80k on my wife's SUV. My old ridiculously hard-driven Evo had tons of pad left when I sold it at 35k miles. What the hell are people doing to wear out pads and rotors at 30k miles? BMW brakes can't possibly be that horrid, can they?

[paul223]

it is not the product defect, but it could be, but it all depends on driver's driving.

[kube]

Originally Posted by Lesterh1

Are you kidding? 100k miles is not uncommon on a set of pads these days. We're at 80k on my wife's SUV. My old ridiculously hard-driven Evo had tons of pad left when I sold it at 35k miles. What the hell are people doing to wear out pads and rotors at 30k miles? BMW brakes can't possibly be that horrid, can they?

I tend to agree with bake -- I don't consider myself a hard-braker (getting 4+ stars in the "anticipation" category of the BMW App), but I've never gotten more than 50k out of brake pads -- 40k if I'm lucky. I typically lease my BMWs for 3 years, and each one has needed new pads towards the end of the lease.

Suggest you watch the service indicators to see what it's starting at when they're replaced and see how the mileage decrements over time.

[Grover432]

Originally Posted by kube

I tend to agree with bake -- I don't consider myself a hard-braker (getting 4+ stars in the "anticipation" category of the BMW App), but I've never gotten more than 50k out of brake pads -- 40k if I'm lucky. I typically lease my BMWs for 3 years, and each one has needed new pads towards the end of the lease.

Suggest you watch the service indicators to see what it's starting at when they're replaced and see how the mileage decrements over time.

BMW brakes have a great pedal feel and do an excellent job of hauling the car down from speed but it comes at a cost. Every BMW I have owned seems to have had "soft" rotors and quick wearing pads. I've replaced front and rear sets in the past but have gotten more than 31,000 miles from the fronts and more from the back.

Since my F10 is new, I can't comment on current brake wear, but I'd suggest that driving style and the type of driving (mostly city - rush - stop and go) can have allot to do with it.

You might eat to get the disks measured again at an independent shop you trust. no question you need pads, but even if you don't need rotes today, you'll certainly need them before long.

[Lesterh1]

Originally Posted by Grover432

BMW brakes have a great pedal feel and do an excellent job of hauling the car down from speed but it comes at a cost. Every BMW I have owned seems to have had "soft" rotors and quick wearing pads. I've replaced front and rear sets in the past but have gotten more than 31,000 miles from the fronts and more from the back.

The brakes are actually my only complaint with my car. Not a whole lot of initial bite going on, and there's just too much effort required IMO. It's my first BMW, so it may just be how they feel. Nothing will compare to the Brembos on my Evo, so I'm spoiled.

[Grover432]

Originally Posted by Lesterh1

The brakes are actually my only complaint with my car. Not a whole lot of initial bite going on, and there's just too much effort required IMO. It's my first BMW, so it may just be how they feel. Nothing will compare to the Brembos on my Evo, so I'm spoiled.

Sorry you aren't having a good experience with your car. I find my brakes perfect.

[Lesterh1]

Originally Posted by Grover432

Sorry you aren't having a good experience with your car. I find my brakes perfect.

Oh I'm having a fine experience. Just a few complaints here and there.

[JMase09]

Is isn't this covered through the maintenance warranty ?

[martin mustang]

Originally Posted by JMase09

Is isn't this covered through the maintenance warranty ?

Wear and tear like wipers so not covered!

[Sjoerd]

Do you have ACC? ACC tends to eat the brakes more than non-ACC cars.

[ghueser]

In the US, brake pads and new discs are covered under the free maintainance program. So are wipers, just in that case you have to ask for them to be replaced.

As others have noted, BMW brake pads and discs do wear more than other brand cars in the market.

[TheGr8Swami]

Changing rotors at 31,000 miles is on par with most of the German Daily Drivers I've owned. Hell, I went through rotors every 18,000 miles on my Audi RS4.

Now if brake feel and performance is an issue, you may want to switch pad compounds to one with slightly more bite and a higher temperature threshold. BMW OE pads are usually manufactured by Pagid or Jurid. They're soft compound pads which have OK bite and last a long time but they produce a bunch of brake dust. Your brakes should be covered under the initial 4 year/50,000 mile warranty. I have about 35,000 on my 550i, and just had my rotors and pads replaced by the dealership. I gave my Service Advisor a set of Akebono Ceramic pads to use on my new set of rotors. After bedding in the brakes I have noticed a significant improvement in the initial bite! In the past I warned drivers about ceramic pads in the winter because the first few stops may be delayed because the pads need to warm up, but other than that the performance is outstanding!

