Squeaky Brakes
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,184
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From: Highlands Ranch, Colorado
2014 BMW M235i
Squeaky Brakes
I've searched the forums to try to find an answer, but I'm having a bit of a problem. For the first few thousand miles and even after bedding-in, my StopTech Street Performance Pads and R1 Concepts rotors were very quiet and the brakes have had great bite and stopping power.
On Tuesday, I went to get my tires rotated. After doing so, I went on a canyon run with a few friends and did quite a bit of hard braking and ran into a *little* bit of road dust. After coming back from that rally, I noticed that my brakes now squeak (I believe it's the front pads) at a certain threshold when I hold down the pedal at low speed. They do not squeak before or after this specific point of pedal travel.
I inspected the rotors and pads (visually without taking off the wheel) and they seem to be fine at first glance. I also took the car to a hand car wash and power washed the rotors and pads after letting them cool down a bit to flush out the huge amount of brake dust in there. This worked for a little while and then it came back
I'm not sure what caused this all of a sudden and if it was the canyon run or something they did during rotation and re-torquing of the lug nuts.
The brakes are pretty new and should have easily 30k+ left on them, what should I do to stop the horrible sound, please help
On Tuesday, I went to get my tires rotated. After doing so, I went on a canyon run with a few friends and did quite a bit of hard braking and ran into a *little* bit of road dust. After coming back from that rally, I noticed that my brakes now squeak (I believe it's the front pads) at a certain threshold when I hold down the pedal at low speed. They do not squeak before or after this specific point of pedal travel.
I inspected the rotors and pads (visually without taking off the wheel) and they seem to be fine at first glance. I also took the car to a hand car wash and power washed the rotors and pads after letting them cool down a bit to flush out the huge amount of brake dust in there. This worked for a little while and then it came back
I'm not sure what caused this all of a sudden and if it was the canyon run or something they did during rotation and re-torquing of the lug nuts. The brakes are pretty new and should have easily 30k+ left on them, what should I do to stop the horrible sound, please help
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Joined: May 2007
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From: Blaine, WA
07 E320 Bluetec
I know you decided against but Akebono brake pads..I've used them for years on my truck and Benz..never heard a squeak, no matter how I drive. On my truck I use frozen rotors (from tirerack) and the Benz still has original ones, will only use OEMs when needed.
+ I don't rotate tires on the Benz, staggered and directional tires however when I have them balanced, I specifically ask the shop, 'Mill Street Tires of Moorestown NJ', to torque them to 96lbs; at home I recheck with my own torque wrench, then again after about 100 miles driving.
+ I don't rotate tires on the Benz, staggered and directional tires however when I have them balanced, I specifically ask the shop, 'Mill Street Tires of Moorestown NJ', to torque them to 96lbs; at home I recheck with my own torque wrench, then again after about 100 miles driving.
Last edited by pinebaron; Aug 9, 2013 at 08:10 AM.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2011
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From: Highlands Ranch, Colorado
2014 BMW M235i
Kevin from R1 concepts PMed me regarding a possible fix so I will try a braking procedure, I love those guys they have excellent ongoing support.
I rotate the tires on my car based on both the recommendation of my dealership and Big O tires, I think that rotation helps keep them quiet and last a bit longer as my tires are neither directional or staggered (running square 255s for 4-Matic). As for the Akebono pads, there is no reason I should have to change for those, thanks for the suggestion again but I would never trade increased performance for getting read of squeak that *really* isn't that severe.
As for the dampening shims, I am not sure that they did. While I checked the contents of the box I had StarTech install them for me so if they did come with shims as they were supposed to I am sure the technician installed them, if they did not come with any dampening shims then the answer would be no. Is this something that you can add later or do they specifically come with the pads?
I rotate the tires on my car based on both the recommendation of my dealership and Big O tires, I think that rotation helps keep them quiet and last a bit longer as my tires are neither directional or staggered (running square 255s for 4-Matic). As for the Akebono pads, there is no reason I should have to change for those, thanks for the suggestion again but I would never trade increased performance for getting read of squeak that *really* isn't that severe.
As for the dampening shims, I am not sure that they did. While I checked the contents of the box I had StarTech install them for me so if they did come with shims as they were supposed to I am sure the technician installed them, if they did not come with any dampening shims then the answer would be no. Is this something that you can add later or do they specifically come with the pads?
Member
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 149
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From: Lubbock, Tx
E350
Some performance pads don't come with dampening shims since brake noise is not much of a consideration when racing. You can always get the OEM shims if your pads didn't come with them. They will make a considerable difference in noise suppression if you don't have any shims now.
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From: Athens, GA USA
2011 E63, 2011 Hyundai Genesis 4.6 v8, 2013 GMC Denali XL, 1965 Ford Mustang, 2005 Merc. E500
Try taking the pads off and use a small amount of brake lube on the back of pads and where the pads slide.
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From: Canada
07 E63 + 07 CLK63CAB
Possibly you have a glazing on the pad surface from the hard braking. If it is that bad remove the pads and run the pad brake surface on a flat table or work bench over a piece of 100 grit sand paper to remove the glaze, also take a file and put a small chamfer on all the edges where they are 90 degrees. Reinstall the pads.
