I recently came back from a 72k service and immediately noticed a clicking noise coming from the front driver side. It occurs only when the brakes are applied with anything more than a light application. The sound is speed variable.

Sound: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/x83i...5731_audio.mp3

(Braking twice, you will hear the clicking as soon i slow down enough to cut the wind noise.)

I took it back to the stealership with predictable results. Nothing is wrong, normal, we did not touch that etc. The best the came up with is that my rotors need re-surfacing.

Other things of note or to factor in:

• The car tracks straight when braking.
• Pads are defiantly not OEM and considering the brand of cheap tires on the car I assume they are the cheapest pads you can put in that caliper. (Used car)
• There is sometimes a vibration in the steering wheel between 75-87 MPH (but everything seems fine at other speeds even 120+) (this could be related to the axel work that needs to be done in this thread.) The tires were rotated with the service and did not seem to make any difference.
• I am not that impressed with the braking capabilities of the car at the moment. I did two 87-5 MPH runs in a row and after than the brakes went right to the floor and even normal braking while going for a cool down drive was severely impaired and even down right scary. For comparison my stock 07 325i would take far more punishment without issue, and i would even go as far as saying that it currently would out stop the evo. I am pretty sure this is not normal.
• Fluid level is OK. Unknown brand of fluid.

Questions:

• What do you think the noise is? Is it shimming?
• Do i need resurfacing? (I am not an expert but i seem to think so. The driver side front rotors feel ever so slightly "warped" or something. (i know warped does not happen much any more and typically it is a build up of pad material.) I have ordered a deep caliper to check.)
• I assume the poor braking performance probably has to do with the fact that the cheap pads cant handle the heat at all, combined with brake lines + fluid not being replaced for an unknown amount of time. (Used car.)
• Alternatively I am considering something similar to a "StopTech Sport Brake Kit with Slotted Rotors - 977.46001" and just be done with it and avoid the possibility of dealing with having to go back for service repeatedly.

Pics:

the front driver side:
https://i.imgur.com/TYyZcMd.jpg

the rears just to get a general idea about the rest of the rotors:
https://i.imgur.com/7qnDZxb.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/L6wNYfu.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/AP5iB6p.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/GmhHs1h.jpg

So yeah, advice?

 

I ended up ordering:
DS2500 pads
girodisc Titanium shims
Centric High Carbon Plain 125 Series Cryo rotors

still deciding on fluids

 

Brembo LCF-600 works well in my 8 MR. Titanium shims help with the heat but are def not necessary for DD.

check the Brake dust shield on the side that is clicking...im guessing the techs might have moved or dented it as it is thin sheet metal. Make sure it doesnt come into contact with the rotor at any point.

 

So after i got the pads/shims/rotors/flush replaced everything seems good now. Heavy braking is still a little inconsistent but there are super crap tires on right now.

 

Just for laughs what shoes are you running?

It couldn't be worse than the N5000s that the dealership threw on my car...lol...they don't grip worth a **** but 12K miles on 'em and they still look new, S***Y A$$ tires FML...

 

check your lug nuts and make sure the wheel is seated properly and torqued down properly.

 

OP, did you ever figure out what the noise was? Mine started making a very similar noise this morning (GSR, one piece rotor). I'm not sure if its the same thing cause it hard to tell on the audio, but it sounds similar... I had a Whiteline RCK installed and some stainless lines, but that was over an month ago. The weirdest thing is that it only happens the first few minutes of driving after the car has been parked for several hours, did yours do that or was it consistent?

 

Mine was constant. No idea why. The only thing I could see is that the cheap pads were already cracked with 3k miles of road use:

 

That might be my issue... I have race pads, maybe using them daily is no good for them... I'll take them off today and check it out


So the noise went away when you changed the pads?

 

I dont think using race pads for DD is an issue, the compounds they are made of needs to be warmed up before they start to bite as hard as they are designed and are more resilient to higher heat applications and prone to less fade. DD pads typically have a greater initial bite but running track/race pads for daily use poses no issues. Ive done this on multiple street/strip drag cars and ive been fine. Sure they are noisy when they are cold but its nothing to stress about.

 

I have CL brakes sintered pads, they have more thermal expansion in them then most other pads so they move around a bit in the caliper more than regular pads when they're not hot. I'm thinking that may have caused them to crack. That and I can't find anything else that could be causing my noises ...

 

well it wasn't the brake pads...

 

I mean at the same time i also had new shims/rotors/fluids + service done but in my case everything needed replacing anyway so i did not bother to pinpoint the issue.

 

^by chance...how much did that set you back?

Just for laughs I called Mitsubishi for $ of OEM pads...OMG! Aftermarket is definitely the way to go...I'd hate to find out how much they wanted for a single disc!

 

I was going for a budget setup that would outperform stock as a DD that i would use in winter with tourist amount of autox/track in a year. I have 2pc OE rotors but did not want to put that much into rotors at this point so i went with 1pc. Do your reading, it sounds like you don't want to spend a ton of money and as far as i have found out there is little point spending a ton of money on rotors unless you are willing to pay a bunch more just to save unsprung lb.


$432 -- Centric Cryo-High Carbon Plain 125 Series Rotor Front/Back
$369 -- Ferodo DS2500 Front & Rear Brake Pads*
$40 -- ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid (1L)
$158 -- Girodisc Front/Rear Titanium Pad Shields**

+ LABOR

* Technically a racing pad but pretty good as a DD. do your reading!, you could probably get something cheaper if you wanted.

** Not needed, and even then, unless you do heavy track duty. I don't need them, got them BECAUSERACECAR.

From what iv read this is a track/dd proven setup so no worries on quality.