Default Anyone having repeat issues of brake warpage and vibrations in front?

[rexus300]

Hey guys, I have replaced my front rotors 4 times on my 2016 Audi A7 3.0T with 44k miles already. First two were OEMS under warranty at 8k and 16k miles and Adams slotted/dimpled rotors twice at 23k and 40k respectively. I am getting so annoyed with the noise and vibration from the front rotors and getting rounouts of the rotors. I have been driving for more than 20 years and non of the prior cars had this issue and I know how to slow down nicely and not get a hot spot on the rotors and allowing the brakes to cool when I have an heavy braking incident. Also I used OEM pads for the OEM rotors and used Akebono Euro Ceramics with both the front Adams rotors... The rear rotors are totally fine and never had issues.... I think this car has terrible braking performance and the front calipers are weak and the rotors are too small for this heavy sedan. Any insights??? The car has 44k miles on them now. I am replacing the Adams in front with Stop tech drilled and slotted sports rotors and going back to OEM brake pads for better initial bite and better brake fade than the ceramics...

[prestige.phantom]

My dad had a similar issue with his 2016 A7 (less than 25k miles) the front left rotor kept getting damaged some how (dealer suggested a rock or something might have gotten in). He had them replaced 2 times under "good will" replacement (since brakes are consumables they are not included in the warranty). Just before trading the car in at about 27k miles he was starting to feel a similar problem. It does seem odd to me that such a new car would just happen to have brake problems in less than 3 years and 27k miles in the same place after having them replaced 2 times. There must be some sort of factory defect with these cars.

[prestige.phantom]

Oh and he never tracked the car, and rear rotors were never replaced in the 27k miles. It seems that he had a very similar problem to what you are experiencing.

[rexus300]

Yeah we have a 2014 A6 with 30k miles no issues with rotors and 2012 Audi A8L with 180k miles and nothing like this. The rotors on the A8L which my father owns last up to 50-60k miles due to highway commute.... I told my dealer to inspect the hub runout and rust and clean and make sure they are within spec before putting new rotors on and to check calipers for sticking etc.

[gk1]

Unfortunately it sounds like you got something else going on there if you had to have the OE Audi setup replaced three times by 23k miles. You might need a specialist to really deep dive and see if there is some other underlying issue other than just pads and rotors.

[ellwood]

sorry this isn't like-for-like, but i was having this issue on my wife's glk. currently on the third set of rotors in a year... check the hubs to see if there is any run out and also to see if there is any excess rust/build up on the face... i performed all the brake work on the GLK and was sure that all torque specs and procedures were followed to a tee. the last time i changed them out i cleaned the hub thoroughly with a kit like the link below and haven't had the issue return (*yet* fingers crossed)... i'd also note that i switched from OEM pads to akebono euro ceramic at the same time

https://www.amazon.com/3M-07547-Scotch-Brite-Roloc-Cleaning/dp/B07FN9M6LT

[rexus300]

sorry this isn't like-for-like, but i was having this issue on my wife's glk. currently on the third set of rotors in a year... check the hubs to see if there is any run out and also to see if there is any excess rust/build up on the face... i performed all the brake work on the GLK and was sure that all torque specs and procedures were followed to a tee. the last time i changed them out i cleaned the hub thoroughly with a kit like the link below and haven't had the issue return (*yet* fingers crossed)... i'd also note that i switched from OEM pads to akebono euro ceramic at the same time

https://www.amazon.com/3M-07547-Scotch-Brite-Roloc-Cleaning/dp/B07FN9M6LT

Thats good to know. Thank you!

[prestige.phantom]

Yeah we have a 2014 A6 with 30k miles no issues with rotors and 2012 Audi A8L with 180k miles and nothing like this. The rotors on the A8L which my father owns last up to 50-60k miles due to highway commute.... I told my dealer to inspect the hub runout and rust and clean and make sure they are within spec before putting new rotors on and to check calipers for sticking etc.

Ive only had this car (car in my signature 2013 A6) for 7k miles, but according to the service history this car does not appear to have experienced a similar issue (73k miles). The brakes do squeak even after I had the front pads and rotors replaced 3k miles ago, but I think the issue with the vibration and warping is thankfully only with the A7.

[Valpo A7]

We bought our A7 at 142,000 miles and now we are almost at 155,000 miles. Previous owner had the front pads replaced a few times but I am fairly certain the rotors are original and they are certainly not warped.


