New brakes at 15k miles?

[Elanmike]

Anyone here had to replace brakes at 15k? I just went in for my 15k service and the stealer said fronts were down to 4mm. They wanted to do rotors and pads for $1000! Obviously, I said no to that one.
Even if the pads are out at 15ku I assume I wouldn't need new rotors this early?
I might be a 'spirited' driver but it's not like I'm driving around with my foot on the brake.

[WV_B8S4]

Get a second opinion, asap.

[steve0827]

I had to have my front pads and rotors replaced at 15k. Took it to a local shop that charges $150/hr and they only charged me $750 for parts and labor.

[paul]

Fronts are easy to do assuming you really need brakes. <$300 in parts and you can do it yourself in an hour.

http://www.purems.com/Products/EUR13...ont-Brake-Pads
http://www.purems.com/Products/4B361...nt-Brake-Rotor

[flyinverted]

No kidding on the second opinion...

They (Audi) don't even let you ride the brakes... kills the throttle if you touch the brakes (unless you're tuned).

Even then, go aftermarket and reduce the time you spend cleaning your wheels.

I am not surprised about the rotor comment though, from what I understand mfr's have made the rotors thin enough (to save weight) that they can wear to min tolerance through a single set of pads. Added bonus for them is the profit on replacement rotors...

[jayts]

Ecs rotors and pads, get their kit and have an Indy shop do it

[GeoJoe]

Great time for an upgrade!

[Elanmike]

Looks like I'm going to have to pull the wheels off and measure them myself. If I do need to replace, I will go aftermarket and do it myself.
A BBK is tempting but a bit out of budget right now. I would like slotted/ drilled rotors but I put those on my SL and every time I braked it sounded like a bike wheel with a card stuck in it - and it was LOUD! I have though about going to RS5 or Q5 front calipers - the S4/5 brakes definitely fade when hot.

[USAFS4]

Yah the stock rotors and pads go fast on our cars. I got 20k before my Indy shop wanted to replace my rotors, which was a huge shock. I went with generic rotors and semi-track pads for about 600$.

[EasternLI]

My rotors were causing a lot of vibration for some reason, took it to the dealer twice where they balanced the wheels etc but the vibration was still there, last week they decided to replace all four rotors and pads under warranty because they determined it wasn't due to wear so I have all new brakes now at a touch over 13k

[MrFunk]

Mileage doesn't really mean much. In 15k you can wear through brakes. I've got 19k on mine and they are virtually new - I'm not hard on brakes. It's all driving style.

Get a second quote and you can look at the pads yourself and measure yourself also.

[SwankPeRFection]

There are sensors on the pads that will go Off when they need replacing. Go by that, not a greedy dealer looking to make money.

[chillindrdude]

my audi dealership quoted me $860 for pads/rotors/labor.

[wwhan]

Brake DIY link

[Ryan_qttro]

The greedy dealer is just letting you know your pad warning is gonna come on in about 2mm.
But I guess that makes them the bad guy for looking over your car and making you aware.

[wwhan]

The greedy dealer is just letting you know your pad warning is gonna come on in about 2mm.
But I guess that makes them the bad guy for looking over your car and making you aware.

+1

Yeah dealer let me know the front brakes were getting low (at 26k miles) and about 2 months later, the brake sensor sensor light on the dash came on.

[Ryan_qttro]

We've seen customers get even madder for not being made aware their brakes are getting close and they will see a warning on. Some people prefer to have them done, then having to come back to dealer. And I know most will go with aftermarket pads and rotors anyway on this forum. I've installed a BBK and a few sets of Stoptech Rotors/ Akebono pads.
I recommend aftermarket for the enthusiast S car drivers that come through our shop.

[JJP1978]

I got 40k miles outta mine. I ended up replacing all four corners for under $300. Plus now I don't have to wash my wheels every other day!

[evomr-to-s4]

I got 40k miles outta mine. I ended up replacing all four corners for under $300. Plus now I don't have to wash my wheels every other day!

so how did you replace all four corners for under $300.00 , is that just the pads and machining rotors?

[Ryan_qttro]

Hope you didn't machine them, they aren't meant to be machined. I've seen some customers who have machined theirs and they look awful. Machining them just puts them past the wear limit. Crazy how people don't understand they have a wear limit and just slap pads on worn out rotors.

[JJP1978]

so how did you replace all four corners for under $300.00 , is that just the pads and machining rotors?

No, my rotors had a 3mm lip and had to be replaced. Advance Auto sells rotors and ceramic pads. They also had a 20% off sale over $100 orders when I purchased. Rotors are decent and pads are good. Initial bite was not as good as OEM but now that they've got about 1000 miles on them The only difference is not having to clean the wheels.

