Brake discs warped at 20,000 miles ?

[dinger]

Question for the masses based on my 2001 330 touring

Had new front break discs fitted a year ago ( by an independent) , and 20,000 miles later there is vibration under breaking comming up through the front of the car.

So if the problem is worn discs , based on the car doing 75% motorway miles what is the life expectancy of a set of front discs.

[F355GTS]

A lot more that you have however fault could be Wheel Bearings also front suspension bushes are prone to wear

[ian_cab28]

Not just warped disks cause this. Can be suspension conrol arm wear, tyre balance, alignment, wheel bearing. BMW's are notorious for steering wheel wobble issues. Ian

[Steve_T]

It could also be pad deposits on the discs. Try a series of hard stops (don't completely come to a hault though) and see if things improve. Also, avoid keeping your foot on the pedal, after braking, for extended periods of time, as this is how the deposits build up on your discs. You may be able to cure things with a disc skim, provided you have enough meat left on the disc and don't have to take it below the minimum thickness for the disc.

Steve.

[r5gttgaz]

I had a problem on the M3 that I was almost 100% sure on blaming warped discs, turns out it was deposits from the pads welded to the discs.

Out of balance wheels can also do it along with worn control arms / suspension bushes.

[Steve_T]

r5gttgaz said:

I had a problem on the M3 that I was almost 100% sure on blaming warped discs, turns out it was deposits from the pads welded to the discs.

Out of balance wheels can also do it along with worn control arms / suspension bushes.

Seems to be a universal problem. It happens more on quick, heavy cars with smallish discs, where the pad temps tend to be high. It's common on scoobies and evos for instance. The pad material actually gets absorbed into the disc surface, so when you have a skim you do need to take enough off to get at fresh metal.

Steve.

[Vee]

I read somewhere that motorway driving kills disks due to being all from high speed and with cold disks/pads.

[F355GTS]

There is a suggestion that Discs don't actually warp and the effects are down to pad deposits and changes ot the structure of the metal in the disc

If you are bored the link below is worth a read

www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

[rassi]

Vee said:

I read somewhere that motorway driving kills disks due to being all from high speed and with cold disks/pads.

Maybe. But I would also think that the situation where you come to an emergency halt on the motorway, due to queues or an accident, or stopping for a motorway toll station and then remain with your foot on the brake could lead to warped disks.

[blackspider]

Were they genuine discs and pads fitted?

[Belleair302]

Don't know what you are worried about, my E34 M5 has just gone through a set of disks and pads in 6,000 miles!! Just sit back and enjoy the ride!!!

[motorwise]

rassi said:

Vee said:

I read somewhere that motorway driving kills disks due to being all from high speed and with cold disks/pads.

Maybe. But I would also think that the situation where you come to an emergency halt on the motorway, due to queues or an accident, or stopping for a motorway toll station and then remain with your foot on the brake could lead to warped disks.

this is right it's usually caused by the people that, after a bit of enthusiastic driving hold the footbrake while stationary creating hot spots on the discs where the pads are clamped to them causing heat distortion

cheapo discs also suffer premature failure - always go for genuine dealer parts or mintex, ate, lockheed etc with matching pads

[graeme73s]

blackspider said:

Were they genuine discs and pads fitted?

My guess is that this your problem. Non original BMW parts, Porsche's have the same problem using cheaper pattern parts. Just mp 2p's worth

[bennno]

dinger said:

Question for the masses based on my 2001 330 touring

Had new front break discs fitted a year ago ( by an independent) , and 20,000 miles later there is vibration under breaking comming up through the front of the car.

So if the problem is worn discs , based on the car doing 75% motorway miles what is the life expectancy of a set of front discs.

Are you sure the pads havent worn their friction material down?

If so they easily warp the disks.....

Bennno

[toastboy]

I just had the same problem on my 330. I thought it was warped disks but turned out to be wishbone mounts. It was about £200 to fix and all is smooth again now.

[dinger]

Thanks guys for some interesting replies. Without going into too much detail, they were fitted by a large well known " specialist " tyre company along with pads and new tyre at the same time.

I will ask appropriate questions when i tackle the appropriate person tomorrow, and will also take it to my local BMW indi for a second opinion.

Me thinks cheap parts = crap life / performance.....which is something i did not ask for or expect !

Benefit of doubt remains until i have done some digging. Watch this thread.