Replacing Brakes?

[Steven Peplar]

Morning,

My light popped up that my brakes need attention. Being new in the BMW world I would like to know the following:

What make and brand brakes should I get to replace? (Taking in mind the sensors)
Are all 4 brakes the same?
Then do one need to mayde give the discs some attention or should one replace them some time?

I have a 2004 320d e46 F/L, 150 000 km

 

[Raybimmer]

If the light comes on you will need to replace the sensor . Easy to plug out and plug new one in .
The discs may have wear , you will need to look at them and if worn they may have surface marks that can be skimmed out , they must not go below the minimum thickness .
Disc pads front and rear differ in size .
If you are mechanically inclined you can do the job in 2 hours or so .
Best is to look at front and rear and then decide .
Good luck .

 

[Steven Peplar]

If the light comes on you will need to replace the sensor . Easy to plug out and plug new one in .
The discs may have wear , you will need to look at them and if worn they may have surface marks that can be skimmed out , they must not go below the minimum thickness .
Disc pads front and rear differ in size .
If you are mechanically inclined you can do the job in 2 hours or so .
Best is to look at front and rear and then decide .
Good luck .

So once the sensor has lit you need to replace the sensors? Are the sensor on all four wheels? And what doe the sensors price?

---

This is just my luck, last week wednesday I thought that I need to look into replacing my brake pads and look at the discs, then sunday morning the light came on in the instument pane.

Can only do this next weekend, won't drive it though.
What brand pad do you suggest?

 

[Peter@AEW]

Drive it as it still has some way to go.

Ferodo ceramic will not squeal do not use ATE and if you have no vibration the discs are likely ok.
Measure with a vernier the thickness of the disc anyway.

 

[Steven Peplar]

Drive it as it still has some way to go.

Ferodo ceramic will not squeal do not use ATE and if you have no vibration the discs are likely ok.
Measure with a vernier the thickness of the disc anyway.

Thank you, What thickness should the dics be?

 

[Peter@AEW]

Drive it as it still has some way to go.

Ferodo ceramic will not squeal do not use ATE and if you have no vibration the discs are likely ok.
Measure with a vernier the thickness of the disc anyway.

Thank you, What thickness should the dics be?

It i stamped on the disc.
The circumference of the disc has a number of stampings on it one of which will typically say MIN27mm

 

[Rambam]

Hi,
Recently replaced disks and pads all round on my E46. Was a piece of cake, I would recommend ATE as that is OEM. I used metelli pads, so far no complaints. Everything cost me R2500, bargain. Check http://realoem.com/bmw/select.do for specs on the disks. Enjoy and remember, dont compromise on brakes.

 

[andrewbuch]

Drive it as it still has some way to go.

Ferodo ceramic will not squeal do not use ATE and if you have no vibration the discs are likely ok.
Measure with a vernier the thickness of the disc anyway.

Why not Ate???

 

[SP33DYV]

I prefer the OEM ATE pads from the dealership. That's just me.:rollsmile:

 

[Peter@AEW]

Drive it as it still has some way to go.

Ferodo ceramic will not squeal do not use ATE and if you have no vibration the discs are likely ok.
Measure with a vernier the thickness of the disc anyway.

Why not Ate???

I suppose it is a matter of preference however I have found the OEM pads and discs to be more expensive than the aftermarket parts without a definitive benefit.

 

[Raybimmer]

You can get ATE from Midas etc .
I have never replaced discs on any car so can't comment on that !!

The light can come on , but we do not know how you drive and how thick your discs are , take care not to get the metal to metal noise when the pad is worn down and the metal backing plate rubs against the disc , this messes the surface of the disc up .
I do not know if the e46 has a sensor on each wheel , they are 30 or 40 bucks at Goldwagen .
Good luck .

 

[SP33DYV]

You can get ATE from Midas etc .
I have never replaced discs on any car so can't comment on that !!

The light can come on , but we do not know how you drive and how thick your discs are , take care not to get the metal to metal noise when the pad is worn down and the metal backing plate rubs against the disc , this messes the surface of the disc up .
I do not know if the e46 has a sensor on each wheel , they are 30 or 40 bucks at Goldwagen .
Good luck .

The e46 has one sensor in front on the left side and one at the rear right IIRC. I just prefer to get my parts from the dealer, but I'm sure you can get Ate discs and pads from most spare shops.

 

[andrewbuch]

I got all 4 disks and all 8 pads Ate from midas for R2152. So for the 320d it can't be much more.

sent from a phone

 

[Philip Foglar]

Yep, ask Midas for the ATE disks and pads which as mentioned is the OEM parts, and also the front and rear brake wear sensors (one for the left front and one for the right rear). Recently replaced all of these on my Wife's E46 320i and paid a total of R2700 from Midas. Agents quoted more than R3200 just to do the rear brakes!! :nonono:

 

[mikecw]

This past weekend, popped over to Midas for a set of front brake pads.
They didnt have stock of ATE's, but offered Safeline pads instead.
It came in a bright orange box, written on it '50 000km guaratee'.
Am thinking to myself, these pads must be very hard to last for 50 000km, but was shown it had a heat indicators with 4 small dots. Each dot had a different colour that supposed to show the heat.
Now I'm even more skeptical as I've never come accross pads showing heat warnings, thinking it;ll be coverted by brake dust and only way to see these dots is to complety remove the pads.
Decided I wasnt going to waste time and grabbed them.

So, next weekend will fit them on and see how they compare to the old ATE's

 

[A.C.SCHNITZER]

Safeline are mostly used in Taxis, if it was me I would go Ferodo, ATE (as its OEM) or Febi, best of luck with Safeline

 

[andrewbuch]

The safeline are gauranteed for 50000km as long as the heat indicator stays in the normal range so like no aggressive driving or track use or stops from high speed. I have seen a set on a 330i last like 5000km only.

sent from a phone

 

[Raybimmer]

Safeline :thumbdo:
If it is too good to be true.....then bye bye .

Brakes are a safety item and ATE pads for R600 ( front E36 ) are not that expensive compared to the damage caused by harder pads stuffing up discs , and the longer stopping distances (harder pads generally need more heat to work effectively )

 

[Steven Peplar]

Thank you for the comments, I will next weekend(as its the only time I have) do it and then I will go and buy the pads that I need then while replacing them I will look at the condition of the discs themselves and deside then whethere to replace them or not.

I was also originally thinking of sticking to ATE. Will keep you posted, hopefully I can do it sooner but in the mean time I will just use my company car only.

 

[Brendon.Myburgh]

sorry to dig up old posts, but id like to find out who & where has the best prices on rotors. I got quoted by Goldwagen ( front R1300 odd & rear R1100 odd ) cant remember exact figures. Midas quoted me R1400 for the front, they didnt have rears in stock at the branch i went to. Both were ATE's ventilated, not slotted or cross drilled, just flat face.

Pads im sorted with ebc Red stuff, paid dealer price for them - so that was a big saver on expensive pads