Brake Pad Replacement

[TypeMRT]

Is it worth going to the dealership to replace the front brake pads for $310 or can I go to Midas/Meineke instead? Does it need to be done an authorized repair shop? Know any good places in Orange County or LA?
Big thanks!

[Bllzll]

thats a good question! i would like to know the answer to this also

[Kschroers1]

Why not replace the pads yourself if your not gonna turn your rotor's? It's quite simple if your just gonna do a pad swap.

[TypeMRT]

Why not replace the pads yourself if your not gonna turn your rotor's? It's quite simple if your just gonna do a pad swap.

No jack, stands, tools, or real desire to get my hands dirty this weekend.

[Kschroers1]

No jack, stands, tools, or real desire to get my hands dirty this weekend.

Get a friend, if any in the automotive field, to do it on the side for 50 bucks. I know technician's are desperate for money these days because I'm one of them. Only flagged 70 hours this recent paycheck when i usually average
110+ hours.

[Phantom2.0T]

Is there a DIY for this?

[OceanBlueB7]

No jack, stands, tools, or real desire to get my hands dirty this weekend.

The car came with a jack, buy some $12 stands at Wal-Mart, get some rubber gloves while you're there. If you can't accomplish this on your own - then by all means it appears you DO have the desire to pull your shorts to your ankles and bend over for your friendly neighborhood dealership service manager.

[supamannn99]

dude im gonna do mine myself tomorrow. a friend is gonna help me while on the phone and said its gonna be a breeze. maybe i can help you after i do mine if you want

[Allmine]

How many miles do you guys have on your 07's? I have about 25,000 and my brakes are good. Is it worth replacing the pads to save the rotors for a longer period of time? Hate to get hammered with brakes and pads all at once...??

[slimmj0k3r]

How many miles do you guys have on your 07's? I have about 25,000 and my brakes are good. Is it worth replacing the pads to save the rotors for a longer period of time? Hate to get hammered with brakes and pads all at once...??

OEM brake dust = a bitch

thats why i changed mine at 14k once i put on my new wheels.

[Slo.Mo.Shun.]

I have 29k miles and my pads are completely shut, and my rotors have a nasty lip.

I just ordered the S4 "oem" ECS BBK ( 2 piece floating ), and a set of pads.

[Kid Red]

OEM brake dust = a bitch

thats why i changed mine at 14k once i put on my new wheels.

What did you replace them with? I've seen Hawk HPS mentioned a lot for low dust and it has the wires on it I think?

[tre]

What did you replace them with? I've seen Hawk HPS mentioned a lot for low dust and it has the wires on it I think?

Hawk HPS are very low dust pads compared to OEM but have a little less initial bite then OEM. The ones I've used in the past did not have sensors but the curernt ones may (I don't know). If they don't have sensors, you can remove the sensor wire from the old OEM pad and splice the wires that were connected to the pad togethor creating a loop which will make the sensor think a pad is there. Your sensor will not work when your pads are low (all you have to do is look at them) but your dash will not have a big brake light on it either. I always short my sensor on every Audi I've had as it opens up more pad choices. Carbotech Bobcats are another lower dust choice with perhaps a bit less stopping power the HPS (in my opinion) and Hawk also has a performance ceramic that is low dust. I am still looking for a low dust pad that stops really well but I've yet to find one (nature of the beast I guess). That said I've used all of the above and they were ok but none of them felt like they stopped as well as the OEM - I have no scientific proof of that though.

[Kid Red]

Hawk HPS are very low dust pads compared to OEM but have a little less initial bite then OEM. The ones I've used in the past did not have sensors but the curernt ones may (I don't know). If they don't have sensors, you can remove the sensor wire from the old OEM pad and splice the wires that were connected to the pad togethor creating a loop which will make the sensor think a pad is there. Your sensor will not work when your pads are low (all you have to do is look at them) but your dash will not have a big brake light on it either. I always short my sensor on every Audi I've had as it opens up more pad choices. Carbotech Bobcats are another lower dust choice with perhaps a bit less stopping power the HPS (in my opinion) and Hawk also has a performance ceramic that is low dust. I am still looking for a low dust pad that stops really well but I've yet to find one (nature of the beast I guess). That said I've used all of the above and they were ok but none of them felt like they stopped as well as the OEM - I have no scientific proof of that though.

