[MacR6]

I have an 07 335 e92. I have all the problems associated with everyone elses 07. What I'm dealing with right now is the god awful squealing brakes. Now before someone tells me to go search the fix I have. I have even removed the brake sensor and zip tied it to the car. My brakes have enough pad left but I am still getting that god awful squealing. I drive about 65 miles one way to work. This gives my rotors time to get nice and heated. They then start squealing from a stop.

What I want to know is if anyone has the absolute fix for this. Not just what someone else said works. I want to know if someone else experienced this and did something that made it go away. I am at my wits end with this car that I have had for 10 months.

[Drivaar]

The only thing that's ever worked for me on this one is getting new rotors. The dealer will make other stupid fixes but none of them last very long.

I think one thing I've seen though is that if you use a high-pressure spray, that can lead to more squealing, maybe because oils are getting washed away.

Basically it's pretty stupid that a $50K car has loud squealing issues that are SO widespread...

[reaper335]

from what i understand it's normal for bmw brakes. only absolute fix is to get aftermarket brakes

[MacR6]

aftermarket brakes or the whole setup, brakes and rotors?

I agree with you about the price of the car and having to deal with this. It's only bad when I drive long distances. IT's like the rotors heat up and then warp themselves. ugh so frustrating.

[reaper335]

mine do it all the time under light braking.. so my fix was to brake a little later and harder.. seems to work so far although i'm prob wearing my brakes a lot faster. i've seen people change the pads and it went away

[MacR6]

Mine only happens after I come to a complete stop. No squealing before I stop. It only happens after I take my foot off the brake and start rolling. And It is so loud I can hear it in the car with the windows up and the radio on.

[Drivaar]

Yup, as the pads warm and components expand, I think the tolerances reduce.

(My rotor replacement was the OEM rotors. But even that didn't last too long. Basically I have given up on it.)

[MacR6]

Originally Posted by Drivaar

Basically I have given up on it.)

Really?? I can't deal with it. It is so loud. It's stopped being embarrassing and has just become annoying to my ears.

[Drivaar]

Originally Posted by MacR6

Really?? I can't deal with it. It is so loud. It's stopped being embarrassing and has just become annoying to my ears.

Well, I've noticed that as the car warms up it happens more, but generally I don't hear it too much. I usually have some music reasonably loud, so that helps. It's just stupid and I don't get why none of the long-term reviewers on car sites comment on things like this.

Sounds like aftermarket brakes would be good to try, but even that is just silly... like WTF, we are supposed to pay another $1,000+ to get brakes that don't squeal stupidly? WTF BMW?

[John 070]

Originally Posted by reaper335

mine do it all the time under light braking.. so my fix was to brake a little later and harder.. seems to work so far although i'm prob wearing my brakes a lot faster. i've seen people change the pads and it went away

What is, something an IT department would say (don't fix the problem, have the end user change the way they do things to workaround the issue and collect annual bonus). Alex, I'll take stupid German cars for $1000.

I gave up and I drive the way any normal person would drive the car. It's tiresome explaining to various SA's, see them apply quiet stop to the fronts when its the rears, etc.

THE ONLY thing I've seen on this forum that is a sure thing is to replace rear pads. And once they are worn 25% with 75% left, replace them again. Heck, people get new cars after a few mos. to 2 years, what's throwing away a perfectly good but noisy set of brake pads with they've only been 25% used?

[kudos]

Had this on my 06 330i and had to get rotors replaced. Havent really had a problem since.

[iflyjetzzz]

I've never had that problem and wasn't aware of it on BMWs.
Do you have OEM parts?
I don't know what materials BMW uses for brake pads; I know from past experience that some brake pad materials are louder than others. If I recall correctly, ceramic pads are quieter than semimetallic pads but I could be completely backward on that.
My big complaint with my brakes is all of the dust - when I need new brakes, I'll discuss different materials with my indy mechanic. (I don't do brakes after making a stupid mistake on a brake change 30 years ago).

Here's a link with several suggestions on how to quiet brakes; maybe this'll help: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...enance/4317748

How many miles do you have on the car?
Have the brakes been changed before?
Were the rotors turned or were new ones put on?

[MacR6]

Originally Posted by John 070

THE ONLY thing I've seen on this forum that is a sure thing is to replace rear pads. And once they are worn 25% with 75% left, replace them again. Heck, people get new cars after a few mos. to 2 years, what's throwing away a perfectly good but noisy set of brake pads with they've only been 25% used?

