75,000 miles report and front brake job pics

A Pepsi drinker, eh? Well, thanks for the wirte up anyway. Great job. I'll be looking forward to that in 40,000 miles or so.

Originally Posted by X3emist

This must be a serious money maker for BMW shops. They typically charge around $1100 for a 4 wheel brake job that takes them probably 1-2 hours and a couple hundred in parts (their cost) maybe.

Yup. This is one of the maint. items you save BIG doing it yourself!

Originally Posted by X3emist

What are the torque specs when reinstalling the caliper bolts?

Just realized, there's no torque specifications for none of the bolts! Can't remember from the top of my head but I'll look for them and add them here. Good point!

What's the BMW part number for Pepsi Max? LOL! I'll be using this DIY next weekend. Thanks!

Very easy to do the front brakes following this DIY guide ! I just did mines on my 05 X3 two weeks ago and really a piece of cake. Thanks for this post ! Blessings !

Do you think I can get three pad sets from a set of rotors?

My 05 has 65k miles and the brake pads were replaced at 40k. You can slam the brakes at 80mph and there is no wobbling in the pedal.

I know there is a min. thickness stamp on the rotor, and supposedly the rotors are good for two pad sets. But has anyone gone three pad sets? What are the ramifications of this (other than having to take it all apart again)

Originally Posted by codog2

Do you think I can get three pad sets from a set of rotors?

My 05 has 65k miles and the brake pads were replaced at 40k. You can slam the brakes at 80mph and there is no wobbling in the pedal.

I know there is a min. thickness stamp on the rotor, and supposedly the rotors are good for two pad sets. But has anyone gone three pad sets? What are the ramifications of this (other than having to take it all apart again)

If the rotors go below the minimum with well worn pads the pistons could come far enough out of the calipers to get cocked in the bore and stick, leak, or come out altogether.

Originally Posted by codog2

Do you think I can get three pad sets from a set of rotors?

My 05 has 65k miles and the brake pads were replaced at 40k. You can slam the brakes at 80mph and there is no wobbling in the pedal.

I know there is a min. thickness stamp on the rotor, and supposedly the rotors are good for two pad sets. But has anyone gone three pad sets? What are the ramifications of this (other than having to take it all apart again)

I've heard people getting away with two sets of pads but never heard of three. If you don't have a micrometer, I would definetely take the rotors to get them measured and turned if they are within specs.

Thanks, great write up and actually a relatively easy job.
My brakes were due at 45k miles
Only banging on the old rotors with a mallet is not for the faint of heart
BTW: I ordered all my parts from pelicanparts.com who are great for BMW and Porsche (I have one of each) and for me on the West Coast they have super-fast shipping

I didn't see this in the DIY Sticky but then I didn't look very hard.

If it is, sorry.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Hatzenbach

Thanks, great write up and actually a relatively easy job.
My brakes were due at 45k miles
Only banging on the old rotors with a mallet is not for the faint of heart
BTW: I ordered all my parts from pelicanparts.com who are great for BMW and Porsche (I have one of each) and for me on the West Coast they have super-fast shipping

Honda has open holes at opposite ends of the rotor so that you can screw a bolt in them until the rotor "pops" off. Are BMW rotors the same?

Great write up and pictures...
A few things I think should be added to pile of things for those doing this in the future includes :
1) Antisieze goop, especially for the hex hed bolts, wheel lug studs and to slabber all over the back of your rim so that it does not self-weld onto the rear axle hub,

2) Anti-Squeal goop or spray for the back of the brake pads,

3) a little wheel bearing grease for the ends of the clip that holds the pad.

4) while you are at it...It is a good time to flush your brakes and replace brake fluid...very easy when the car is jacked up and the wheels are removed.

Again, good write-up.

That's awesome dude congrats


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Thanks for the very helpful write up!
Something that I may add is the importance of flushing the break fluid. This increases the long term performance of the overall break system.
Regards,
C3

I recently replace the front and rear pads and rotors on my X3 using Zimmerman rotors and Akebono pads. I purchased the parts from Car Quest and spent $560.00. A couple of hours later which included flushing the brake fluid netted in a savings of over $700.00 from what the dealer wanted to charge me.

