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Thread: if chging front rotors but pads still way good...do need to reseat pads?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Vancleave, MS
    Posts
    629

    Default if chging front rotors but pads still way good...do need to reseat pads?

    braking wobble and vibration... have new upper/lower T/As, balanced wheels, broken in tires, newer sachs inserts..... so thinking to clean/rebuild/retorque calipers.... to kill the vibes... if that no good thinking to go to rotors next...

    Q #1 - if get new rotors....will i need new pads too...? (currently have PBR metal masters w/tons of life remaining...)

    Q #2 - if only get rotors, will need to bed in the pads (I think not... but..??)

    pls advise, thanks....
    1993 / 525ia / M50TU / EAT / Sachs / Infiniti Kappa & Basslink / super clean / Style 5s wearing Pilots / Mobil 1 everywhere / long road ahead

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Bay Area, CA
    Posts
    1,825

    Default

    I'm not a authority on this subject...but it is generally recommended that one does not use old pads on a new rotor.

    www.KaRealtySF.com
    Build Date: 05-1995 /Engine: m50tu /Automatic Transmission /ABS /NO ASC /Open Differential /EAT Chip

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Savannah, Georgia
    Posts
    22

    Default Brake Vibration

    Quote Originally Posted by RobPatt
    braking wobble and vibration... have new upper/lower T/As, balanced wheels, broken in tires, newer sachs inserts..... so thinking to clean/rebuild/retorque calipers.... to kill the vibes... if that no good thinking to go to rotors next...

    Q #1 - if get new rotors....will i need new pads too...? (currently have PBR metal masters w/tons of life remaining...)

    Q #2 - if only get rotors, will need to bed in the pads (I think not... but..??)

    pls advise, thanks....
    Sometimes you can just replace the pads and the rotors will be fine. Rarely can you replace the rotors and keep the pads and not have issues. Save yourself a big head ache and if you replace the rotors, spend the money and replace the pads. I have a buddy that has an European repair shop and he is having bad problems with a 911 that he tried to do one and not the other. In the long run it would have been cheaper and less stressful, if he would have just replaced the set. If the car is anything I car about driving and I can afford it, I replace both.
    Good Luck
    TasMan
    1990 525i 190,000 miles
    Savannah, Georgia

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Eastern Tennessee USi
    Posts
    14,839

    Default

    this isnt me typing.... if they are worn even front to back & top to bottom you can sand them on a flat surface to make em smooth. The pads were already heat cycled so you dont have to ruin the new rotors doing that again.

    The Raybestos QS Ceramic do NOT need to be bedded at all.

    again, this isnt me.
    95 E34 530I V2.37
    ===========
    Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

    John F. Kennedy

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Posts
    448

    Default

    I had the same shimmy when hard braking.

    I had recently replaced the pads (about 3 months ago, still 75% or more life left) so I checked out the rotors. They looked awful, very rusted and some small cracks. I didn’t check any thickness but I decided to replace them and only them. I bought new Brembo rotors for a great price and installed them myself using Don Gale’s procedure. The braking is now perfect. I replaced the rotors about two weeks ago and have had NO trouble what so ever. Braking is smooth and stopping power is great. I know it’s suggested to replace rotors and pads but I guess I just got lucky.

    my .02

    -cP

    EDIT: no bedding pads either
    Last edited by SchnellE34; 05-10-2006 at 10:30 PM.

    Present: Black 1995 525i | Past: Red 1989 535i; Black 1985 535i

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Albuquerque, NM
    Posts
    953

    Default

    I'm thinking you'd still need to bed in the pads/rotors again even if re-using the old pads. Part of the bedding process leaves a thin uniform film of pad material on the rotor which aids braking performance. Personally I'd just buy another new set of pads or fly-cut .050" or so off the surface of the old ones if re-using them.

    I babied my previous rotors which were stock ATE with new Raybestos semi-metalic pads, and damn if they didn't go not even 15k miles before developing the dreaded shimmy. My new ones are Balo's and Rabestos QS ceramics & I bedded them in hard and they're smooth as silk. The bedding process turned them a pale blue-brown color and there is evidence of a light grey-brown film on them. Bedding them in freaks out other drivers on the road but as long as you're mindful not to do it while someone is tailgating you, the benefits are worth it: the brakes perform better, the pads and rotors last longer and run cooler, and there is less chance of them warping or developing uneven wear spots on the rotor surface.
    gale
    92 735i 5-spd, turbo project finally underway!


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Vancleave, MS
    Posts
    629

    Default got it, thanks all....

    ... will do them "from the top"....

    dang... judging from the responses, wish I was a bannana.
    1993 / 525ia / M50TU / EAT / Sachs / Infiniti Kappa & Basslink / super clean / Style 5s wearing Pilots / Mobil 1 everywhere / long road ahead

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