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The fact remains that, I had a pulsation when braking from speeds higher than 70 mph. At first, I thought that it was the pads. The issue was discussed with the community and my tech.
Some have mentioned having them turned, but machine shops are reluctant to perform this task as the crossed drilled holes and slots will break machine bits.
But I do get your point, that rotor must get cherry red to produce warping then sprayed with water. But this is a mute point now, as I have just replaced my pads and rotors, with all new parts. It's bedding-in time now.
As you can see virtually no wear on the friction ring.
You could try having the old friction rings blanchard ground to see just how they are warped. They might only need a very light cut and allow them to be used again.
You could try having the old friction rings blanchard ground to see just how they are warped. They might only need a very light cut and allow them to be used again.
The problem is this, no machine shop in my area will grind them for me. I've made many phone calls asking. And they all tell me the same thing, NO
Their reasoning is that they're crossed drilled and slotted, and will break their machining bits. I know that Colemen Racing can machine a new set of friction rings for me.
But, I don't want to go thru all that, so I just replaced them with new components.
The problem is this, no machine shop in my area will grind them for me. I've made many phone calls asking. And they all tell me the same thing, NO
Their reasoning is that they're crossed drilled and slotted, and will break their machining bits. I know that Colemen Racing can machine a new set of friction rings for me.
But, I don't want to go thru all that, so I just replaced them with new components.
Blanchard grinding is a different process. It doesn't use a tool bit like a brake lathe does. It was just a thought.
I used to work for a Brembo partner company. I am pretty sure the friction rings are the same as their performance aftermarket rotors. They don't like to sell the rings separately, but it is possible to get them. I wouldn't throw the hats or hardware away.
Blanchard grinding is a different process. It doesn't use a tool bit like a brake lathe does. It was just a thought.
I used to work for a Brembo partner company. I am pretty sure the friction rings are the same as their performance aftermarket rotors. They don't like to sell the rings separately, but it is possible to get them. I wouldn't throw the hats or hardware away.
I'm not, I already have a buyer for the rotors already. The last time I did a brake job, I was going to purchase new friction rings from Coleman Racing. But a fellow member needed the aluminum hats more than me, so I sold those to him.
Then, I told myself that next time, I'm getting new friction rings made, then someone else needed them. At this point, I'll just keep buying OEM Brembo's. Because, if you do the math they both cost about the same $840 a pair from Coleman Racing, not counting shipping.
I can get a two-piece front rotor from FCP Euro for $397 each, and they have a lifetime replacement warranty. Can you provide me with the information for acquiring the performance aftermarket friction rings?
I might want to explore this option in the future.
The fact remains that, I had a pulsation when braking from speeds higher than 70 mph. At first, I thought that it was the pads. The issue was discussed with the community and my tech.
Some have mentioned having them turned, but machine shops are reluctant to perform this task as the crossed drilled holes and slots will break machine bits.
But I do get your point, that rotor must get cherry red to produce warping then sprayed with water. But this is a mute point now, as I have just replaced my pads and rotors, with all new parts. It's bedding-in time now.
As you can see virtually no wear on the friction ring.
I only bring this up because people think this is a possibility and honestly an mechanic that suggest this to me will likely get no more of my business. I have had this issue before and I found it to be one of a few things. Build up of pad material and also collection of corrosion behind the rotor. I would suggest, if it happens again, to take it all apart and clean it up just to try before replacing such expensive parts. It is real easy to see where the issue is with a dial indicator.
I only bring this up because people think this is a possibility and honestly an mechanic that suggest this to me will likely get no more of my business. I have had this issue before and I found it to be one of a few things. Build up of pad material and also collection of corrosion behind the rotor. I would suggest, if it happens again, to take it all apart and clean it up just to try before replacing such expensive parts. It is real easy to see where the issue is with a dial indicator.
Thank you for this information. We examined the rotors closely, but their could have been pad material that was partially deposited on the rotors that we couldn't see. And that was could have contributed to my pulsation issue under hard braking.
The wheel hub was free and any corrosion on the mated surface. I made sure their wasn't any corrosion when I did the brakes back in 2018. I took a wire wheel on them, then used copper paste to coat the mating surface, where the rotor hat would sit.
I did apply a healthy amount and anti-squeal lube on the back of the pads. As you could see a lot of the lube had squished out and the brake dust was caked to it. Now, I'm curious what if the lube had deposited on to my pads. Could that have contributed to my issue, when the pads get hot.