As far as being undersized goes, there are plenty of cars and trucks on the road that are much heavier than the A6/7 with smaller rotors. To the OP, if your car has warped 4 sets of rotors now in 40K miles, there is something going on besides so called inferior rotors.

[db12]

Is the car actually shaking when braking or are you feeling a "vibration"? Also if the car is actually shaking is it occurring during heavy braking as well or only light braking. I do track all of my cars (yes even the tank of an RS7) as well as my wife so I have to regularly swap out rotors and pads on both cars. If its just vibration when braking that usually is related to dirty pads not playing nice with the slotted or drilled rotors. Mine will do that during the winter. If you actually have heavy shaking during light and heavy braking then you definitely have something going on with the rotor itself.

[RAF_S7]

I’m at 36k now, running on OEM disc’s and EBC Redstuff pads (On the EBCs last 20k Miles)

Never had any issues with the disc’s, the pads I changed due to squeal and dust.

There is hardly any wear on the disc’s and zero warping or vibration.

Disc’s warp if you don’t bed new pads in correctly, or they get severely overheated.

[dc2002]

First set went 60k miles...replaced front and rear pads with akebono and front rotors with oem from dealer.

Wasn't pulsing at all but fronts were at min thickness rears still had some life left. Just hit 71500 miles. Typical for me on many vws and audis.

[rexus300]

Is the car actually shaking when braking or are you feeling a "vibration"? Also if the car is actually shaking is it occurring during heavy braking as well or only light braking. I do track all of my cars (yes even the tank of an RS7) as well as my wife so I have to regularly swap out rotors and pads on both cars. If its just vibration when braking that usually is related to dirty pads not playing nice with the slotted or drilled rotors. Mine will do that during the winter. If you actually have heavy shaking during light and heavy braking then you definitely have something going on with the rotor itself.

It was making loud noise and buzzing vibration through the cabin when slowing down from above 60 mph. I got the new stoptech rotors put on front and installed OEM audi pads and wow the car stops faster and smoother without any noise or vibration. The older Adams rotors (second set for the fronts) which only had 4k miles on them were severely glazed from poor quality stoptech brake pads which I removed too... The installer did bead them in properly but it didnt help.... My prior Adam rotor in the front was 1 year old and only 12k miles on them with the Euro ceramic Akebonos and they were fine for that time but then they got glazed and noisy with poor braking feel but no vibration.. And you cannot re-bed the ceramic pads as they are not designed to do that unlike semi-metallics... Even when I tried to re-bed the stop techs last week, it made it worse and I did 10 braking events and let them cool and did another 10 brakes from 60-10 mph nearly activating the ABS according to the stoptech recommendations... As much as I like the Adams rotors, I find the stop tech way better looking and seems to have a much superior quality and feel so far.

[Prlme]

I have a 2016 myself, and I started to get a "shuddering"? Under highway breaking, front left wheel. Do you think this is the same issue?

[rexus300]

I have a 2016 myself, and I started to get a "shuddering"? Under highway breaking, front left wheel. Do you think this is the same issue?

Yep very much so.

[lancerman21]

I have a 2015 A6 and I am having the same issues, shuddering and shaking of the front brakes when braking from high speeds. I have had the dealership replace the front rotors and pads at about 25K miles for the same issue at a cost of about $2000 because they said wear and tear from excessive driving and heat. (I don't know how they know how I drive my car) I do live in the California desert were it get's up to 125 degrees in the middle of summer so I attributed it to that. So I coughed up the money. But now this is happening again at 52K miles and I will not pay that much $$. I have been researching after market rotors and brake pads and these forums help a lot. Now I just have to find a decent shop to do the work. There is definitely a problem with Audi rotors and the braking system on these A6s. I love my car but having to replace the rotors every 25K miles is too much. Oh and the rear brakes and rotors have no problems!

[budda]

You most likely have bad wheel hubs. Any decent shop can remove the rotors and measure the runout with a dial indicator directly on the hub.

[lancerman21]

You most likely have bad wheel hubs. Any decent shop can remove the rotors and measure the runout with a dial indicator directly on the hub.

Thanks for the info! I’ll definitely have the shop inspect the wheel hubs. Not sure if the Audi dealership inspected them before charging me $2000 for the new rotors and pads the first time. But lesson learned.


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