Do my discs need replacing?
Do my discs need replacing?
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Rene Artois

Original Poster:

17 posts

51 months

Yesterday (09:47)
quotequote all
The initial message was deleted from this topic on 26 September 2025 at 12:21

Metric Max

1,691 posts

239 months

Yesterday (09:53)
quotequote all
A friend recently bought an 8 year old Pug 2008 with 11000 genuine miles. The discs are surface erroded on the back ones and the fronts are badly ridged.
I think that maybe the first owner didn't take the car on a short drive to dry the brakes after washing, rust forms and if the car is not driven for a week or so this is the result

ro250

3,322 posts

74 months

Yesterday (10:05)
quotequote all
So you bought it a few days ago from a BMW dealer and now another dealer is saying it needs new discs? I'd suggest getting that in writing (which I assume you have from your healthcheck) and getting on the phone to the dealer who just sold it to you.

mmm-five

11,868 posts

301 months

Yesterday (10:36)
quotequote all
It looks like the supplying dealer has done the AUC checks, noticed the pads were below spec and replaced pads only.

But it also looks like the discs weren't given a brush to remove the surface corrosion around the centre, and not the new pad is rubbing into that - which will obviously disappear, but may affect braking performance until the whole pad is making contact.

But don't forget that the VHC is not for your benefit (after all it was in for bodywork, not mechanical maintenance after al) - it's for your local dealer to try and get more work from you, whether you really need them or not. Were the discs in a green, amber or red section of the vehicle check report?

My first sentence to any of my local service advisors (on an AUC car that I bought 6 months) is "This car is under BMW warranty, so please feel free to carry out anything that is covered under that". Unfortunately, most BMW service advisors can't seem read or comprehend the notes their colleague has added to a job sheet, so I'll get a call to ask whether I'd like a pair of new calipers for £2000 as my front bleed nipples are seized. But once I remind them of the BMW Warranty, they suddenly claim they managed to free them up to save me money instead! Even when I went to pick the car up that evening, I got a VHC which had a red warning (that they'd not mentioned on the phone call) about a rear damper leaking...so I booked that in for replacement the next week.

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 26th September 10:44

Rene Artois

Original Poster:

17 posts

51 months

Yesterday (11:21)
quotequote all
Thank you all.

mmm-five said:
It looks like the supplying dealer has done the AUC checks, noticed the pads were below spec and replaced pads only.

But it also looks like the discs weren't given a brush to remove the surface corrosion around the centre, and not the new pad is rubbing into that - which will obviously disappear, but may affect braking performance until the whole pad is making contact.

But don't forget that the VHC is not for your benefit (after all it was in for bodywork, not mechanical maintenance after al) - it's for your local dealer to try and get more work from you, whether you really need them or not. Were the discs in a green, amber or red section of the vehicle check report?

My first sentence to any of my local service advisors (on an AUC car that I bought 6 months) is "This car is under BMW warranty, so please feel free to carry out anything that is covered under that". Unfortunately, most BMW service advisors can't seem read or comprehend the notes their colleague has added to a job sheet, so I'll get a call to ask whether I'd like a pair of new calipers for £2000 as my front bleed nipples are seized. But once I remind them of the BMW Warranty, they suddenly claim they managed to free them up to save me money instead! Even when I went to pick the car up that evening, I got a VHC which had a red warning (that they'd not mentioned on the phone call) about a rear damper leaking...so I booked that in for replacement the next week.

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 26th September 10:44
Thank you for this. They marked it down as an amber on the vehicle check report. So it's just an advisory yet in the video, they say "recommend disc [and pad] replacement".

This is why I am unsure if I should challenge this with the supplying dealer or not as its only advisory / recommended.

I look forward to your advice.

Thank you.

ro250

3,322 posts

74 months

Yesterday (11:30)
quotequote all
Rene Artois said:
Thank you all.

mmm-five said:
It looks like the supplying dealer has done the AUC checks, noticed the pads were below spec and replaced pads only.

