Carbon ceramic brake pads

[markjay]

Ok, tomorrows job, going to fit rear Brembo discs which I bought from Autodoc a couple of months ago. Just getting everything ready when I noticed the discs were the same. I thought they would be handed, ie the grooves would be either facing forward or back. Thought they had ##** up, but when looking at OEM discs on the car they are the same. Drivers side the grooves radiate forward from centre & passengers side grooves radiate back from the centre. Looked at front OEM & they are the same. Standardisation I guess.
Much like Range Rover wheels , one side they sweep back other side they sweep forward, most people won't notice but when OCD kicks in. This is going to bug me now

Has been raised before... they are not handed.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Ok, tomorrows job, going to fit rear Brembo discs which I bought from Autodoc a couple of months ago. Just getting everything ready when I noticed the discs were the same. I thought they would be handed, ie the grooves would be either facing forward or back. Thought they had ##** up, but when looking at OEM discs on the car they are the same. Drivers side the grooves radiate forward from centre & passengers side grooves radiate back from the centre. Looked at front OEM & they are the same. Standardisation I guess.
Much like Range Rover wheels , one side they sweep back other side they sweep forward, most people won't notice but when OCD kicks in. This is going to bug me now

Bit like Ford Escort/Orion alloy wheels back in the day. Killer if you are OCD .

 

[chic0821]

Looked at few videos on rear brake/disc replacement. Can't find specific for 2015 S63, but they all say you have to put it into "brake pad replacement mode" which is to press start button once to put into trip/mileage on the dash then press phone button & ok button together for a few seconds, then the menu comes up. Tried this & nothing changes.. Any thoughts?

 

[chic0821]

Panic over, sussed it out. I was not on the correct trip screen & it appears the handbrake has to be off before you are able to accept the correct menu. Will get started tomorrow, any excuse eh.

 

[chic0821]

Jacked up, axle stands in position, wheel off calliper off & out of the way, this is easy, only the calliper support bracket to remove, 2 -18mm screws, no room for a socket, 18mm ringer ##**ing thing won't budge. Hammer out, battered spanner, no joy, bigger hammer, more battering, still not moving. Just can't get enough leverage. Gave up for now, decided to ask you guy's if you have any words of wisdom. So p***ed off, a job that looked like each side would be about 30mins or so, now into a few hours
The thought of having to take it to a garage for the sake of 2 screws, or more like 4 screws, the other side will be the same, words fail me

 

[markjay]

Jacked up, axle stands in position, wheel off calliper off & out of the way, this is easy, only the calliper support bracket to remove, 2 -18mm screws, no room for a socket, 18mm ringer ##**ing thing won't budge. Hammer out, battered spanner, no joy, bigger hammer, more battering, still not moving. Just can't get enough leverage. Gave up for now, decided to ask you guy's if you have any words of wisdom. So p***ed off, a job that looked like each side would be about 30mins or so, now into a few hours
The thought of having to take it to a garage for the sake of 2 screws, or more like 4 screws, the other side will be the same, words fail me

A long piece of steel pipe over the spanner for leverage..........?

(From the days before HSE)

EDIT - did you confirm if it's a right-hand or left-hand thread....? Some bolts may be reversed.

 

[Muckypaps]

It won't be left handed thread, it wouldn't achieve anything.
Left handed thread were like on wheel nuts on the nearside, where the direction of rotation would be in a tightening motion.

 

[Petrol Pete]

You might need to call your two best mates on this one , Heat & Violence. Get the microflame torch on the buggers and try a slight tightening motion first. Then use a long bar . Best of luck.

 

[Muckypaps]

I removed my front caliper bracket bolts last weekend, I used an 18" strong bar, and they were very tight.

 

[chic0821]

Thanks all, tried tightening first to no avail, but will try heat & long bar Think I need

 

[chic0821]

Still waiting on rear Powerstop ceramic pads from Amazon Global. Their promised date keeps being superseded by "not yet dispatched" Customer service is useless, never get a straight answer from them. Have been on order from the beginning of the year. Lucky, I'm not desperate for them. Anyway, cancelled them today as I found another American stockist, RockAuto.com, who can Fed Ex them to me by 14 April. Cost works out at about £3 more than Amazon, could have had them for around Amazon cost if I waited another 2 weeks.
Update on Calliper support bracket saga, still could not budge the screws so its in to a friend of mine's garage today for him to remove them & fit new discs. So annoying having to do this, but hey ho.
I had already fitted the front ceramic pads but they had to be bedded in according to Powerstop. Five aggressive stops from 45mph to 10mph, then five more from 35mph to 5 mph, no coming to a full stop either, then drive car for a few miles without stopping or touching the brakes to allow them to cool. Lot harder than it sounds as you can't have following cars jumping on their brakes or stopping for traffic lights or road junctions. I eventually planned a route, then decided about 6.30am Sunday morning as nothing would be around. Managed it ok. Will have to go through this again after rear pads eventually show up.

 

[chic0821]

Update from RockAuto. I ordered them at 10 am (UK) which was 4 am in Wisconsin. Received an email at 6pm (uk) order has been packed for shipping awaiting carrier pickup, delivery to me 13 April.
We really can learn a lot about customer service from the Americans.
(Also see my #18 post regarding the service I received from Powerstop themselves)

 

[chic0821]

Here we go again, Rear pads arrived from RockAuto yesterday, a day early. What Amazon global could not do since December or even give reasons for the delay, this firm did it in less than a week. Could have been even earlier as they were in FedEx Edinburgh on Friday, but they had weekday delivery on them. Great service. Just have to get them on now
They come with new clips that the pads sit on, new set of bellows that fit to the calliper & anti seize paste.

 

[chic0821]

Finally had time to fit the rear pads, so that's them all on now. Just have to bed them in. Five hard brakes from 45mph to 10 mph in succession then five hard brakes from 35 mph down to 5 mph. Don't let the car come to a stop, then drive for a while without braking to let them cool down. Guess it will be early Sunday morning when no one is about. Hope they are worth it.

 

[BlackC55]

Those carbon pads do tend to squeak quite a bit. Dont forget to clean the hubs up really really well before you fit the discs.

The caliper bolts are tight. We use a long bar to undo them, you are supposed to replace the bolts every time too.

 

[chic0821]

Those carbon pads do tend to squeak quite a bit. Dont forget to clean the hubs up really really well before you fit the discs.

The caliper bolts are tight. We use a long bar to undo them, you are supposed to replace the bolts every time too.

Thanks for that, I had to get my pal who owns a garage to get the bolts undone. He put on the new discs & trust he cleaned up the hubs. He is very pernickety, time will tell.

 

[chic0821]

Bit of an update, ceramic pads have been on for a couple of months now. Main reason for purchase was the brake dust which was a real pain. Put a tissue through wheel spokes & wiped around the barrels, came out clean, no dust & nothing on spokes either. I also have Gtechniq ceramic coating on the wheels but prior to ceramic pads it still collected dust but easy to remove, now nothing. Braking efficiency, brakes as brakes do