[chaos2984]

Hope you didn't machine them, they aren't meant to be machined. I've seen some customers who have machined theirs and they look awful. Machining them just puts them past the wear limit. Crazy how people don't understand they have a wear limit and just slap pads on worn out rotors.

I call BS on half of that statement. You can deff machine them even if the lip was 10in tall it does not matter one bit to the lathe. To machine rotors their are 2 specs you have to watch for minimum thickness and minimum machining thickness. All you need to do is measure the face of the rotor not the lip and see if its above minimum machining limits and if it is you can cut them. All this don't cut the rotors is hog wash unless they are out of spec is all. And the whole lip thing being to big is crap also. Anyone who knows how to use a brake lathe can knock it off correctly without damage to the machine or rotor with ease. Ive done it all the time. I machined my rotors on my B5 S4 at around 80K miles and put pads on it and it was fine for another 40K until i sold the car. All my measurements were within spec and no issues with braking noticed. Just get the rotors measured and compare to specs and you can decide from there.

All these people wearing the brakes out in 15-20k have to be hard on them or a lot of stop and go traffic. I typically get around 40-50k on brakes.

[audistealth]

I'm nearing 55k, no light yet. But, I do a LOT of highway driving.

[audistealth]

I just shot over to tirerack and noticed Hawk changed some of their pad compounds (HPSR, HPS5.0)

New HPSR:
http://www.hawkperformance.com/perfo...ce-street-race

Tirerack is also running a free shipping promo on select braking, suspension, and accessory products (no wheels or tires) over 50 USD:
www.tirerack.com/landing/freeshipping.jsp

Good luck on your search, please post back with your decision and review!

[droopy1592]

23k on my car and the pads look new lol. Same with my R, R32, GTi, I must brake like a pussy.


edit: Yep, last I checked was 15k and just checked again, must have at least 70-80% of my pad material left. I do a lot of highway miles but still...

[Ryan_qttro]

I call BS on half of that statement. You can deff machine them even if the lip was 10in tall it does not matter one bit to the lathe. To machine rotors their are 2 specs you have to watch for minimum thickness and minimum machining thickness. All you need to do is measure the face of the rotor not the lip and see if its above minimum machining limits and if it is you can cut them. All this don't cut the rotors is hog wash unless they are out of spec is all. And the whole lip thing being to big is crap also. Anyone who knows how to use a brake lathe can knock it off correctly without damage to the machine or rotor with ease. Ive done it all the time. I machined my rotors on my B5 S4 at around 80K miles and put pads on it and it was fine for another 40K until i sold the car. All my measurements were within spec and no issues with braking noticed. Just get the rotors measured and compare to specs and you can decide from there.



All these people wearing the brakes out in 15-20k have to be hard on them or a lot of stop and go traffic. I typically get around 40-50k on brakes.

Crazy you were there to see what I have seen

[Ryan_qttro]

Haha of course it doesn't matter to the lathe it's machine, it cuts what you set it at. The wear limit on a rotor is a couple MM's from new, why you would cut a rotor past it's spec and use it I have no idea

[Seinsmeld13]

My wife and I went in to look at a new car the other day. We had the S4 with us as our on paper trade. The dealer used car rep came in and asked a few questions about our S4. He wanted to know if I had done the brakes yet. This question came after a 2 minute look at the car. My car has about 25,000 miles on it. I said no to his question. He replied well they need to be done if not that would effect the trade in value. I told him if they got my car do whatever you want to it. My 2007 GTI I did the brakes for the first time at 206,000 km so this S4 should go at least 100,000 km or more. Anyway if I were you I would get your car checked at an independent shop. There is a brake service light on these cars. Did that light illuminate?

[Ryan_qttro]

New front rotors for the S4/S5 3.0 V6 come at 30mm wear limit is 28mm

[steve0827]

New front rotors for the S4/S5 3.0 V6 come at 30mm wear limit is 28mm

That explains a lot

[TTRU]

I got 73k out of my stock pads...dealership replaced pads all four corners, rotors looked fine.

I know... I'm not tryin'

[chuthis]

Lol, I'm at 73k right now and no brake light yet. Hope I didn't just jinx myself...

I drive like a grandma ...but it's still southern california stop and go traffic.

[B8_Jim]

Mileage on brake pads is sort of a worthless metric. If you drive highway miles you will get a ton before needing to replace. If you drive 100 yards at a time before having to stop you will need pads/rotors with very low mileage...

FWIW - I checked mine before a track day. With 11,000 miles - my rotors were at 29.5mm (new is 30, wear limit is 28), with the pads at 16.4mm (new is 20.3, wear limit is 10) - so I used 25% of the rotor and nearly 40% of the pads in those miles with 1 track weekend.

Given exactly the same driving situations - I'd get 27,500 miles before my pads were done - but I'm sure I have not experienced the exact same conditions.