Brake Pad Light :( - Dealer Inspection Phony???

[BrianV]

I have a 2013 S6 with 31,300 miles on it. I bought it with 25K miles, and upon getting all the previous owner's service records, I found he had the front rotors and brakes replaced at 16,000 miles. I found that a bit extreme, and the Audi service writer did say that's a bit premature but cited the previous owner lived in a very hilly area.

That said, today, the light went off. I am very conscious of brakes and engine brake on every light/slow down/etc. Given that the rears haven't been replaced, I'm suspecting it's them. Are there any after market rotors, ECS tuning listed some rears for $122 / pair which seems much better than the $500 for OEM.

Finally, what pisses me off is in August I had the car in with 30,141 miles and the service inspection had all four brakes in green (10mm remaining). Two weeks later with 30,668 miles, it was in again and the inspection had all four marked in yellow (6-9mm remaining). Now with 31,300 miles, my brake pad light is on. Clearly they're not accurate on these inspections.

How long do I have before I need to get this squared away? I don't drive much, and I probably want to take this to my local Audi guy to look at rather then bending over at the dealer.

[BrianV]

So after countless research, I decided I'm just going to do pads. Apparently, back when Audi provided free maintenance (like BMW), they didn't replace rotors at every wear sensor/pad issue, and I just looked at my rotors and they aren't pitted and are porcelain smooth. I bought OEM rear pads and wear sensor, and I have a local independent shop that was founded by an ex Audi dealer senior tech and he has VAGCOM to back out the e-brake to get these in next week.

I also bought third party Ferodo Premier (apparently Ferodo makes the OE rear pads and they're well respected in Europe) front pads and OEM wear sensor just in case the fronts are close to replacement time, but I doubt that they are so I'll just sit on them for a rainy day. It turns out you don't need VAGCOM to do the fronts and can use pliers or vice grips to move the front pistons back (like a normal car), and given that I've changed countless brake pads in a past life (and another thread on this forum meticulously documents how to do it with pictures), I'll give that a go myself when the time comes. Apparently these rotors are so soft that even new pads will wear in appropriately and given that when Audi offered free maintenance they didn't replace rotors is kind of ironic... The dealer wants over $1,400 for fronts and almost as much for rears, no thanks...

I'll report back how it goes.

[Nabizzy]

I replaced my RS7 ones at about 16K, but that was due to track driving, hill runs with lots of engine braking, and in general douchebag driving with douchebag braking. 16K on an S6 definitely seems premature unless the car was really flogged on the brakes.


If it gives you any condolence, my rotors alone were in the neighborhood of 2600

[tenspeed]

It turns out you don't need VAGCOM to do the fronts and can use pliers or vice grips to move the front pistons back (like a normal car), and given that I've changed countless brake pads in a past life (and another thread on this forum meticulously documents how to do it with pictures), I'll give that a go myself when the time comes.

Here's a rear pad replacement DIY that doesn't require the VAG Com cable - http://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-c7-platform-discussion-194/successfully-did-rear-brakes-without-vagcom-2888072/

[BrianV]

Here's a rear pad replacement DIY that doesn't require the VAG Com cable - http://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-c7-platform-discussion-194/successfully-did-rear-brakes-without-vagcom-2888072/

Thanks, due to timing and everything, I'm going to have my local shop do it as they charge a very reasonable amount.

Thanks for sharing though!

[BrianV]

Thanks, due to timing and everything, I'm going to have my local shop do it as they charge a very reasonable amount.

Thanks for sharing though!

I did this by ordering the OEM pads and sensor online and had my local Audi independent shop do it (which is run by two ex-dealer master techs). I just needed rears as my fronts had 8mm left. Total job parts and labor cost me less than $200.

[MLee]

when i had to change mine, my fronts and rears were gone at the same time. i changed the fronts and the light would go away, so i inspected the rears and they were worn down to the sensor also. i didn't replace the rear rotors either, only pads and new sensor.