I see, thanks for the info. I would change out stock if the new pads stopped as well, if not better, and also was low dust. Guess I'm stuck cleaning my wheels every 4 days :(

[Phrost]

I've spliced the wires together myself too, just cut and splice them together then ziptie it up somewhere. But if you know your car has brake pad sensors (which it does) I would recommend just buying pads with sensors.

Changing pads and rotors is a really easy job, but you have to know how to do it. If it's your first time, I would recommend having someone there just to watch over your shoulder.

But back to your question, it doesn't matter where you get your pads changed. Brakes are brakes, and the Audi dealership does not care and will never ask where you've had them serviced. Audi could do it, Midas could do it, a 16 year old teenager could do it... they only go in one way so nobody cares as long as it's done correctly.

[Laurence@GsG]

Hawk HPS are very low dust pads compared to OEM but have a little less initial bite then OEM. The ones I've used in the past did not have sensors but the curernt ones may (I don't know). If they don't have sensors, you can remove the sensor wire from the old OEM pad and splice the wires that were connected to the pad togethor creating a loop which will make the sensor think a pad is there. Your sensor will not work when your pads are low (all you have to do is look at them) but your dash will not have a big brake light on it either. I always short my sensor on every Audi I've had as it opens up more pad choices. Carbotech Bobcats are another lower dust choice with perhaps a bit less stopping power the HPS (in my opinion) and Hawk also has a performance ceramic that is low dust. I am still looking for a low dust pad that stops really well but I've yet to find one (nature of the beast I guess). That said I've used all of the above and they were ok but none of them felt like they stopped as well as the OEM - I have no scientific proof of that though.

We offer hawk and ebc and axxis. Have you used any other brands then OEM and HPS. I would really like some feed back. Ive run 90% of my cars with the hps pads. Like you said initial bite in the morning was bad. At least on cold cali mornings, other then that they always stop better then oem after they heated up??

[tre]

We offer hawk and ebc and axxis. Have you used any other brands then OEM and HPS. I would really like some feed back. Ive run 90% of my cars with the hps pads. Like you said initial bite in the morning was bad. At least on cold cali mornings, other then that they always stop better then oem after they heated up??

I've used Axxis ultimate (now ULT), Carbotech Bobcats, Carbotech XP10, Hawk HPS, Hawk performance ceramic, Hawk HT-10, Hawk DTC01, Performance Friction PFC01, and OEM. Axxis ultimates were the worst pad I've ever used. The ultiamtes dusted more than any track pad I've used (way, way more dust then OEM). I don't think they had the stopping power of the OEM pad. Bobcats and performace ceramic were about on par with each other. A lot of people complain about the noise of the Bobcats but I never had any noise (I also bed them well and use anti-squeal compound on the back of the pads). The HPS made some noise during the colder months (Chicago winter) but I never bothered to put anti-squeal compound on those. HPS stopped better then Bobcats, performance ceramic, and Axxis ULT. I never really had good initial bite on them even after driving a while but they do stop well. Perhaps they are a bit more linear then OEM - meaning OEM is more of an on/off switch where HPS takes a little more pushing from the left leg to get the same (or slightly better stop). On the street I like to have good initial bite and I don't feel like HPS ever had that as compared to OEM. It was worth the trade because of the dust though and I never felt they were bad in a panic stop situation. I would like to try Performance friction PFC 1038. I would also like to try Ferodo street pads and Pagid street pads. Race wise I really like the PFC01 but they are just too much pad for me - even with Motul RBF600 and a Stoptech 355 BBK. I was really pushing and boiled my fluid a lot with the PFC01 (stopped great and never faded though). I like the Hawk HT-10 because I have backed off a bit on how aggressive I brake at the track and that pad works fine. I also think I brake less now that I'm a better driver (if that makes sense). The Carbotech XP10 was good but did not stand out. DTC01 was great but again I don't think I need that much pad on the track (I use Nitto NT-01 track rubber). Of course all the track pads are garbage truck loud. I usually drive to the track on the track pads and then bed them just before entering the track. Never tried EBC pads.

[supamannn99]

how do you know when your brake fluid boils?

[tre]

You know brake fluid boils when you have to push the brake pedal down farther and farther to apply brakes. The pedal will feel mushy. At full boil your pedal will go all the way to the floor and you will have no brakes or very little brakes (scary when approaching a turn at 100mph). The boiling fluid creates air pockets which creates the mushy pedal feel (since air compresses more than brake fluid). At that point you have to bleed out the air (after the brakes cool) to regain the hard pedal. I replace my fluid with new Motul RBF600 before or after all track days so I always have new (dry) fluid with a high boiling point.

