550xi brake squeal....

Sorry guys, wrong forum. Mods, can you move this to the F10 side? Thanks.

my 12 550 xi has been afflicted with squealing brakes.

i can hear, which i think are the rears, squealing when you apply at 40-50 mph. car has 6k miles on it.

rarely on low speed stops, you can hear it. i'm not sure if it's garbage built on the rotors--since the 8spd transmission does a lot to slow the car down i don't think the rotors and pads get too much of a work out around town. you don't necessarily hear it if the climate is wet.

i've done my italian tune-ups to help clean up the rotors and the pads. squeal comes back.

i've used Sonax wheel cleaner and really gotten the calipers and pressure washed them.

still, the squeal comes back. dealer has checked 2x's and said they couldn't duplicate it.

i think they just drive it around the lot.... last time the radio was on when i got back into the car picking it up. kind of hard to hear it.

i think they need to take a look at the pads....anyone have this problem, or is this the nature of this beast.

this is the only car i've had with squeaky brakes in years (many bmw's, mb's, audi's, and 1 beloved porsche).

any suggestions? thanks in advance.

I told the early f30 guys this over and over. Take it in, make some videos of the noise in case they get in and "don't hear anything" and maybe if you're lucky they'll hook you with new brakes on the first try. It took me two to get new brakes and haven't had a problem since on my e90.

take a technician out for a test drive with you

Originally Posted by Nison

take a technician out for a test drive with you

+1. Drive it yourself with a technician in car and tell them whenever you hear the noise. Don't forget to turn off your stereo

There was a Tech talk letter on this very topic written up in the most recent (April 2013) issue of Roundel. The gist of it is that aggressive wheel cleaning can remove high-temperature lube/paste from around the calipers which causes the squeeling. They specifically comment on pressure washing (which you said you did) as the culprit.

They're suggestion is to not pressure wash your wheels, but to do it by hand (which isn't as painful as it sounds).

GT

thanks everyone for your help. i'll see if i can get this taken care of.