[0_steve]

I used to get 10k on my old Range Rover Sport. 30k seems right for a BMW.

[ezmaass]

How much mileage you get from your brakes will depend upon several factors, including how hard you are on the brakes and what mixture of highway and city driving you do.

I owned by 335i for 6+ years and put 89k miles on the car. I never changed the brakes ONCE. Hell, I even got suspicious and made my dealer check it from time to time - always the same answer, "they're fine." With my 325i beforehand, I got roughly about 50k miles out of each set before the sensors came on and they required changing.

My 550xi is too young to tell, but I suspect it won't do as well as the 3-series cars since it's a good deal heavier, and that'll wear the brakes quicker. However, I also do more highway driving than most - and with about 2,300 miles on my 550xi now, I'd say probably 2,100 of those miles are highway. I also tend to go easy on my brakes when stopping.

As for the cost, $2k for all four sounds about right for a BMW dealer job (at least around here in CT). You can go to an independent shop and probably get a better deal, but I tend to just do everything at BMW - you sometimes get what you pay for in other ways. I like having all of my car's service history and records in one place - "one throat to choke" if the need arises, and there's something to be said about simplicity in life.

Lastly, as mentioned by another above, don't skimp when it comes to your brakes. If they need replacing, replace them. Use quality parts, and make sure you're getting a job well done. By the way... did you hear about the guy addicted to brake fluid? He claims he can stop any time.

[gragi]

I am at 53K and will be doing rears tomorrow, front shows 8K to go. driving done 70% highway 30% city. FYI

[Grumpy514]

Originally Posted by bake

50k on pads.... What are you smoking. And just so you know, BMW does not resurface rotors. OP, If you got 31k out of your rotors you got plenty. I don't think anything is unreasonable here. BMW's are not cheap cars to maintain, it is just part of the game. The Ultimate Driving Machine has to stop somehow. Go ahead and drop the 2k or find a good indy mechanic and save a few bucks, but make sure he uses OEM rotors and pads. Brakes are not something to go cheap on.

Lol...dude really?


31k out of rotors is plenty? Don't know where you're getting your information from but that is wrong on so many levels. Most cars get 2 pad changes and some get 3 pads on the same set of rotors. Unless you are constantly at the track or ride your brakes then something is very wrong.

Also never go to the stealership for work, find yourself a good honest mechanic and stick with them, I can tell you right now we could do the work for almost half of that.

What was the exact reason they said you need new rotors? Are you experiencing any vibrations/shuddering when braking? Sounds like they are just trying to make another buck off somebody to me.

[cgoldman99]

I have just changed my front brake pads and discs/rotors. The service indicator starts by saying the new set is good for 28,000 miles. I expect this to drop rapidly and if I get 15,000 from the pads I would consider myself lucky. I usually replace rotors with every third set of pads. By then the rotors have a significant edge to them and flaking. Cost wise I use non BMW parts but good after market make like Ferodo and ATE. The front pads and rotors cost £171 with tax, and fitting is 45 mins, or about £50 from a decent mechanic. Some people are made of money I am not.

[frivas]

well, an update for a almost 2 years old post.
At that time, after a little discussion with my BMW SA, they changed the rotors and the pads for free. I've bought a CPO car, and I had it for less than 3 months at that time, so there was no way that I had worn the brakes so badly. They agreed with me and changed everything. Now, at 52k miles, I just changed again just the pads (Textar OEM pads), and the rotors are still in good condition. Probably, on the next change, I'll need to change both rotors and pads. And, by the way, changing pads it's not so difficult, so I did change them at home with the help of a friend.

[frivas]

well, another update after a little more than 4 years. Still got the 535i, and changed the rotors and pads again at 66k miles. So, the rotors last for about 35k miles, and the pads were changed once. I've used TEXTAR pads both times.
The only problems that I've got with my 535 were the HPFP, and the oil gasket seal (both changed at 55k miles). Now I've got some issues with the soft close on the driver's door, but I'm sure I'll find out the problem soon. Anyways, what an amazing machine is the 535 F10...