New rotors and pads - piece of cake

[aazevedo]

I'm most likely preaching to the choir here, but at 92k miles I did rotors and pads last night. BMW engineering proved to make the job super simple.

I got zimmermann rotors from AutohausAZ for all 4 corners, Textar pads for the front and bosch pads for the rear. Jacked the car up - put it on jack stands and 3 hours later, perfect. Not one bolt stuck. Not one rotor stuck to the hub. Both sensors came off without breaking them and were still intact. Bedded the pads into the new rotors and everything worked like a charm.

So as much as I have better things to do with my time than spend 3 hours under a car, I'm still a cheap-skate and will gladly pay $370 for parts as opposed to the dealer at $1850 for the job!

Happy driver - all-be-it with dirty fingernails for a few more days.

Aaron

[S197GT]

Did the fronts early last year after the sensors tripped. Started to do the rears but decided to leave them as they still had a lot of pad left. That was some 20k+ miles ago and the rear sensors still haven't tripped. Glad I didn't replace them.

The fronts came off easy but I had to use some WD40 and a mallet to get the one rear rotor I took off before putting it back on. Hopefully they don't give me too much trouble when the sensors finally trip.

HUGE cost savings.

[cochise325]

Good for you on the diy brake job. The savings are definitely worth it. But I also find that you appreciate these cars more when you work on them and see how well they are built. I also like the fact that most of the parts you replace come from Europe and not some crap made in China.
At 92k, that was the first brake job?

[aazevedo]

Good for you on the diy brake job. The savings are definitely worth it. But I also find that you appreciate these cars more when you work on them and see how well they are built. I also like the fact that most of the parts you replace come from Europe and not some crap made in China.
At 92k, that was the first brake job?

Oh yes! A day later and there is a solid sense of pride. Great parts from Germany that all just fit right!

I bought the car at 50k 15 months ago. Looking at the records, it was the first pad/rotor for the rear brakes, but most likely the second set of pads on the original rotors on the front.

I had an indi shop do the transmission filter and fluid at 80k so I figure the car is ready to roll to 160k without much else on the docket outside of tires and oil!

[ricky914]

Are there pad sensors in the rear? My car has always been dealer maintained since new, now @ 120,000 and too expensive to fix a car of that age/mileage at the dealer.
Reason I ask, is the car says I have 3,000 miles left on rear brakes, but it sounds bad (growning) and feels less reactive to brake pedal pressure.

Is it necessary to replace the rear rotors? I believe these have been replaced once already under warranty/maintenance package.
Thanks

[Amtrak98]

There is one brake sensor in the front and one in the rear. I'm at 130,000 and had mine replaced at 124,000. Pads and rotors all around so depending on what your Indy says, you might be well off replacing them all. Mine were starting to develop a lip. Get them inspected and make a decision from there.

[Kredithai]

Any brake fluid would do, so long as it's DOT 4 right?

[ricky914]

The rear rotors are still good, no lip. An independent specialist wanted $580 for the job ( Ken Baker Originals in Myrtle Beach). When I pushed them on the excessive price they said "well it might be a little less." I payed $80 after tax for the rear pads from the dealership. I figure I have $500 wiggle room to buy jack stands and tools and not feel ripped off.

Amtrak98, Thanks for the info about the sensor. Mine is not tripped so, although I am sure it is not far off. According to the dash, I have some miles left on the front.. There is a slight lip on the front rotors.