RS5 Brake Grooves

[SoCal_OOOO]

I've read a lot about the RS5 brake issues, namely the warping but I think I may have something different; see picture below.

I have no braking issues, no shuddering or anything but the circular grooves are just starting to look odd and becoming more apparent with time. I can feel the grooves running my finger across the rotor too.

I'm guessing that this has something to do with how the vented rotors interact with the pads and just builds on itself. Looking to see if anyone has seen this before, if it is going to eventually be a problem, and when I eventually get new rotors how to avoid getting this again. Thanks!

[Dfw007]

Yes, I have had this before, sort of normal for the oem rotors and pads. I would get the pad and rotor depths checked. When time to replace go ecs rotors with hawk pads.mthe oem stuff is soft and will groove like this.

[jpatterson]

That is pretty normal for drilled rotors running fairly aggressive pads and used hard. My Cayman S did the same. (and developed small cracks around the holes) I see a lip at the edge of the rotors too so they are worn a bit. When you do pads have them measured for thickness. Replacement time is not too far off.

[Rshane]

My rotors may be screwed. I get a bit of shuddering/vibration on the steering wheel under semi-hard braking. I may be doing the ECS rotors and Hawk pads. However, I ended up getting that Audi warranty that gives me one brake replacement. Cars got 10,000 miles and I may be having to get the brakes replaced soon.

[Nate1616]

I had these grooves as well as warped rotors on first set. I have come to the conclusion that RS5 brakes SUCK and so does audi customer service to solve these problems!! Take it from me going through problems on my third set of rotors and pads already. Probably gonna be getting out of the car early due to this problem. Audi won't help me either due to wheels and spacers being aftermarket LOL.

[JamesRS5]

Unfortunately, grooves are usually caused by poor quality brake rotors or at least rotors made of too soft a material, can also be caused by poor quality or low grade pad material. Small cracks around the drilled holes is normal, the only way to prevent it would be to cold work each hole but that would be far too labor intensive.

I think the only way to avoid this would be to upgrade the brakes and move away from the OE kit.

[superswiss]

I had these grooves as well as warped rotors on first set. I have come to the conclusion that RS5 brakes SUCK and so does audi customer service to solve these problems!! Take it from me going through problems on my third set of rotors and pads already. Probably gonna be getting out of the car early due to this problem. Audi won't help me either due to wheels and spacers being aftermarket LOL.

Why not just put aftermarket rotors and pads on and be done with it? Brakes are wear items anyway. Not that I had issues with the OEM setup, but the fronts were done at 24k miles. I'm now at almost 50k miles with the ECS rotors, Hawk pads and Torque RT700 fluid and I still have 75% pad life left. Looks like this setup is gonna last me 4 times as long, feels better, brakes better and produces much less brake dust. The rotors are properly directional and fully floating as opposed to the semi floating stock rotors with one side being installed backwards.

[LINDW4LL]

+1, superswiss.

While it does suck that Audi seemingly botched the OEM rotors on the car, it's a ridiculous reason to consider selling when the fix/upgrade is so simple.

[Nate1616]

Why not just put aftermarket rotors and pads on and be done with it? Brakes are wear items anyway. Not that I had issues with the OEM setup, but the fronts were done at 24k miles. I'm now at almost 50k miles with the ECS rotors, Hawk pads and Torque RT700 fluid and I still have 75% pad life left. Looks like this setup is gonna last me 4 times as long, feels better, brakes better and produces much less brake dust. The rotors are properly directional and fully floating as opposed to the semi floating stock rotors with one side being installed backwards.

I have thought about this option for a while now but the first two sets I never paid for so I was fine and now this set they want me to pay for. I get out of cars fairly quickly and have not had a good time with audi service in general from numerous dealerships for my S4 and now my RS5. I have gotten some great deals on other cars while shopping around and would like to experience a new company (bmw or porsche).

BTW the car is a lease so it's much easier for me to take a minimal lose on this car and get out of it rather than put so much money into it to just give it back in less than a year.

[Nate1616]

+1, superswiss.

While it does suck that Audi seemingly botched the OEM rotors on the car, it's a ridiculous reason to consider selling when the fix/upgrade is so simple.

The car is a lease so it's much easier for me to take a minimal lose on this car and get out of it rather than put so much money into it to just give it back in less than a year. Trust me I have weighed every option. Audi service for years now has been hell. For example, one dealership by me quoted $200 to just check how much brake pad i had left.

[superswiss]

I have thought about this option for a while now but the first two sets I never paid for so I was fine and now this set they want me to pay for. I get out of cars fairly quickly and have not had a good time with audi service in general from numerous dealerships for my S4 and now my RS5. I have gotten some great deals on other cars while shopping around and would like to experience a new company (bmw or porsche).

BTW the car is a lease so it's much easier for me to take a minimal lose on this car and get out of it rather than put so much money into it to just give it back in less than a year.

I can understand that if you lease you don't wanna put a lot of money into the car. As for the service experience, I've had only good ones with Audi. Good service is a two way street and it's all about the relationship you build with the dealer. Also, I only service the car at dealerships on the Magna Society Award list and my current dealer is one of the 12 Magna Society Elite Award winners. Best experience ever. The service manager is from Germany, so things get done properly here. There are only two Elite dealerships in CA, though. Audi Concord in NorCal and Audi Valencia in SoCal. Not sure where in CA you are located and I have no experience with Audi Valencia, but I can highly recommend Audi Concord.

https://www.audiusa.com/newsroom/new...e-u-s-for-2015