But it also looks like the discs weren't given a brush to remove the surface corrosion around the centre, and not the new pad is rubbing into that - which will obviously disappear, but may affect braking performance until the whole pad is making contact.

But don't forget that the VHC is not for your benefit (after all it was in for bodywork, not mechanical maintenance after al) - it's for your local dealer to try and get more work from you, whether you really need them or not. Were the discs in a green, amber or red section of the vehicle check report?

My first sentence to any of my local service advisors (on an AUC car that I bought 6 months) is "This car is under BMW warranty, so please feel free to carry out anything that is covered under that". Unfortunately, most BMW service advisors can't seem read or comprehend the notes their colleague has added to a job sheet, so I'll get a call to ask whether I'd like a pair of new calipers for £2000 as my front bleed nipples are seized. But once I remind them of the BMW Warranty, they suddenly claim they managed to free them up to save me money instead! Even when I went to pick the car up that evening, I got a VHC which had a red warning (that they'd not mentioned on the phone call) about a rear damper leaking...so I booked that in for replacement the next week.

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 26th September 10:44
Thank you for this. They marked it down as an amber on the vehicle check report. So it's just an advisory yet in the video, they say "recommend disc [and pad] replacement".

This is why I am unsure if I should challenge this with the supplying dealer or not as its only advisory / recommended.

I look forward to your advice.

Thank you.
I gave it above.

E-bmw

11,383 posts

169 months

Yesterday (11:31)
quotequote all
Rene Artois said:
Thank you all.

mmm-five said:
It looks like the supplying dealer has done the AUC checks, noticed the pads were below spec and replaced pads only.

But it also looks like the discs weren't given a brush to remove the surface corrosion around the centre, and not the new pad is rubbing into that - which will obviously disappear, but may affect braking performance until the whole pad is making contact.

But don't forget that the VHC is not for your benefit (after all it was in for bodywork, not mechanical maintenance after al) - it's for your local dealer to try and get more work from you, whether you really need them or not. Were the discs in a green, amber or red section of the vehicle check report?

My first sentence to any of my local service advisors (on an AUC car that I bought 6 months) is "This car is under BMW warranty, so please feel free to carry out anything that is covered under that". Unfortunately, most BMW service advisors can't seem read or comprehend the notes their colleague has added to a job sheet, so I'll get a call to ask whether I'd like a pair of new calipers for £2000 as my front bleed nipples are seized. But once I remind them of the BMW Warranty, they suddenly claim they managed to free them up to save me money instead! Even when I went to pick the car up that evening, I got a VHC which had a red warning (that they'd not mentioned on the phone call) about a rear damper leaking...so I booked that in for replacement the next week.

Edited by mmm-five on Friday 26th September 10:44
Thank you for this. They marked it down as an amber on the vehicle check report. So it's just an advisory yet in the video, they say "recommend disc [and pad] replacement".

This is why I am unsure if I should challenge this with the supplying dealer or not as its only advisory / recommended.

I look forward to your advice.

Thank you.
Don't know why you would be "unsure" TBH.

The dealers would be expected to work to the same standards, so if one says it should be done, show that to the supplying dealer & ask why it wasn't done?

What have you got to lose?

Just do it, no more advice needed, get on with it sooner rather than later.

Rene Artois

Original Poster:

17 posts

51 months

Yesterday (11:38)
quotequote all
Thank you all! I will contact and see what they say.

Jamescrs

5,495 posts

82 months

Rene Artois said:
Thank you for this. They marked it down as an amber on the vehicle check report. So it's just an advisory yet in the video, they say "recommend disc [and pad] replacement".

This is why I am unsure if I should challenge this with the supplying dealer or not as its only advisory / recommended.

I look forward to your advice.

Thank you.
They would recommend for a disc and pad replacement on most cars simply because it's part of their upsell process which they try it on with. They did it to me at my last service on my rear discs and pads which are literally 6 months old. When I pointed that out to them they couldn't give any sensible response.