light braking noise doesn't go away
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light braking noise doesn't go away
I'm at my wits end. Bought my base GT with steel brakes towards the end of 2021 and noticed screeching noise during slow/light braking from the front brakes in early 2022. Went to the dealer who said pads were worn evenly across and had 5mm of life, but rotors had a "wear lip" and offered to replace both fronts and back rotors/pads for around 6,000. Since car was at 12K miles, I passed on the offer and ended up living with the noise until it got worse in the summer of '22. Went to an indy shop and paid 2K for the front pads/rotors replacements.
Then in late 2022 the noise came back with a vengeance but this time from both the front and rears. I ended up learning the indy shop put some Chinese rotors instead of Brembo so I decided to get everything replaced (front and rear), this time making sure it was OEM. I drove very carefully during the first 100 miles, shifting the car into neutral when coming to a full stop. At around 100 miles I performed a few hard stops on the highway at the recommendation of my installer.
Everything was fine until about a week ago. The fronts are making so much noise again no matter what I do. Cleaning the brakes and performing hard stops on the highway doesn't help. Now I'm left wondering if it's my driving style (mostly city driving) or if the shops are messing up the installations. I've spent thousands at this point and will do anything to fix this... Would switching to girodiscs help?
Then in late 2022 the noise came back with a vengeance but this time from both the front and rears. I ended up learning the indy shop put some Chinese rotors instead of Brembo so I decided to get everything replaced (front and rear), this time making sure it was OEM. I drove very carefully during the first 100 miles, shifting the car into neutral when coming to a full stop. At around 100 miles I performed a few hard stops on the highway at the recommendation of my installer.
Everything was fine until about a week ago. The fronts are making so much noise again no matter what I do. Cleaning the brakes and performing hard stops on the highway doesn't help. Now I'm left wondering if it's my driving style (mostly city driving) or if the shops are messing up the installations. I've spent thousands at this point and will do anything to fix this... Would switching to girodiscs help?
I'm at my wits end. Bought my base GT with steel brakes towards the end of 2021 and noticed screeching noise during slow/light braking from the front brakes in early 2022. Went to the dealer who said pads were worn evenly across and had 5mm of life, but rotors had a "wear lip" and offered to replace both fronts and back rotors/pads for around 6,000. Since car was at 12K miles, I passed on the offer and ended up living with the noise until it got worse in the summer of '22. Went to an indy shop and paid 2K for the front pads/rotors replacements.
Then in late 2022 the noise came back with a vengeance but this time from both the front and rears. I ended up learning the indy shop put some Chinese rotors instead of Brembo so I decided to get everything replaced (front and rear), this time making sure it was OEM. I drove very carefully during the first 100 miles, shifting the car into neutral when coming to a full stop. At around 100 miles I performed a few hard stops on the highway at the recommendation of my installer.
Everything was fine until about a week ago. The fronts are making so much noise again no matter what I do. Cleaning the brakes and performing hard stops on the highway doesn't help. Now I'm left wondering if it's my driving style (mostly city driving) or if the shops are messing up the installations. I've spent thousands at this point and will do anything to fix this... Would switching to girodiscs help?
Then in late 2022 the noise came back with a vengeance but this time from both the front and rears. I ended up learning the indy shop put some Chinese rotors instead of Brembo so I decided to get everything replaced (front and rear), this time making sure it was OEM. I drove very carefully during the first 100 miles, shifting the car into neutral when coming to a full stop. At around 100 miles I performed a few hard stops on the highway at the recommendation of my installer.
Everything was fine until about a week ago. The fronts are making so much noise again no matter what I do. Cleaning the brakes and performing hard stops on the highway doesn't help. Now I'm left wondering if it's my driving style (mostly city driving) or if the shops are messing up the installations. I've spent thousands at this point and will do anything to fix this... Would switching to girodiscs help?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2008
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From: Overland Park, KS
‘24 BMW iX M60
https://mbworld.org/forums/coupe-roa...ml#post8780426
Watch the video in post #2 from Jeff Ritter at AP Racing.
I do think you’re driving style is the issue, in that you simply aren’t getting the pads hot enough to place an even layer of material on the rotors.
You can try this:
It has worked great for me in the past, just make sure you only apply it to the back plate of the pads.
Last thing is to search for different brake pads; ones that would never hold up on a road course but will do well on the street in city driving conditions. They would be anti-squeal and low dust.
Good luck
Watch the video in post #2 from Jeff Ritter at AP Racing.
I do think you’re driving style is the issue, in that you simply aren’t getting the pads hot enough to place an even layer of material on the rotors.
You can try this:
It has worked great for me in the past, just make sure you only apply it to the back plate of the pads.
Last thing is to search for different brake pads; ones that would never hold up on a road course but will do well on the street in city driving conditions. They would be anti-squeal and low dust.
Good luck
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 11,433
Likes: 5,345
From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
Yep, watch the video I posted in the linked thread above about properly bedding in your brakes. I would also say your driving style is the issue. A few hard stops on the highway isn't gonna do it. You need to follow proper bedding procedures. Then once you've bedded them in, you need to continue to maintain the layer of pad material. As Jeff Ritter points out, daily driving operates your brakes in the so-called abrasive mode when they are cold. In this mode they scrape the pad material back off the rotor, so eventually you have to repeat the procedure. The way around this is to go for regular aggressive drives that get the brakes hot. I'm not particularly meticulous about the initial bedding in, but I regularly go for 200+ miles hard canyon drives that get the brakes hot. Key is to let them cool afterwards before coming to a full stop, otherwise you'll end up with pad imprints and uneven pad deposits that leads to vibration.
The point is these are performance cars and they need to be driven accordingly. Most people who experience brake noise drive them like a Toyota Camry. City driving is really not the place for these cars. This is a common issue with Porsches for example. Many Porsche owners don't drive them the way they need to be driven and then end up with noisy brakes. It had become such an issue that Porsche published a video a few years ago to educate their customers. Not sure if it helped, but if all you do is city driving, you might wanna consider a more suitable car for the task.
The point is these are performance cars and they need to be driven accordingly. Most people who experience brake noise drive them like a Toyota Camry. City driving is really not the place for these cars. This is a common issue with Porsches for example. Many Porsche owners don't drive them the way they need to be driven and then end up with noisy brakes. It had become such an issue that Porsche published a video a few years ago to educate their customers. Not sure if it helped, but if all you do is city driving, you might wanna consider a more suitable car for the task.
Last edited by superswiss; May 20, 2023 at 12:26 PM.
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@superswiss @thebishman and @G. P really appreciate you guys for the solid advice. I watched the video and performed the bedding process last night. I couldn't believe it, the noise was gone.... Makes me really angry that the MB dealership advisors/service people refuse to share this information and instead try to upsell rotor replacements for $6,000 after 12K miles.
