Rear brake pad problems F10/F11 5 series
Discussion
There seem to be a number of reports elsewhere of exaggerated wear on these (i.e. wearing out long before the fronts)
But I've suffered a different problem and I'm hoping for some advice. My understanding is that they are a sliding calliper type with the piston on the outside (why have a single piston as opposed to either side other than to save cost?) My 60 reg 30,000 mile F11 has recently had the rear pads changed, however there appears, in my opinion and that of an independent mechanic I paid to look at them, to be very uneven wear on the pads (offside pads had around 5mm left on the outside pad and under 2.5mm on the inside and the nearside pad had around 3mm on the outside pad but just under 5mm on the inside) this indicates to me that the callipers aren't sliding properly. However BMW keep just coming back to me and saying that pads are wear items and that I should just replace them as normal - they don't seem to understand that it's not the age/wear of the pads that concern me but that they don't wear evenly. So either they are right and this is normal and I should just put up, shut up and pay for pads to be replaced that are only 50% worn, or there is something wrong with the function of the calliper. BMW UK have told me that if this concerns me I should take the care to a main BMW agent and have them inspect the callipers at my cost - neither of which I'm particularly happy about in principle.
Any advice on this would be gratefully received.
But I've suffered a different problem and I'm hoping for some advice. My understanding is that they are a sliding calliper type with the piston on the outside (why have a single piston as opposed to either side other than to save cost?) My 60 reg 30,000 mile F11 has recently had the rear pads changed, however there appears, in my opinion and that of an independent mechanic I paid to look at them, to be very uneven wear on the pads (offside pads had around 5mm left on the outside pad and under 2.5mm on the inside and the nearside pad had around 3mm on the outside pad but just under 5mm on the inside) this indicates to me that the callipers aren't sliding properly. However BMW keep just coming back to me and saying that pads are wear items and that I should just replace them as normal - they don't seem to understand that it's not the age/wear of the pads that concern me but that they don't wear evenly. So either they are right and this is normal and I should just put up, shut up and pay for pads to be replaced that are only 50% worn, or there is something wrong with the function of the calliper. BMW UK have told me that if this concerns me I should take the care to a main BMW agent and have them inspect the callipers at my cost - neither of which I'm particularly happy about in principle.
Any advice on this would be gratefully received.
Judging by stories of F10/11 rear pad usage I think you have done well to get 30k out of them. I believe they are used for the DSC/TC function of the car hence the increased wear rate v front pads.
Not sure about the wear rate vaiance inside to outside but I would expect a nearside/offside set variance.
Based on the mileage gained from the pad set I would not worry about the differences.
Not sure about the wear rate vaiance inside to outside but I would expect a nearside/offside set variance.
Based on the mileage gained from the pad set I would not worry about the differences.
Thanks for the response - It's the variance of wear on the same disc that I find rather strange (both sides), bearing in mind that the pads start out somewhere around 10mm I believe, it doesn't seem right to me to be changing them at 5mm (or 50% worn) I knew of the TC use of rear brakes, but am not surprised as being the big old barge that it is, it doesn't get driven hard, so shouldn't really use much TC - perhaps I'm being a little OTT, but it just doesn't seem right to me.
I'd say it was a design "feature". My wear indicator went to zero and I thought it was telling lies because the visible pad was about 4mm thickness left.
However, changing to my winter wheels I took a close look at the inner pad - gone, virtually zero left. The wear indicator is placed on the inner side on one wheel only. I have got 40,000 miles from mine.
It appears to be built in profit. "5-series owners can afford this", I assume is the rationale. Test drove an X3 and the standard life expected from fronts was 90k and rears a bit less (can't recall). Whereas 5-series is half that. So I deduce BMW pads are like Pirelli F1 tyres - designed to wear out precisely when they want them to. They could make them last much longer, but the BMW marketing dept said we were good for the rip off.
What really irks me is how damn dusty the 5-series pads are. With gentle driving they will grub up visibly with just a 15 mile round trip - plenty enough to leave a clean line if you run your finger over the rim. £160 with sensor now. For that money at least they could make them low dust, but maybe that's just a function of how fast they wear down.
But I won't use aftermarket as there are so many fakes out there. Tyres and brakes - pretty much the most important part of any car and IMO not worth risking inferior products.
However, changing to my winter wheels I took a close look at the inner pad - gone, virtually zero left. The wear indicator is placed on the inner side on one wheel only. I have got 40,000 miles from mine.
It appears to be built in profit. "5-series owners can afford this", I assume is the rationale. Test drove an X3 and the standard life expected from fronts was 90k and rears a bit less (can't recall). Whereas 5-series is half that. So I deduce BMW pads are like Pirelli F1 tyres - designed to wear out precisely when they want them to. They could make them last much longer, but the BMW marketing dept said we were good for the rip off.
What really irks me is how damn dusty the 5-series pads are. With gentle driving they will grub up visibly with just a 15 mile round trip - plenty enough to leave a clean line if you run your finger over the rim. £160 with sensor now. For that money at least they could make them low dust, but maybe that's just a function of how fast they wear down.
But I won't use aftermarket as there are so many fakes out there. Tyres and brakes - pretty much the most important part of any car and IMO not worth risking inferior products.
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