Sounds like the wheels suffered some impact damage which could also damage the rotors. Did you get a Carfax when you bought it? You may have other damage too. Take it to a good body shop to get a once-over to determine if you have other damage.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Bimmerfest mobile app

Previous owner probably really drove the car hard which caused the rotors to really heat up. If they get abnormally hot even if they are allowed time to cool on their own and not cooled too quickly like running through puddles during the rain or washing the car after a long run if they get hot enough they will probably warp.

S1000RR_Neil said:

Hey Guys,

Just as per the title - what's your opinions on life expectancy on brake discs?

I bought the car with 10,000 miles on the clock.
The car had some serious vibrations that needed dealing with (3 of the alloys were buckled). BMW ended up replacing the alloys after a lot of pestering and a further 13,000 wobbly miles...

I got the car back from the dealership and there was still a serious wobble but just under braking this time.

After investigation & a service today - turns out all of the discs need replacing and are worn - the pads are fine although recommendation they get changed at the same time...

I can't believe the discs are worn at 25,000 miles!!?? Why would the discs wear quicker than the pads? Maybe I should get new discs made of the material they use for the pads?!

I'm fairly certain that when I got the car at 10k miles that it had already had new discs too - could there be something significantly wrong with the setup that's impacting and prematurely wearing the car maybe?

Off for another cry...

Your comments will help me make my mind up on whether or not I complain further

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Whenever you change discs you always change the pads no matter what condition they are, always done as sets. The other thing with dynamic drive is that rear brake pads can wear nearly as quickly as fronts. As has already been said 3 buckled wheels can definitely lead to other issues with the discs, but that said most is down to previous ownership if they have consistently ran the brakes hot with aggressive driving, difficult to tell? That said I know pads and discs are very expensive from BMW, you could still use BMW discs/rotors and pads and get someone to install them save a fortune that way. I would not be disposed to upgrading the discs as BMW are one of the very few manufacturers that actually balance the discs in manufacture. Pads subjective as many like low brake dust etc., which BMW are not!!! A mute point you would be amazed how many ride their brakes when driving and don't even know they are doing it!!

Depends rather strongly on how you use 'em.

Issues, used car. Now you know why it was sold w/low mileage....look for collision damage, which may be suspension only, including subframe.

S1000RR_Neil said:

Just as per the title - what's your opinions on life expectancy on brake discs?

Click to expand...

Hey Guys,

Thanks for your comments. The car was an approved used BMW bought in the UK and sold with a full UK BMW main dealer warranty that is just about coming to an end.
I've spoken with BMW head office today and asked them "how long is typical life on these cars?" for the discs and pads, I'm assuming the last thing they want to be saying to me is that you should expect to get poor life out of these - and given its supposed to be an approved used car, they certainly wont want to say the car has been driven hard...

I've had a look online today and seen I can get a full set of 2 piece brembo discs for the car for a quarter of what they've quoted.

BMW HQ suggested extending my warranty for a further 12 months; I've told them I'm considering getting rid of the car, its been a total money pit sadly and that's not what I bought it for.. Since buying it 'apparently' its devalued by £10k, & I've paid £5k to the finance company to buy it!. Over the last 12 months its needed £4k of replacement alloys, £500 service & now needs £1.5k on the brakes - all within 12 months...

If my calculator is working right, that's £21k worth of money pit issues :-/


Think I should have bought the M4 convert with a service package with it...

Depreciation and VAT will bring down the value of the car, service is what service is on these cars, as for the wheels that depends on why you needed to change them, Brake wise you can buy a set of discs and pads off Ebay, all genuine BMW parts significantly cheaper, and changing them is quite easy if you are mechanically minded. There are plenty of threads to explain how to change them, even the electronic rear brakes. Save yourself a fortune even if you use an independent. That way you will know exactly the condition of your car!

Hey 645/333,

You're absolutely right - I'll only get them done at the stealers if the deal is unbelievable

I'm good generally speaking maintaining my own cars...

Has anyone got any mileage to shout out in terms of averages? I'd love to know if people are getting 50k+ on theirs

645/333 said:

Depreciation and VAT will bring down the value of the car, service is what service is on these cars, as for the wheels that depends on why you needed to change them, Brake wise you can buy a set of discs and pads off Ebay, all genuine BMW parts significantly cheaper, and changing them is quite easy if you are mechanically minded. There are plenty of threads to explain how to change them, even the electronic rear brakes. Save yourself a fortune even if you use an independent. That way you will know exactly the condition of your car!

Click to expand...

In part to answer your averages question, on my 645ci I changed the rotors/discs at 57k miles, I had actually used two sets of pads to one disc, which is about the limit, in fact the second set of pads had not worn out but when you change the disc you have to put new pads in. The rear discs wear more slowly but the pads do not because of dynamic drive. Remember to change the anti squeal springs and the guide pins for new, not much more expensive but make a real difference.
PS just had the discs and pads changed front and rear at 32k miles on my mini cooper.

Is Honda Accord a big seller over there, or Kia? Both outstanding choices for longevity and reliability.

S1000RR_Neil said:

BMW HQ suggested extending my warranty for a further 12 months; I've told them I'm considering getting rid of the car, its been a total money pit sadly and that's not what I bought it for.. Since buying it 'apparently' its devalued by £10k, & I've paid £5k to the finance company to buy it!. Over the last 12 months its needed £4k of replacement alloys, £500 service & now needs £1.5k on the brakes - all within 12 months...

Click to expand...

I think they do well with big families over here to be honest. Kia generally have a 7 year/ 100000 mile warranty so I guess that's one of the reasons - Although you're not likely to get much engagement from a passion point of view, I think generally they're work horses...

This is probably my 5th Bmw now and to be honest, its a lovely car - but I'd just expect more from the discs...

I'd say Honda are apparently globally reliable motors... I'm not sure they have the emotive engagement either (sweeping statement I appreciate)...

CALWATERBOY DUE said:

Is Honda Accord a big seller over there, or Kia? Both outstanding choices for longevity and reliability.

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Thanks for this Michael, I'd expect about 60k to be honest and would be happy with that mileage too. having the discs changed potentially twice in 25k and needing a 3rd set - to me alarm bells start ringing that there's something not setup correctly...

645/333 said:

In part to answer your averages question, on my 645ci I changed the rotors/discs at 57k miles, I had actually used two sets of pads to one disc, which is about the limit, in fact the second set of pads had not worn out but when you change the disc you have to put new pads in. The rear discs wear more slowly but the pads do not because of dynamic drive. Remember to change the anti squeal springs and the guide pins for new, not much more expensive but make a real difference.
PS just had the discs and pads changed front and rear at 32k miles on my mini cooper.

Click to expand...

I changed my disks and pads all round at about 47k miles because of brake judder. I don't think they had been changed before. I did the job myself using Zimmerman disks and EBC redstuff pads. 10k miles later, I am still absolutely delighted with them. Brake dust is significantly less than with the BMW pads. Here is the thread about it on another forum

http://www.6post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1275069

Mark