E39 530i Sport brake issue.

Scania

Scania

Scania

Caporegime
Joined
25 Nov 2004
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26,042
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On the road....
Is anybody aware of a reason why my local branch of Mr Tyre couldn't replace my front brake pads today? They said they have tried three different brands of pads none of which fit over the disc once in the caliper, they suggested rubbing the pads down with a grinder to take off the excess (as the difference in pad size and clearance is tiny) but I'm a little reluctant to go down this route.

For the time being, my old pads are back in the car as they still have plenty of life in them, only changing as the brake warning light came on a week or so back (I do few miles in it)

The caliper has BMW stamped on it, I assume it's OEM and not some third party upgraded job that I wasn't aware of.

Just wondered if any other 530 Sport owners have encountered this before?

I'll be trying some other brake centres tomorrow, not convinced with today's debacle, they had the car for five hours, changed the front wheel bearing (which is now nice and quiet again) but the rest of the time was spent with their motor factor bringing different pads for them to try...

Any pointers appreciated.
 
Gaverick said:
Get some genuine BM pads.
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Probably what I'll do I guess, just very surprised that the Pagid ones they tried (amongst others) don't fit, they suggested I get some from my local dealer and they said they'd happily fit them for me....
 
I've never had much luck with Pagid pads either. It's a bit strange that three different aftermarket pads don't fit though. I'd suggest that perhaps they were doing something wrong like maybe not pushing the piston back enough (or not opening the fluid reservoir whilst doing so!), but yes I'd probably just get some genuine pads.
 
Are they pushing the pistons back far enough? Might be some dirt on the inside of the caliper preventing the pads from going all the way in if it's a tiny amount of material.
 
Hmm it looks like they have pushed the piston back in all the way but it does have slight surface corrosion it looks like, but I doubt that would make enough of a difference to prevent the pads fitting.

I cant tell if they are genuine discs or not sorry. What I can say is that your calipers are the same as my car and the brake pads didn't cause any trouble but I did replace the discs too. There wasn't any 'knack' to fitting them.

Trying genuine pads is probably the best thing to try next as already suggested. Failing that try and see if you can see a manufacturers name on the disc and buy the same make pads as the tolerances could possibly be different to most other manufacturers.
 
I'm currently sat in a waiting room at National Tyres, phoned up and explained the situation to them, they laughed and said to bring the car down to them, got here to find another set of Pagid pads sat waiting for me, my cars next on the ramp, should be interesting to see if they have any issue with it!
 
Just watched the fitter remove the old pads and fit new ones without any issue whatsoever!

We were all left scratching our heads by the other places inability to do such a simple job, the brake warning light is still on (he fitted new sensors) but he said if it doesn't go out after starting and stopping the car a few times to bring it back when I have my wheels re-torqued in a day or so.

Plenty of meat on the old pads,but clearly very worn compared to the new ones, I can't honestly say the brakes feel any different as of yet, I'll give them time to bed in.

So, big plus to National Tyres Newcastle Staffs and an equally big raspberry to Mr Tyre of the same town!
 
Scania said:
Just watched the fitter remove the old pads and fit new ones without any issue whatsoever!

We were all left scratching our heads by the other places inability to do such a simple job, the brake warning light is still on (he fitted new sensors) but he said if it doesn't go out after starting and stopping the car a few times to bring it back when I have my wheels re-torqued in a day or so.

So, big plus to National Tyres Newcastle Staffs and an equally big raspberry to Mr Tyre of the same town!
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Christ it is worrying that such a simple job was above them, especially with numerous attempts with different pads, makes no sense! :confused:

I am glad National got it done for you but what an unnecessary faff!
 
slick rick said:
Christ it is worrying that such a simple job was above them, especially with numerous attempts with different pads, makes no sense! :confused:

I am glad National got it done for you but what an unnecessary faff!
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Tell me about it!
I've spent the day on this, the initial idea was to get the wheel bearing done to save the time of doing it myself! Whilst I was there I figured I may as well have the pads done at the same time....
I can only assume they didn't push the caliper piston in far enough, the pads fitted in the caliper but Mr Tyre just couldn't get it over the disc....

So much for time saving! :o

The wheel bearing is much quieter now although having had the OSF replaced, I'm fairly sure there is a slight noise from the NSF bearing too, National have said they'll match the price Mr Tyre fitted my OSF bearing for (£120, very cheap!) their initial quote comes in at £285(!) but they are happy to price match.
Their brake pad price was cheaper than Mr Tyre too.

After today's debacle, I won't be returning to Mr Tyre Newcastle, how you fail to fit brake pads on a standard production car I really don't know!
 
I've had to grind a gnat's worth off a pair of Mintex pads before, but only the location tabs, never the braking surface. Weird. Clearly a fitter worthy of his place in the motor trade.
 
It is odd how they can replace the bearing without incident but not the pads. £120 seems very reasonable to be fair and if you can get the other side done for the same price (if it needs it) at National then that's a nice bonus.

Think you have earned yourself a cold one with your feet up after that today though!

Oh yeah, it was a while ago I did my pads but if I remember correctly to reset the pad wear light you put the ignition on position 2 so the cluster lights up but don't start the car wait about 30-60 seconds and light will go out. Driving the car might do the trick anyway not sure.
 
danza said:
I've had to grind a gnat's worth off a pair of Mintex pads before, but only the location tabs, never the braking surface. Weird. Clearly a fitter worthy of his place in the motor trade.
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Wasn't on an old Rover was it?

I remember some years ago coming across a situation where there was a "Choice". The two options were basically identical but for the fact that one was about half a mm longer than the other. The small option would fit in the larger calliper, but rattle, the larger option would fit in the smaller calliper but with a very tight fit that wouldn't work properly!

The people responsible for designs like that should be publicly garotted! :mad:
 
slick rick said:
It is odd how they can replace the bearing without incident but not the pads. £120 seems very reasonable to be fair and if you can get the other side done for the same price (if it needs it) at National then that's a nice bonus.

Think you have earned yourself a cold one with your feet up after that today though!

Oh yeah, it was a while ago I did my pads but if I remember correctly to reset the pad wear light you put the ignition on position 2 so the cluster lights up but don't start the car wait about 30-60 seconds and light will go out. Driving the car might do the trick anyway not sure.
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Very odd they managed the bearing yet failed so miserably on the pads, National Tyres were most perplexed by it!

I'm about to unwind - with a cold one - and GTA V! :D

I've just been out to the car and knocked the ignition on and left it for a minute, knocked it off again and when I turned it back on again, the light is now out, thanks for the tip. :)
 
I don't really understand why you are taking this car to these crappy fast fit places for anything more than the odd tyre and cheap MOT in the first place :confused:
 
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