This is exactly right. I swear I have 70% material left. It's ridiculous!!! I guess I will try my local shop first. I know it's going to be a battle but honestly this should be a warranty issue.

[DASHOCKER]

Aftermarket ceramic pads.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by MacR6

This is exactly right. I swear I have 70% material left. It's ridiculous!!! I guess I will try my local shop first. I know it's going to be a battle but honestly this should be a warranty issue.

Is it a manual tranny thing? Because I feel as if it's because the system is wanting to hold the car on a hill. I can't be sure but imho it's the electronic controls today that mess up the brakes. Like I said, my coworker had her 3rd set of rear brakes on her Accord installed at 45k. Then she found out about the class action that Honda lost, and she got 2 of the 3 reimbursed partially.

Does anyone with an auto have the problem? I just live with it. But another thing I noticed is that at 29k, my fronts have like 41k left, and the rears only 22k. How do rears have a shorter life than fronts? And users can't really abuse the rears short of pulling up the parking brake...

[dmorga1]

I've commented on this elsewhere, but it is a known issue (my SA at the time was quite familiar with it). It is not the rotors, it's not the pads. It's the actual caliper dragging after releasing the brakes. It's not a wear sensor, it's just a partially applied brake (I assume the squealing is from the pad not being put down flat at that low level of application). It is annoying as hell. Mine has diminished to near gone after replacing pads and rotors (dealer did it under warranty at the time), but a lot of it was just the pad wearing down and seating better, I think.

It's not a BMW thing as far as I know--it is an E90 thing for sure, though. Some people have pointed to the hill hold feature, but I don't think it's that because this happens often when applying the brake to slow down, say at a speed bump, and releasing. The hill hold feature was never engaged in these circumstances.

It might get better with aftermarket pads and rotors if the tolerances were somehow significantly different, but calipers might need to be part of the equation. I've never thought it worth the $$$, though.

[ItsmeX5]

im dealing with the same thing...06 330 sounds like its coming from rear passenger side very annoying...when i apply the brakes the sound goes away...its only when im rolling from 15mph or less. very embarrassing

[gaza01]

but the caliper should adjust to the right tolerance regardless of the disc expanding under higher temperatures as somebody suggested.

1) Could it be dirty calipers? OEM BMW discs dust quite a bit. Dirty calipers could be causing them to not retract properly. Try taking the calipers off and giving them a good spray with some brake cleaner.

2) Could it be the hand brake shoes? I changed my rear discs last week and the state of the inside of the drum. Its was full of dust etc. Again could be causing some sticking. If people are getting a resolve to the problem by changing the disc. i.e. releasing the dust and crap from around the shoes then this could be a possible reason. Try cleaning the insides of the drum first.

Just brain storming as I am no mechanic / technician

[Potty_Pants]

Originally Posted by Drivaar

Basically it's pretty stupid that a $50K car has loud squealing issues that are SO widespread...

+1

I never got mine fixed... all the dealers jerked me off.

i put 5k miles on my car every year and i have and will be living with this BS for a few years


ppp

[Drivaar]

One thing you COULD try is a few hard stops from 60 mph (once rotors are warmed up, I suppose). If there is a layer of unevenness, that could burn it off.

[ragingclue]

I'm pretty sure now that the weather is nice and peoples' windows are down, I deafen at least three or four people per day while breaking.

BMW won't do shit for it, so if you want it to go away, you have to get aftermarket stuff.

[M340i Pride]

Originally Posted by John 070

Is it a manual tranny thing? Because I feel as if it's because the system is wanting to hold the car on a hill. I can't be sure but imho it's the electronic controls today that mess up the brakes. Like I said, my coworker had her 3rd set of rear brakes on her Accord installed at 45k. Then she found out about the class action that Honda lost, and she got 2 of the 3 reimbursed partially.

Does anyone with an auto have the problem? I just live with it. But another thing I noticed is that at 29k, my fronts have like 41k left, and the rears only 22k. How do rears have a shorter life than fronts? And users can't really abuse the rears short of pulling up the parking brake...

i have an auto and my brakes do not squal so i am free from that problem... i ve always wondered the same thing. front brakes 60k miles, rear 30k? do not make sense to me....