Brake Job

[SuperF10]

So my front pads are pretty good, very meaty. There is a small lip on the caliper but I don't have any braking issues.

The problem is that my rear pads are basically gone and I just got the brake system notification to change my pads. There is also a small lip on the rears. How damaging would it be to just put the pads on? Should I play it safe and replace the rotors as well?

[Lmaiuri]

Take the car to the dealer and have them measure the rotor thickness. They won't replace them until they reach a minimum thickness under the maintenance warranty and will just throw on pads if the rotors don't meet minimum thickness requirements.

[SuperF10]

Originally Posted by Lmaiuri

Take the car to the dealer and have them measure the rotor thickness. They won't replace them until they reach a minimum thickness under the maintenance warranty and will just throw on pads if the rotors don't meet minimum thickness requirements.

I don't have a maintenance warranty and plan on doing it myself. I have the pads and rotors on order but I'm trying to see if it's possible to cheap out. If I measure the rotor and it's above the minimum thickness, do they need to be resurfaced or should I just slap the pads on and call it a day?

[Lmaiuri]

Originally Posted by SuperF10

I don't have a maintenance warranty and plan on doing it myself. I have the pads and rotors on order but I'm trying to see if it's possible to cheap out. If I measure the rotor and it's above the minimum thickness, do they need to be resurfaced or should I just slap the pads on and call it a day?

I stated that they will just replace pads as long as rotors are above spec. There is no need to replace rotors that still have life on them. It's not cheaping out to leave a part intact that still has life on it.

[SuperF10]

Originally Posted by Lmaiuri

I stated that they will just replace pads as long as rotors are above spec. There is no need to replace rotors that still have life on them. It's not cheaping out to leave a part intact that still has life on it.

Would they resurface them or no?

[Lmaiuri]

Originally Posted by SuperF10

Would they resurface them or no?

resurfacing would additionally reduce the thickness of the rotor thus rendering them due to be changed as well.

Get some aggressive pads and it will even out the edges or "lip".

Also, look into a maintenance plan. If you're under 50K miles, you can scoop up a two year plan for around 1,700$. Oil, brake pads + rotors + fluid, and a couple other fluids are all covered.

[2Live4]

Also, look into a maintenance plan. If you're under 50K miles, you can scoop up a two year plan for around 1,700$. Oil, brake pads + rotors + fluid, and a couple other fluids are all covered.

Are you sure it’s $1700 for two years? They charged me $2800 for two years so I canceled it. The front brakes were replaced and only the rear ones need to be done. I don’t put more than 5k miles a year so I figured the maintenance plan was not worth it. I can have the rear brakes replaced under $1500 from a local shop. I rather spend the money on the extended warranty before the cpo warranty expires.

[SuperF10]

Originally Posted by 2Live4

Are you sure it’s $1700 for two years? They charged me $2800 for two years so I canceled it. The front brakes were replaced and only the rear ones need to be done. I don’t put more than 5k miles a year so I figured the maintenance plan was not worth it. I can have the rear brakes replaced under $1500 from a local shop. I rather spend the money on the extended warranty before the cpo warranty expires.

I’m going to look into this. But just so you know $1500 sounds kind of high for a rear brake service. The parts are around $700 if you go Zimmerman which is OE.

[Stück]

You need to measure the physical thickness of the swept area of the rear rotors.

BMW allows for 1.6mm of wear over the lifetime of a rotor before its reached minimum spec. If you are close to the minimum just replace them, don't be cheap. They start out at 24mm new, so anything less than 22.4mm and they are done.

Don't forget to also order and install a new sensor, and keep in mind you'll need ISTA to set the rear calipers to service position retracting the parking brake mechanism.

$1500 for a dealer using Genuine parts to carry out a rear brake service on a F10 M5 is 100% reasonable. I would not expect a independent to be much cheaper as there is no cheap aftermarket option for these cars available to cut costs.

Zimmerman is not OE.

Genuine BMW is OE.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Stück

You need to measure the physical thickness of the swept area of the rear rotors.

BMW allows for 1.6mm of wear over the lifetime of a rotor before its reached minimum spec. If you are close to the minimum just replace them, don't be cheap. They start out at 24mm new, so anything less than 22.4mm and they are done.

Don't forget to also order and install a new sensor, and keep in mind you'll need ISTA to set the rear calipers to service position retracting the parking brake mechanism.

