My 2007 Z4M roadster brakes squeal at the end of braking or just as you are about to stop. It is always a very slow speed squeal. My dealer sanded the pads and said the pads were glazed over. He said if the squeal resurfaced to perform several hard stops and that should correct the problem. Well the problem comes back after a coulple of days. My roadster has 8k miles and this problem started about 500 miles back. The braking is not affected by this. Anybody got any ideas how to make this go away....?
I have the same exact problem. It came after I did a complete brake job. Tried some blue antisqueal compound on the back of the pads, but the problem came back. Tried lots of high speed stops to get the rotors nice and hot - the noise came back. I'll post here if I find a cure.
Squealing is an inherent characteristic of high performance disk brakes. It is a vibration set up by the pads at certain frequencies and under certain conditions of heat and pressure. You can change those conditions by modulating your pedal pressure when it occurs. Either press harder or ease off slightly and you'll notice the noise go away. The trick is to do this for a week or so - or do some really hot hard stops, as your dealer recommended. This will change the surfaces and the squeal may go away for awhile. It may even 'migrate' to your new pedal application pressure. When you go back to your old habits, it will stay away for awhile and eventually return. There is no permanent guaranteed fix for this. You can change pads and rotors to address it short-term, but it may return nonetheless.
You and I have the problem becaues we are easy on the brakes. Coast down in neutral sometimes? Mine started in about 300 miles because I'm so easy on them. I was also told that if I wanted the squeal to go away to just jump on the brakes hard from about 50 miles an hour. It may be true that they want to replace the rotors when replaceing the pads. If that's the case, I'll take the squeal once in awile! In any case the breaks work great when I need them, so I'm just rationalizing that the squeal is the price you have to pay for performance breaks that work when cold, as opposed to ceramic breaks that don't work real well until you jump on them at the track.
Remember that they aren't telling you to do this as a habit. Just once in awhile, when you start getting some noise. You can even make three or four stops in quick succession without any noticeable wear on your pads. Then, go back to your gentle habits for a few more quiet weeks. I, too, am known for being easy on brakes, at least among the instructor and driver school crowds. I built the habit of 'conserving momentum' in my days of driving really underpowered Audis and a 528e - but when I climb onto the brakes for something like 112-foot-radius Canada Corner at the end of Road America's fastest stretch, you'll know it. They may want to, but you don't have to say 'yes'. Ask for the measured thickness specification and compare it to the minimum allowable spec. We're talking in millimeters here, and having 3 or 4 millimeters in hand is thousands of miles of normal driving. A general rule of thumb for those of us who do go through brakes on a regular basis is to change the rotors at every other pad change - and don't turn 'em! New pads will quickly adapt to the irregular surface of a used rotor in good condition. Guys, the best advice I can give you on brakes is to get together with your local chapter's 'wrenches' and learn to do them yourself. Brakes are remarkably straightforward to work on and if you buy your parts in the aftermarket, they'll cost an awful lot less than the dealer will charge you for the same parts. The worst mistakes you can make (say, forgetting the caliper bolts or not tightening the wheel bolts) are patently obvious within a couple dozen feet of driving and even then, you'll be able to stop the car and fix it without a fuss (although not without embarrassment). I figure the labor cost for a brake job should be about six good beers and half an afternoon of good friends hanging out in your garage - or theirs.
Thanks C.R. Krieger, makes sence to me. How does Rolling Rock sound? Might be awile though because I usually get about 70,000 miles out of my breaks, at least on my other cars. Don't know what to expect on this sweeeeeeeet ride.