[mdfast1]

Here is a price quote on installing new pads and rotors from Sears (I assume this is for OEM stock):

$115-Pads Front
$276-Rotors Front
$40-Pads Rear
$120-Rotors Rear

$36-Actuator Service
$35-Brake Fluid
$65-Install Front
$65-Instal Back

Does this all seem reasonably priced? Also, I was thinking of switching to HAWK Pads, where can I find some prices for front and rear.

Should I also go with slotted rotors, or should the stock rotors be enough. When should rotors be replaced, I have about 45k miles on the 06 B7 A4, and the rotors have a bit of a lip. The guys at sears said that audi recommends not sanding and squaring up the rotors and I should just purchase new ones. Also, my brake wear light hasn't come on, however they looked super thin when I replaced my tires this summer, should I wait for the brake wear light?

Thanks for the help.

[skibumdc]

Here is a price quote on installing new pads and rotors from Sears (I assume this is for OEM stock):

$115-Pads Front
$276-Rotors Front
$40-Pads Rear
$120-Rotors Rear

$36-Actuator Service
$35-Brake Fluid
$65-Install Front
$65-Instal Back

Does this all seem reasonably priced? Also, I was thinking of switching to HAWK Pads, where can I find some prices for front and rear.

Should I also go with slotted rotors, or should the stock rotors be enough. When should rotors be replaced, I have about 45k miles on the 06 B7 A4, and the rotors have a bit of a lip. The guys at sears said that audi recommends not sanding and squaring up the rotors and I should just purchase new ones. Also, my brake wear light hasn't come on, however they looked super thin when I replaced my tires this summer, should I wait for the brake wear light?

Thanks for the help.

Wow, $36 for brake fluid....that must be some SUPER DUPER fluid.
Last time I checked 1 quart of DOT3 Prestone was <$8. Talk about markup.

I DOUBT Sears has OEM Audi pads to install. Do they know about the wear sensors? You should verify they are using AUDI OEM parts. They'll probably install a metallic compound brake pad and generic rotors.
While the labor rate is certainly cheaper than my area, the markup on the parts is significant.

I assume actuator service means they replace the brake fluid and activate the ABS pump to push the fluid out of that pump as well. I'm not sure how they would do this without a Vag com, but I'm sure someone else wuill chime in to say if it's possible.

Overall you're looking at $752, not even including taxes. This can be done for MUCH less.
ECS tuning has OEM parts with front & rear rotors and pads for about $350. $200 less than Sears.
Just my $0.02

[Vito Roma]

Is it worth going to the dealership to replace the front brake pads for $310 or can I go to Midas/Meineke instead? Does it need to be done an authorized repair shop? Know any good places in Orange County or LA?
Big thanks!

Do it yourself its easy

[tre]

FYI, You need DOT4 fluid - not DOT3. DOT4 has a higher boiling point. The OEM fluid is Pentosin and it is about $10/liter. OEM fluid is a good fluid (unless you are going to the track).

[skibumdc]

FYI, You need DOT4 fluid - not DOT3. DOT4 has a higher boiling point. The OEM fluid is Pentosin and it is about $10/liter. OEM fluid is a good fluid (unless you are going to the track).

Are you sure OEM is DOT4? I thought DOT4 had to be replaced yearly, as although it can withstand higher temperatures I thought it broke down faster and therefore had to be replaced annually?

[tre]

Are you sure OEM is DOT4? I thought DOT4 had to be replaced yearly, as although it can withstand higher temperatures I thought it broke down faster and therefore had to be replaced annually?

100% sure. Pentosin is less hygroscopic then something like Motul RBF600 but will still absorb a good amount of water (which lowers the boiling point). That is why Audi recommends changing brake fluid every two years. The OEM fluid is a good fluid with a decent wet/dry boiling point.

[mdfast1]

For the $752 is there better bang for much buck as far as rotors and pads go. Thinking HAWK Pads and Powerslot rotors?

[tre]

For the $752 is there better bang for much buck as far as rotors and pads go. Thinking HAWK Pads and Powerslot rotors?

Depends if you track your car or not?
Which Hawk pads are you thinking about?
Do you want more stopping power, less dust, etc? (from my experience, you can't have both though I would love to be proven wrong as I've not used every pad in the world). Slotted rotors are better for the track and drilled rotors are for looks (bad for the track - little cracks start to move outward from the holes). lager rotors will cool better but can throw off the brake bias if you don't change the caliper piston size. Stainless lines are good for pedal feel and good bang for the buck but are not as robust (will not last as long as OEM rubber lines). Mine were fine after 3 years of Chicago winters but everyone is not so lucky.