But, This time we just used a dab of lube about the size of a dime, then used our finger to move the lube around in a circular motion. Also, these Brembo Carbon Ceramic pads came with aluminum backing plate which also acts as a noise dampening/heat shield to reduce heat transfer.
Honestly, I don't think I will encounter this issue again, but if this issue arises again, I will know exactly what to look out for. Thank you, this information has been most helpful.
Yuille...Cross drilled rotors can be cut. I have done it MANY times on my own car when swapping street to race pads.
Warping is just a basic fundamental thing that happens to rotors. Our brake machine at work is always in action cutting rotors every day
Also for what it's worth, a very fast temperature rise can warp rotors as well. I learned this the hard way at the track when I would suddenly bring the car down from 150mph and not do it gradually allowing the rotor time to heat up so as not to shock it. Of course a panic stop ...all bets are off for that !! They would literally have purple smear spots all over them until I "learned" better braking. Top of the line special rotors can be bright red when stopping and never have an issue like Nascar and Formula One stuff.
Yuille...Cross drilled rotors can be cut. I have done it MANY times on my own car when swapping street to race pads.
Warping is just a basic fundamental thing that happens to rotors. Our brake machine at work is always in action cutting rotors every day
Also for what it's worth, a very fast temperature rise can warp rotors as well. I learned this the hard way at the track when I would suddenly bring the car down from 150mph and not do it gradually allowing the rotor time to heat up so as not to shock it. Of course a panic stop ...all bets are off for that !! They would literally have purple smear spots all over them until I "learned" better braking. Top of the line special rotors can be bright red when stopping and never have an issue like Nascar and Formula One stuff.
SICAMG,
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I've contacted many machine shops, and they've all told me the same things, we do not cut rotors. So, that is when I decided to just replace with all new rotors and pads. As it was the cheapest option at the time.
I can say, that I've done multiple panic stops from 75- 80mph here in the Northern VA area. And that could have most certainly contributed to my pulsation issue.
This has certainly hit my wallet especially hard, as I've just finished replacing my entire suspension. Then my AC blower motor and voltage regulator in the X5M crapped out on me.
your pad material seems to be bedding to the rotor much easier than should be possible. I would swap out your pads as they're defective.
See, that is what I thought at first, then I purchased new carbon ceramic pads. But then, I started getting conflicting stories from multiple members.
I even looked into having the rotors resurfaced, but no machine shop in Northern VA would touch them. I also looked into having new friction rings manufactured by Coleman Racing.
But the expense cost more than just buying new OEM rotors. So, I then decided to just buy new rotors. And stop all the back and forth commotion.
I busted a move on some Racing Brake Front Rotors/Pads back 2018 when I rebuilt my Engine and Front Suspension and fortunately haven’t had a problem, however I when I got around to doing my Rear End, I had spent months ordering parts and by the time I actually started rebuilding the Rear End, the CCP Virus hit, so I finally went for it! I replaced every rubber bushing including both sides of the Driveshaft and the Rear Main Seal, shocks, rebuilt AirSprings, UPD Rear Toe Arms, Swapped gears for 3.06 final drive with a LSD, new Rotors and Pads from FCP Euro. After I “finished” the project after several months, I didn’t even get 500 feet from my driveway before I realized the right rear rotor was warped! It had been a couple months since I bought those so I thought I’d be left hanging but with one call, FCP RMA’d me via email, I made a copy and put the original in the Box with said rotor and within a week, I had a new rotor! Cudos to FCP!
On the other hand, once I installed that rotor as well as “new Caliper Bolts” only then did I realize that I had NOT rebuilt the Differential as well as I thought I had. I didn’t have a jig to split the case, so my attempt was feeble at best! I had experienced a droning/vibration sound that increased with speed (only up to 35mph as this was the max speed I attempted!) so I brought it down the street to a 4 Wheeler Shop nearby where one of the Techs that helped me remove and replace the Pinion Bearing/Gear had a GUY that specialized in Differentials! You can be assured I didn’t just take that as “the word” but in the end, I just had to have “Faith” and a week later I installed it and have been sitting pretty ever since!