$1500 for a dealer using Genuine parts to carry out a rear brake service on a F10 M5 is 100% reasonable. I would not expect a independent to be much cheaper as there is no cheap aftermarket option for these cars available to cut costs.

Zimmerman is not OE.

Genuine BMW is OE.

Do you know if the genuine brake discs, steel and carbon option,together with the callipers and brake pads are actually made in-house at Munich plant.

[Stück]

I have zero experience handling the carbon discs so I cannot comment there.

Regarding the standard rotors I have had Genuine BMW and Zimmerman side by side on many different BMW M cars with the aluminum bell / floating design. The Zimmerman and Genuine bell casting is not the same when compared side by side. Same story with the disc portion as well when critically compared side by side. The differences are more than simply grinding off the BMW emblem and tossing it in a Zimmerman box as is otherwise common in the auto parts industry.

That said of course either one is going to be fit for use, I'm just making a point that Zimmerman is most definitely not Original Equipment.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Stück

I have zero experience handling the carbon discs so I cannot comment there.

Regarding the standard rotors I have had Genuine BMW and Zimmerman side by side on many different BMW M cars with the aluminum bell / floating design. The Zimmerman and Genuine bell casting is not the same when compared side by side. Same story with the disc portion as well when critically compared side by side. The differences are more than simply grinding off the BMW emblem and tossing it in a Zimmerman box as is otherwise common in the auto parts industry.

That said of course either one is going to be fit for use, I'm just making a point that Zimmerman is most definitely not Original Equipment.

I would deduce that having the Zimm discs or any other pattern ones are probably nearly as good as OE and also the price of the OE pads themselves are no bargain.Another annoyance with a lot of people I'm sure is the brake dust that accumulates on the wheels not long after they're cleaned especially using the OE pads.

[boots]

Originally Posted by SuperF10

Would they resurface them or no?

BMW does not resurface. but they will sell you overpriced equipment.

[SuperF10]

Originally Posted by Stück

You need to measure the physical thickness of the swept area of the rear rotors.

BMW allows for 1.6mm of wear over the lifetime of a rotor before its reached minimum spec. If you are close to the minimum just replace them, don't be cheap. They start out at 24mm new, so anything less than 22.4mm and they are done.

Don't forget to also order and install a new sensor, and keep in mind you'll need ISTA to set the rear calipers to service position retracting the parking brake mechanism.

$1500 for a dealer using Genuine parts to carry out a rear brake service on a F10 M5 is 100% reasonable. I would not expect a independent to be much cheaper as there is no cheap aftermarket option for these cars available to cut costs.

Zimmerman is not OE.

Genuine BMW is OE.

Thank you for the heads up. I wonder who the real OE manufacturer is? Maybe brembo?

Is there a way to do the rears without ISTA?

Does this video not apply because it's an M5?

[SuperF10]

Well I’ve got everything torn down because the parts are all arriving tomorrow and the parking brake assembly looks identical to the one in the video. I haven’t tried to release the parking brake with the torx bit yet. Just wondering if there is anything I’m missing.

[TheHouseWon]

I did the rear brakes on my own without ISTA. I justpushed the piston in. All is fine now.

And, yes, buy the rotors.

[SuperF10]

Originally Posted by TheHouseWon

I did the rear brakes on my own without ISTA. I justpushed the piston in. All is fine now.

And, yes, buy the rotors.

They are coming in tomorrow. I have everything broken now so that it'll only take 20 minutes when the parts come in.

[SuperF10]

I just wanted to post a quick update. The rear caliper seal on the driver side was brittle and as soon as I tried to compress it, it ripped requiring replacement. The specific part for the rear caliper piston seal is here https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...l/34206786064/

Much cheaper than replacing the whole caliper.

The BMW part # is 34206786064

I tried to find this seal everywhere, but nobody has it listed specific to our vehicles. I used realoem and cross referenced the part numbers.

[SuperF10]

I wanted to add that this caliper seal is not as easy to get on as a regular caliper seal. It has parts inside for the EMF actuator which for reference goes flat washer, spin washer, flat washer and then inside of the hole on the inside of the caliper there is a rubber o-ring. If you’ve gotten this far you need to borrow someone. Using your thumbs pull the seal open and have someone wiggle the caliper piston in. Spin until it matches the grooves of the EMF parts and then press. Ta-da it’s all rebuilt. Sorry for no pictures, this was a pain in the butt figuring out how to do everything because there isn’t much info online. Best of luck if you have to do this repair. PM me if you have questions.