I have said this many times on this forum and others, replace the rotors with pads when dealing with european vehicles and many domestic vehicles now. The majority of our rotors will not handle two brake pads changes. If you think turning the rotors is the answer, have them measured and you will find they are at or below minimums.

Originally Posted by C3

Thanks for the very helpful write up!
Something that I may add is the importance of flushing the break fluid. This increases the long term performance of the overall break system.
Regards,
C3

Yup. Brake fluid flush every two years.

I see part of my problem when I did my brakes! I used Corona and you used Pepsi Max.

BTW, I read a lot about rotor wear above. BMW recommends rotors at EACH pad install. Is that just a money-maker for BMW? Well, I can't answer that. But in the long haul it's cheap insurance, for sure.

When I did this last summer for a friends X3 I used BMW rotors rear and the front rotors were fine and not ever close to worn out. The rears wore much faster than the fronts. I also didn't use BMW pads but Akebono Euro Ceramic pads which produce almost zero dust, is the same color as the wheels and has very good modulation when broken in. The only drawback to ceramic pads is they do take 3-400 miles to seat and operate properly so be careful until they do. Also I cleaned and lubed the caliper guide pins which will get junked up and stick.
Also if memory serves the reason the bolts are so hard to get off is that BMW used locktite on them.
Pretty typical BMW brake job which is great since you can do this yourself.

Oh and the reason for the rotor replacement is that the rotors wear they loose mass which is part of the heat sink BMW builds into the braking system.

Nice pictures and write-up by the way...

Originally Posted by ukfan4sure!

I see part of my problem when I did my brakes! I used Corona and you used Pepsi Max.

Originally Posted by ukfan4sure!

BTW, I read a lot about rotor wear above. BMW recommends rotors at EACH pad install. Is that just a money-maker for BMW? Well, I can't answer that. But in the long haul it's cheap insurance, for sure.

It all depends in the measurements, if it is under specs, they can be re used. Mine were out of specs.

Hey X3-terrestrial, are the OE pads metalics or ceramic? I'm in a pinch and need to do the job on the cheap, and dealership wants about $400-$410 just for parts for the front. I can get part from local Autozone for less that $200, but (obviously) worried about quality. Anyway, I get so much dust that I have a hard time believing the existing pads are ceramic, but then again we bought the car used, so no telling what the previous owner did. Thanks!

Hi IEX3, The OE pads are a proprietary blend, not sure on the specific compound. I would say it's ok to go ceramic, just expect a reduction in performance. Just don't get the cheapest Autozone stuff and you should be OK. I even would check Carquest or Advance rather than Autozone.
The good part is that you won't have to deal with dust anymore! To tell you the truth, I'm getting tired of the dust as well, who knows and I try something else when the time comes again to replace them...

Yeah, I can't wait to change my pads.

The dust, my god, the dust.

BTW, in you first post yo mentioned reduced dust. You disn't mention what kind of pads you were using. So I am assuming OE Pads. Why would there be less dust. Do these pads dust more as they wear out?

Thanks for the replies. Autozone sells the Duralast brand for pads, which are $27.00, $41.00 and then $59.99 for the ceramic. Then they sell a Dan Block "original" break pad for $74.99 which is supposed to mimic the OE blend. This compares to the $135.70 that my local dealer quoted for front pads.

The rotors concern me more. Dealer quote was $125.18 each, but Autozone has Duralast for $34.99 each, and almost sounds too good to be true. Ironically the rear rotors from Autozone, also Duralast, are $97.99 each.

When my local import shop quoted me about $500 for front brake job, he may be getting the dealer parts that would cost me $410 at a 20% discount and then charging me $150-$200 for the labor.

I just don't want to end up with warped rotors a week from now because I got some cheap China POS rotor, you know? But at the same time, I can't afford the 4 bills for the dealer parts.

I wouldn't get Duralast anything, but that just me. You can get a better quality rotor for much less than the dealer prices and still affordable. One of the things a hate the most about cheap-o rotors is how they rust around the hub just because they don't spend a dollar more to get it painted.

Great writeup--but I would have done a final clean on the rotors with brake parts cleaner to get the grime/grease off.

Fantastic how-to, thanks for posting.

I <3 Bimmerfest, what a great site!