[Kaisah]

So I’ve had the dreaded brake squeal from my 370mm blue M sport brakes for a while now and its getting progressively worse. Braking very hard a few times will cure it for 10 minutes but then it comes straight back.

Garage has had the brakes apart, cleaned etc, and it hasn’t helped. I still have life in the brakes but my only option to cure the squeal now is to change the pads/discs.

What have you guys gone for when changing over? Zimmerman seem to do some very cheap one on ECP but not sure on the quality? I am wary of OEM as they obviously squeal eventually.

Any recommendations would be appreciated, especially if you had the squealing too and have now cured this with a different pad/discs setup.

[MY340i]

OEM seemed to work for me

[bishbosh]

I've gone with TRW 2 piece slotted/grooved discs and brembo pads. Only just running them in but so far no squeal.

The old pads squealed badly.

[Eddamoo]

Did the garage change the holding shims when doing the job - do they look old? Unfortunately you probably need the wheel off to check. If they don't change the shims, they could have lost their tension when removing, which can cause vibration. They can be bent back gently but they should be new.

Garages also often neglect to clean up the pins and mounting hardware, especially if they're not used to doing multi-piston callipers. Its worth checking the pins are clean too.

I always put a dab of copper grease on the back of the pad. Its something that seems to go in and out of fashion but our newish X4 has greased pads from the factory so its good enough for me.

My cousin came over with his Scirocco R a few weeks ago with heavily squealing pads. A clean-up and lube of the sliders, shims and greased pad backers fixed it completely.

[Kaisah]

Originally Posted by bishbosh

I've gone with TRW 2 piece slotted/grooved discs and brembo pads. Only just running them in but so far no squeal.

The old pads squealed badly.

Where did you get those from, ECP?

[Ennoch]

I've not been impressed by the wear on my Zimmerman 2 pieces after 18 months, although I suspect most of that wear has been when they've got very hot on cross country blasts while fully loaded. It could also be the Ferodo Eco pads being heavy on the discs when hot. I'd suggest going for OEM (i.e BMW parts from BMW) discs - as I've mentioned on another thread I suspect that while Zimmerman may produce rotors for BMW, the quality of iron may well be different. Depending on what the wear's like on your current discs it might be worth just trying a pad change; the Eco's I've got are a reasonable all round pad (albeit with the caveat of potentially being hard on discs when being properly abused) and are about £50 an end which is entirely reasonable.

Also, depending on what the garage did it might be worth pulling it apart yourself and getting some brake grease on the edges and rear plate of the pads. I've used Ceratec for years and had discs mildly glowing they've been so hot and it's still been there when I've pulled the brakes apart. The pins shouldn't cause any issues even if they are dirty as they don't take any load in use, but if you have them apart then it doesn't hurt to clean up and add some grease to the various mating surfaces.

[Busted]

Originally Posted by Kaisah

So I’ve had the dreaded brake squeal from my 370mm blue M sport brakes for a while now and its getting progressively worse. Braking very hard a few times will cure it for 10 minutes but then it comes straight back.

Garage has had the brakes apart, cleaned etc, and it hasn’t helped. I still have life in the brakes but my only option to cure the squeal now is to change the pads/discs.

What have you guys gone for when changing over? Zimmerman seem to do some very cheap one on ECP but not sure on the quality? I am wary of OEM as they obviously squeal eventually.

Any recommendations would be appreciated, especially if you had the squealing too and have now cured this with a different pad/discs setup.

Bmw changed the discs, pads, both front calipers and the hubs on mine to try and get rid of the squeaking

Sold the car because of it and now i dont have squeaking brakes

[SkyJawa]

TRW 2 piece slotted dimpled as above like the m performance discs. Got them from Autodoc. Coupled with bmw supplied oem pads. Had no squeal since fitted 3 years ago.

They seem to be better on delivery now, ordered a new indicator stalk from them Tuesday and it’s out for delivery today….

[bishbosh]

Originally Posted by Kaisah

Where did you get those from, ECP?

It was from autodoc.

[fuzzybunny]

I had the squealing on my previous 435d sorted under warranty, they basically filed a chamfer on the leading edge of each pad. Problem sorted! I didn't keep the car long enough to know if it would come back, but it was squeal fee for the following 6 months till I sold it.

[BrennanF30]

Have just changed my discs and pads, new set of Ferodo all round and I have the squeal as well so any advice on how to cure this is very welcome

[SimonBMW1]

Looks like everyone has issues whenever they change these disc/pads.
I just solved a vibration issue.
What i did was take them apart, Re Grease and then drive like i stole it.

[bishbosh]

Maybe it's the Ferodo pads? Haven't had any squeal from mine.

[Kaisah]

Probably a stupid question, but is this; https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/11015794 1 brake disc or 2?

[MY340i]

Originally Posted by Kaisah

Probably a stupid question, but is this; https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/11015794 1 brake disc or 2?

one but can't buy in single quantities AFAIK

[Kaisah]

Originally Posted by MY340i

one but can't buy in single quantities AFAIK

Cheers, yeah I noticed when I added to the basket.

All sorted - went for the TRW slotted discs and Brembo pads. Now just to find someone to fit them!

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Kaisah

So I’ve had the dreaded brake squeal from my 370mm blue M sport brakes for a while now and its getting progressively worse. Braking very hard a few times will cure it for 10 minutes but then it comes straight back.

Garage has had the brakes apart, cleaned etc, and it hasn’t helped. I still have life in the brakes but my only option to cure the squeal now is to change the pads/discs.

What have you guys gone for when changing over? Zimmerman seem to do some very cheap one on ECP but not sure on the quality? I am wary of OEM as they obviously squeal eventually.

Any recommendations would be appreciated, especially if you had the squealing too and have now cured this with a different pad/discs setup.

Squealing Brembo brakes 99% of the time is poor application of brake paste or brake past has been blasted away by pressure washing wheels. Clean calipers and reapply brake paste to fix issue. See photo.

Avoid slotted and dimpled rotors. Little performance benefit and noisy. Plain is fine. BMW puts full crossdrilled rotors on M3/M4 because they have the best bite. StopTech makes excellent full crossdrilled. Hawk 5.0 pads are the best street pads.

[Techno 9000]

Originally Posted by bishbosh

Maybe it's the Ferodo pads? Haven't had any squeal from mine.

Not had any squeal from my Ferodo pads over the last few years, since the initial break in period of a couple of hundred miles or so.

[Kaisah]

Ended up cancelling the order for the TRW/Brembo combo and going for a all round Jurid setup, with no slots/dimples. Quite a bit cheaper but look good enough, I heard Jurid were OEM so hoping they are fine.

Will let everyone know what they're like once fitted

[Techno 9000]

Jurid was the brand on the pads I replaced due to wear at circa 3 yrs / 30000 miles. No real issue, other than they seemed quite grabby at the top of pedal.

[SimonBMW1]

I replaced jurids for Brembo's. Jurid was good, but towards the end i used to get squeal at low speeds. New ones are ok for me now.

Just brought a set of Brembo Xtras for the rear. no disc this time