I even saved the “Alignment” for last as I had a very pronounced pull to the right since day 1 and went to 3 different shops and all failed! They first blamed it on the Tires but when he loosened the front AirSpring Bolt after I told him that “Crash Bolts” were installed (obviously incorrectly!) after he bristled at my having to explain to him that any work on the front end would require my STAR/PC to release Air, he just went ahead when my back was turned and suddenly I heard a loud pop! That was the Crash Bolt Passenger Side that must have rotated to allow for that Arm to move outward with all of 5-6 Bar of pressure at each Arm! The dumbass just said to me, “that wasn’t supposed to happen” to which I responded by pointing to my PC that was sitting under the passenger door and saying “that’s why I brought that Thing-to release pressure from each Arm as needed! I then said I was concerned that the bushing itself may have been stripped as a result of his “Adjustment”. I ended up getting a full refund BTW! Fortunately after inspecting it myself, I confirmed that the notch in the bushing was still OK! After the third shop attempted to fix my alignment, they literally defaced the beautiful UPD Arm due to his not having the right sized Wrench! That dude somehow though that the “pull” was due to the rear end needing adjustment? After 3 days in-out of the shop, I was still left with an even more funky pull!
I decided to use a method as proscribed by one of our more senior members on this forum whereby I went old school and leveled the floor using one of those Floor Laser Levelers to set up just the right lift under each wheel, then used my 4 Jack stands to wrap nylon rope around measured exactly the same distance from the center of each wheel after taking into account the 9mm track difference between the F&R Wheels (ie-adding 4 1/2mm from the center hub to the nylon rope on the Front End). I started by re-adjusting the Rear UPD Toe Arms with the Correct Tools this time (I’m still more than miffed about them being marred by Junior at the last shop who tried to use one of those Amazon Fix-it-alls instead of pulling out a proper 28mm wrench!) and brought it back to equal Toe-in each side ( around 2mm Diff Toe-in as measured from front rim to rear rim away from the nylon rope). I then started in the front by gradually increasing adjustments to correct for right pull by 1st installing standard bolts at the 4 front Arms, I then adjusted the Right Torque Arm by pulling it forward with one of the Crash Bolts, then test drove and when that wasn’t sufficient I adjusted the right front Torque Arm by pulling it Rearward, when that wasn’t enough, I then installed a Crash Bolt on the Passenger AirSpring Arm by pulling it outward (which also slightly moves the Wheel on a radius forward), and when I had almost given up hope I did the very last adjustment by installing yet another Crash Bolt on the Driver Side AirSpring, this time pulling it inward which is the Max adjustment that can be done BTW! After each of these adjustments I aligned the car the same way by setting up the string and measured the difference between the front and rear of the rims from the String making sure each side was about 2mm. I also fiddled with the Front F1Fabrication Front Camber Arms, but in the end made them as close to the exact same (within 1/2 of one degree as measured by a magnetic digital angle instrument attached to the rotor ending up at about -1.5* ) So I went on yet another test drive and all seemed well as I was driving on my access road to the highway, but once I got on the Highway I was amazed! Here in Florida the DIY to self aligning is to drive at the apex of the curve of the highway usually located by driving over the center line splitting the fast lane (left) and the one to the right and then taking your hands off the wheel at 70mph to test and ALAS!!! It finally (after 3 years!) was not just in the range of being OK, but was Spot On! Sheer Bliss!!! To be honest, the steering is a bit too light (righ-left) which can be corrected by adjusting the Camber Arms towards the -2* range, but being that its tracking oh so well, I dared NOT to mess with it after that!
I drove the E63 about 40 miles on the highway yesterday, with some brief spirts to 90 mph.
The bedding in process is working out great, no pulsation whatsoever, even slowing down from those speeds.
Total night and day difference from a month ago. My E63 parked next to his cousin the X5M.
Blanchard grinding is absolutely the correct process and can be done by any machine shop that can grind a flywheel. I have had it done many times on all different types of rotors with outstanding results.
That ship has sailed already. I had warped rotors, and no amount of grinding would have fixed the issue. The issue is the rotor itself, the molecules within the metal were distorted, causing the rotor to unevenly heat up the friction surface causing warping.
Besides grinding them only makes them thinner and more susceptible to warping. I choose not to go down that rabbit hole, and just replaced them. Problem solved.
Racing Brake Rotors Still going strong after 10k! This is what the Racing Brakes looked like when they were newly installed. This is after 10k miles, still going strong! Notice, the newly rebuilt front Struts done by RMT, yet again 😳, set in the background!
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As you could see a lot of the lube had squished out and the brake dust was caked to it. Now, I'm curious what if the lube had deposited on to my pads. Could that have contributed to my issue, when the pads get hot. 