[RedS-line]

tre, you got me worried after experiencing many different pads and stating that the stock ones were among the best. i hate the mushy, uninspiring feel of the stock brakes and just want something that inspires confidence when stepping on them hard. and with the amount of brake dust that the front generates, anything that makes less dust would be a plus. would a bottle of motul and a pair of hawk pads help here or not?

[OceanBlueB7]

[QUOTE=RedS-line;2805652] i hate the mushy, uninspiring feel of the stock brakes [/QUOTE

Huh? I think the OEM brakes on this car are OUTSTANDING. Drive the B5. THAT car had soggy brakes.

[mdfast1]

Depends if you track your car or not?
Which Hawk pads are you thinking about?
Do you want more stopping power, less dust, etc? (from my experience, you can't have both though I would love to be proven wrong as I've not used every pad in the world). Slotted rotors are better for the track and drilled rotors are for looks (bad for the track - little cracks start to move outward from the holes). lager rotors will cool better but can throw off the brake bias if you don't change the caliper piston size. Stainless lines are good for pedal feel and good bang for the buck but are not as robust (will not last as long as OEM rubber lines). Mine were fine after 3 years of Chicago winters but everyone is not so lucky.

I don't plan on tracking the car, I liked the feel of the stock brakes, and as far as brake dust goes, I didnt mind the dust, just gotta clean more often. For every day use/ increase safety (quick braking) should I just stick with stock rotors and pads? I was looking at the HAWK HPS pads assuming they would provide a faster stop than stock. Also, 45k miles, replace the rotors or would machining them up a bit be better for the bank, i'd prefer to keep the old rotors but they have a bit of a lip on em.

[tre]

tre, you got me worried after experiencing many different pads and stating that the stock ones were among the best. i hate the mushy, uninspiring feel of the stock brakes and just want something that inspires confidence when stepping on them hard. and with the amount of brake dust that the front generates, anything that makes less dust would be a plus. would a bottle of motul and a pair of hawk pads help here or not?

A change of pads will not help mush. Stainless brakes lines will help the mush a bit since they don't expand like the stock rubber lines when you step on the brakes. New pads may help a little if your piston is very extended because your pads are very worn. If your brakes are very mushy, you really need your brakes bled (to get the air out). If your fluid is a couple years old it may have some water in it as well. Our brakes will always be a little mushy because of the stock sliding caliper - don't get me worng, it is a great caliper. It just has one piston which will cause a bit of slop when you step on the brakes. A fixed multi-piston caliper will not have that issue. Would my wife notice this? No. When I added Stoptech ST40 calipers to my last Audi, it made a huge difference in pedal feel. Do you need this for the street? No. If you have extra $$ sitting around, I love the feel of a fixed caliper. Anyway, I would get your brakes bled to fix the mush and perhaps add stainless braided lines. Not to worry you more, but I took my car to the dealer to get my brakes bled when I did not have time to do it and they made it worse. I always make time to do it myself now.

[Tivoom]

So which pads are the best with the less dust and with good stopping power for a non tracked car???

[tre]

I don't plan on tracking the car, I liked the feel of the stock brakes, and as far as brake dust goes, I didnt mind the dust, just gotta clean more often. For every day use/ increase safety (quick braking) should I just stick with stock rotors and pads? I was looking at the HAWK HPS pads assuming they would provide a faster stop than stock. Also, 45k miles, replace the rotors or would machining them up a bit be better for the bank, i'd prefer to keep the old rotors but they have a bit of a lip on em.

The Audi official position is that the rotors should never be turned, only replaced. If you have more then 2mm worn off the rotors, then they do need to be replaced. I use a micrometer to measure and usually only replace them when they are below minimum specs. You can pick up a micrometer for around $20. Btw, Audi's official position is that rotors should be replaced with pads (assuming pads are worn out). Hawk HPS is the closest pad to OEM that I have used. If you live in an area with extreme cold, I might be inclined to stick with OEM pads. Then again, pads are cheap and easy to replace - why not give the HPS a try. I liked them. I like OEM too. What the Hawk really have are more fade resistance then stock for a lot of repeated use (but not for the track). I don't know that you will notice too big of a difference though.

[RedS-line]

thanks tre. whadda you recommend as a replacement fluid? which kind of motul for the street?