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From: New York City
2003 E500 sport (sold), 2009 GL450, w213 E63 (waiting for ordering guide)
I was going to open a new thread for this question but since your on the topic of brakes anyway then I will just ask it here... How long do breaks usually last? I mean on our Benz's at least... Iv driven my 500 for 65 thousand miles and I changed them about 3 times already due to squeaking at the end of the life on each round (OEM every time) and I see you mentioned @AMGAffalterbach, that your brakes still have about 30k or more in them... Just curious thanks
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2011
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From: Highlands Ranch, Colorado
2014 BMW M235i
I've heard of some squeaking issues with StopTech pads but I put quite a number of miles on them without the issue. Thanks for all of your replies and answers, I think it's quite possible I have a glaze built up over the pads so I will be sure to do that. First I'm trying a braking procedure that Kevin recommended then I will report back.
@JasinP as stated above, it truly does depend on your driving style. I go on a lot of canyon runs and brake fairly hard on those so I'm guessing I'll get 40k-60k out of them, I probably underestimated a little bit but I'm not very easy on them. Also important to note that unless you get down to metal on metal, brake rotors usually don't need to be replaced for 2-3 sets of pads, or more. Sometimes they can last the life of the car if you're doing a lot of highway driving but if you run your car to high miles good to get those replaced past 100,000 miles probably.
@JasinP as stated above, it truly does depend on your driving style. I go on a lot of canyon runs and brake fairly hard on those so I'm guessing I'll get 40k-60k out of them, I probably underestimated a little bit but I'm not very easy on them. Also important to note that unless you get down to metal on metal, brake rotors usually don't need to be replaced for 2-3 sets of pads, or more. Sometimes they can last the life of the car if you're doing a lot of highway driving but if you run your car to high miles good to get those replaced past 100,000 miles probably.
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 10
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E320
I've searched the forums to try to find an answer, but I'm having a bit of a problem. For the first few thousand miles and even after bedding-in, my StopTech Street Performance Pads and R1 Concepts rotors were very quiet and the brakes have had great bite and stopping power.
On Tuesday, I went to get my tires rotated. After doing so, I went on a canyon run with a few friends and did quite a bit of hard braking and ran into a *little* bit of road dust. After coming back from that rally, I noticed that my brakes now squeak (I believe it's the front pads) at a certain threshold when I hold down the pedal at low speed. They do not squeak before or after this specific point of pedal travel.
I inspected the rotors and pads (visually without taking off the wheel) and they seem to be fine at first glance. I also took the car to a hand car wash and power washed the rotors and pads after letting them cool down a bit to flush out the huge amount of brake dust in there. This worked for a little while and then it came back I'm not sure what caused this all of a sudden and if it was the canyon run or something they did during rotation and re-torquing of the lug nuts.
The brakes are pretty new and should have easily 30k+ left on them, what should I do to stop the horrible sound, please help
On Tuesday, I went to get my tires rotated. After doing so, I went on a canyon run with a few friends and did quite a bit of hard braking and ran into a *little* bit of road dust. After coming back from that rally, I noticed that my brakes now squeak (I believe it's the front pads) at a certain threshold when I hold down the pedal at low speed. They do not squeak before or after this specific point of pedal travel.
I inspected the rotors and pads (visually without taking off the wheel) and they seem to be fine at first glance. I also took the car to a hand car wash and power washed the rotors and pads after letting them cool down a bit to flush out the huge amount of brake dust in there. This worked for a little while and then it came back
I'm not sure what caused this all of a sudden and if it was the canyon run or something they did during rotation and re-torquing of the lug nuts. The brakes are pretty new and should have easily 30k+ left on them, what should I do to stop the horrible sound, please help
I'm in the market for new brake pads and rotors, how are the R1 rotors? Have you had any problems with them? Ive heard some good things as well as bad things about them. Also are any of you familiar with the EBC brake pads?
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,184
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From: Highlands Ranch, Colorado
2014 BMW M235i
R1 Rotors are incredible. Paired with StopTech Street Performance pads the performance is next to none and definitely better than stock. People are crazy about Akebonos here but they lose about 10-15% braking performance from stock and that's a no-no for me. I'd rather deal with a little squeak (which has improved through regular driving but I still need to try other solutions, but the car is spotless so I'm going to wait until the next time it's dirty) and get amazing performance and low dust.
Newbie
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
E320
R1 Rotors are incredible. Paired with StopTech Street Performance pads the performance is next to none and definitely better than stock. People are crazy about Akebonos here but they lose about 10-15% braking performance from stock and that's a no-no for me. I'd rather deal with a little squeak (which has improved through regular driving but I still need to try other solutions, but the car is spotless so I'm going to wait until the next time it's dirty) and get amazing performance and low dust.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,184
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From: Highlands Ranch, Colorado
2014 BMW M235i
With StopTech Street Performance pads they came with the set, so you need to get a new wear sensor every time. Basically what stone said, very cheap part not complex at all.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,184
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From: Highlands Ranch, Colorado
2014 BMW M235i
Was that addressed at me? StopTech Street Performance pads are para-aramid, which interestingly enough makes the brake dust stick a lot less.
