Brake squeal when cold - 2012 S4

[AdamInKC]

Is there anything that can be done (outside of turning my stereo up) to fix the annoying brake squeal when it's cold out? It does not go away after driving and I am annoyed to hear it at every stoplight I pull up to.

I took it to the dealer last year and they lubed up the slider pins... Did not really seem to help.

[Eggrollz4u]

Change your pads lol. The OEM pads are super squeaky in the cold, give off a lot of dust but have great bite. Trade for some Akebonos and you'll get rid of the squeak, most dust but you'll give up that initial bite.


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[pfft]

I think there is a TSB (maybe) about getting the less aggressive brakes installed. I believe I read about that on this forum. But yeah, other than that, they are gonna squeal. Or, you could just install less aggressive (I.e less metallic) brake pads. It doesn't bother me.

[TheLetterJay]

It could be the brake pads. I've had the fronts on my 14' S4 replaced with Akebono Euro Ceramics and not a peep since.......not as grabby as OEM, but gets the job done for me.

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[Dr GP]

There is no permanant fix for this other than replacing the pads. Audi is aware of the issue but continues to put on a brake pad with a compond that is prone to squealing. In fact, they have produced a brochure to give to owner who complain to explain why they use this compound. Do yourself a favor, replace the pads with Ceramic pads, as Eggroolz4U suggested. The lack of brake dust is reason enough by itself. BTW, I have Stoptech Ceramics front and rear.

[SteveYem]

It could be the brake pads. I've had the fronts on my 14' S4 replaced with Akebono Euro Ceramics and not a peep since.......not as grabby as OEM, but gets the job done for me.

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I agree with this, although I went with Wearever Gold pads up front and Akebono Euro Ceramics in the rear. My feeling is the same - less initial bite than OEM pads but I have gotten used to it. The vast reduction in brake dust accumulation on my wheels is fantastic. I haven't washed my wheels in over 3 weeks, which includes miles driven in the snow, rain and muddy east coast ski resort parking lots, and they look as clean as they would look after less than 1 week when using the OEM pads. And to the OP's question, I have not heard them make a sound under any conditions.

[S4ilicious]

OP, I had this ongoing issue with my B8.5 S4. My brakes started squeaking only in the cold but slowly started squeaking All The Damn time. It drove me Nuts! Took it to Audi for a brake checkup and they told me brakes were fine and that the Tech had lubricated contact areas. Driving home coming from the dealership I heard the damn sqeak. Point of the story, OEM brake pads are great at stopping but are noisy and dirty since they are Semi- Metallic. Finally had it and ended up ordering a set of Akebono Ceramics Pads and I have virtually No dust on my wheels and more importantly there dead silent.

[TexasDfwS4]

Normal condition.

[HeymyAudi]

Yeah mine squeal like a pig when its super cold... One thing I do is I wash the dust out of the pad area and it helps a bit but as soon as you do some driving that bad boy is back to crying out... Love the stopping power.. Hate the break dust and squeals! Bring on spring!

[Thurston]

it's really quite humiliating when it happens.. it is unbearably loud and just really q unacceptable. Audi replaced my pads (with over 50% life remaining) for free and supposedly polished the rotors but I honestly don't believe they did sh*t w/ the rotors which is fine I was happy to get new pads and it has at least temporarily gone away. they put some tsb on my receipt but i don't remember which one- i can look for it if you can't find the tsb

[Reckon]

Same issue here...just gotten used to it. Figure when the pads are due I will replace with the Akenobos and call it a day.

[AudBoost]

[S4ilicious]

Anybody experiencing Brake Squeal should just get Akebono pads instead of replacing the stock pads with identical OEM pads. Cost me literally 300bucka for pads+ install at a local euro shop. Why keep embarrassing yourself when you can make the squeals go away no matter the temperature and not have to clean your wheels in weeks?! Lol no brainer guys

[Dakkath]

Happened on my old 2013 S4 at about 10K miles. Wouldn't go away no matter what the dealer told me to do "Deglaze".... Was going to replace with Ceramic pads, but ended up trading it in to get a 2016. Squeal gone for now! /kappa

[14S4GWM]

It could be the brake pads. I've had the fronts on my 14' S4 replaced with Akebono Euro Ceramics and not a peep since.......not as grabby as OEM, but gets the job done for me.

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+1 on that. Me too.

[dizzlesizzle]

I like the Akebone, like others said not as much bite, but MUCH less brake dust and no squeal.

[ZGskibum]

If you brake hard every once in a while it'll temporarily burn off whatever makes the squeak. If you don't regularly drive in a spirited manner that gets your bakes hot, just do a 50-0 brake check once or twice per drive and you'll be fine. There is actually an official Audi brake-squeal TSB for the Q5 that instructs the techs to just do 3 50-0 brake checks in a row and then give the car back to the owner.

Added benefit: you get to wear down your rotors faster, at which point you can tell your wife you HAD to replace the brakes. And gee wiz, it only makes sense to replace them with the biggest Brembos that'll fit inside your wheels....