[markymark34]

Had a really bad vibration under braking almost from new. Took the car in after 9000 miles and they agreed and replaced pads and discs up front. Fast forward 4000 miles vibration is back.. I'm not 100% convinced the car has ever been vibration free but it is perhaps taking a while to get to the point it annoys me (gradually getting worse).

Back to BMW but any thoughts on cause? Don't want anther set of pads and discs only to be back at the start again. Is there a common or known issue?

Cheers Mark

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by markymark34

Had a really bad vibration under braking almost from new. Took the car in after 9000 miles and they agreed and replaced pads and discs up front. Fast forward 4000 miles vibration is back.. I'm not 100% convinced the car has ever been vibration free but it is perhaps taking a while to get to the point it annoys me (gradually getting worse).

Back to BMW but any thoughts on cause? Don't want anther set of pads and discs only to be back at the start again. Is there a common or known issue?

Cheers Mark

Having already replaced discs and pads and now looking like the need to repeat, can be the type of use and possibly involve material transfer. Often due to local overheating. Do you sit with footbrake applied, after hard braking?

[markymark34]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Having already replaced discs and pads and now looking like the need to repeat, can be the type of use and possibly involve material transfer. Often due to local overheating. Do you sit with footbrake applied, after hard braking?

No. I'm absolutely paranoid about that now. That was my thought first time.

[Alscoob]

Have you tried cleaning the discs by some firm applications of the brakes as you would do when bedding them in to see if it makes a difference ? If it does, even slightly, then it points to something.

Bit of an off the wall one this, but wash the car and leave the wheels /discs to dry overnight and you'll have rusty discs in the morning. Take it out and bed the brakes in as if they were just fitted, the rust will help clean the pads perhaps a little.

OR take the pads & disc off - clean discs with emery paper and rough up the pad surface a bit and start again.

[markymark34]

Originally Posted by Alscoob

Have you tried cleaning the discs by some firm applications of the brakes as you would do when bedding them in to see if it makes a difference ? If it does, even slightly, then it points to something.

Bit of an off the wall one this, but wash the car and leave the wheels /discs to dry overnight and you'll have rusty discs in the morning. Take it out and bed the brakes in as if they were just fitted, the rust will help clean the pads perhaps a little.

OR take the pads & disc off - clean discs with emery paper and rough up the pad surface a bit and start again.

Worth a go. Cheers.

[DURSTTTT]

Originally Posted by markymark34

Worth a go. Cheers.

Had a similar issue on an e90 BMW years back, replaced the lot, pads, discs, callipers you name it!

300 yards up the road with the new lot fitted, brakes still juddering, asked a local tyre garage to do a spanner check, one of the control arms was coming loose on the one end, the nut/bolt wasn't torqued up so the excess play was causing the wheel to shake under braking!

Tightened it up to spec with some loctite, never gave me an issue again!

[Clanger]

Got a similar issue with mine, 2014 F31 330d, brake judder from 60 to 40 mph under light braking and slight shudder when driving on a smooth road surface at anything over 55mph.

Two sets of disks and pads, callipers stripped and cleaned, sliders are free as a bird, several Hunter geometry checks/set up, wheels balanced etc, still does it!

Also just had bushes etc inspected today and was told they’re all in good condition, getting a tad peeved with it now!

[Clanger]

Originally Posted by DURSTTTT

Had a similar issue on an e90 BMW years back, replaced the lot, pads, discs, callipers you name it!

300 yards up the road with the new lot fitted, brakes still juddering, asked a local tyre garage to do a spanner check, one of the control arms was coming loose on the one end, the nut/bolt wasn't torqued up so the excess play was causing the wheel to shake under braking!

Tightened it up to spec with some loctite, never gave me an issue again!

Will check mine tomorrow 👍

[HighlandPete]

If you are jacking the car, check the wheels for run-out and any slight buckles.

Sometimes a combination of small tolerance issues build up to cause a problem that looks like a particular fault.

The E39 5-series was well known for steering "shimmy". Wasn't necessarily one particular issue, could appear like wheel balance issues, brake judder, loose components. Replacing one set of suspect components could mask it for a while, but it would develop again. Often the real cause was slight wheel run-out, could be bad disc mounting on the hubs, not cleaned properly before fitting, and/or the wheels themselves.

If the discs are not running true when fitted, new ones may run OK for a while, but will start to judder before long. May be prudent to use a DTI gauge, to measure the accuracy of mounting and/or warping. Test both the disc face and hub face.

[markymark34]

Thanks everyone. Some great ideas.

[Clanger]

A quick update for you guys....

After reading HighlandPete's comment regarding pad material transfer, I performed several emergency stops until the the brakes were stinking and red hot, then drove round for a while to allow the brakes to cool.

No more vibration, thanks Pete