Premature corrosion of CSL brake discs

Premature corrosion of CSL brake discs

Author
Discussion

crb1

Original Poster:

922 posts

242 months

Wednesday 26th April 2006
quotequote all
My Sept 04 CSL has done 12500 miles and I have had problems with the brakes recently.

This morning I took it to the local BMW dealer and they now say that the front discs are corroded and require replacement. The car has not been tracked.

The dealer says this is not covered by the standard BMW warranty so I'm faced with a large bill!

2 points:

Should this be covered by the warranty.
&
Is 12500 miles a reasonable life span for the discs?

Any comments would be appreciated. PM me if you prefer not to go public.

Thanks
Chris.

m12_nathan

5,138 posts

259 months

Wednesday 26th April 2006
quotequote all
Speak to Andy at Murketts BMW to see what he thinks - he got my clutch sorted under warrenty when my local BMW dealer couldn't be bothered (they told me they'd put in a claim that had been rejected but no claim was ever logged against my car).

How much are they charging out of interest?

agent006

12,039 posts

264 months

Wednesday 26th April 2006
quotequote all
Corroded in what way? Is this BMW adopting Porsche's trick of claiming surface corrosion means the disks have to be replaced?

crb1

Original Poster:

922 posts

242 months

Wednesday 26th April 2006
quotequote all
Thanks very much guys. something over £600 plus VAT has been quoted.
I will call Murketts tomorrow. A long drive but hey!!

crb1

Original Poster:

922 posts

242 months

Wednesday 26th April 2006
quotequote all
Alec,

Thanks for your comment. I'm no car expert but either one of two issues here -

1) Internal corrosion = manufacturing defect = warranty claim.

or

2) Surface corrosion, in which case they don't need replacing.

What do you think?

Chris.

mrdemon

21,146 posts

265 months

Thursday 27th April 2006
quotequote all
the disks are £400 inc vat for CSL disks

rlk500

917 posts

252 months

Thursday 27th April 2006
quotequote all
So change the disks twice and you will have paid for a set of AP's........it's a no brainer. Throw away the useless BMW brakes and fit some proper brakes that will last forever irrespective of how much abuse you give them.

m12_nathan

5,138 posts

259 months

Friday 28th April 2006
quotequote all
rlk500 said:
So change the disks twice and you will have paid for a set of AP's........it's a no brainer. Throw away the useless BMW brakes and fit some proper brakes that will last forever irrespective of how much abuse you give them.


Not quite, Angus managed to shatter quite a few AP disks with his unique blend of track abuse .

I also assume mRdemon was talking about per pair, £200 each seems about right.

off_again

12,302 posts

234 months

Friday 28th April 2006
quotequote all
agent006 said:
Corroded in what way? Is this BMW adopting Porsche's trick of claiming surface corrosion means the disks have to be replaced?


That will be fighting talk you know....

and yes, I know a Porsche owner who got caught on that one too.... found out too late but managed to get a £2000 discount on a C4S that he bought later.

RichyCSL

3,739 posts

217 months

Sunday 30th April 2006
quotequote all
m12_nathan said:
rlk500 said:
So change the disks twice and you will have paid for a set of AP's........it's a no brainer. Throw away the useless BMW brakes and fit some proper brakes that will last forever irrespective of how much abuse you give them.


Not quite, Angus managed to shatter quite a few AP disks with his unique blend of track abuse .

I also assume mRdemon was talking about per pair, £200 each seems about right.


So what is the cost of the complete AP brakes upgrade plus labour (just in case I'm not banned from driving)? Also if you have AP brakes on the car will a BMW dealer work on them, if not would it be easy to change the pads myself assuming I have never changed a brake pad in my life?

I saw some on a CSL a few weeks ago, they were'nt cross drilled and I did'nt think the red caliper blended well with the appearance of the car; however if their a lot better in terms of durability and efficiency then the oem brakes I would be interested.

m12_nathan

5,138 posts

259 months

Sunday 30th April 2006
quotequote all
I think I paid about £1600 for the front kit, I got black calipers rather than the red. I fitted mine myself but I imagine you'd get charged a couple of hundred to have it done? I haven't bothered with the rear kit but think it is about £700 and uses the standard BMW disks, slotted disks are available from AP too. The disks are slotted rather than drilled for performance as drilled disks crack. If you are going to stick with the BMW rears then upgrade the hoses to braided ones. Pagid RS29 pads all round and decent super DOT4 fluid and you'll be amazed at the difference.

Some dealers will change disks & pads for you, depends how nice they're feeling I guess. Murketts will change pads for sure, and even fit the kits. Pad changing is massively easier on the AP calipers compared to the OEM ones, just 2 allen bolts to undo, slide the old pads out using them to lever the pistons back in, then slot the new pads in and replace the bolts. Takes me 25 mins to change the pads on the front axle including jacking etc.

crb1

Original Poster:

922 posts

242 months

Tuesday 2nd May 2006
quotequote all
Thank you for your help on this. Collected the car from the dealer without a comment to the effect of "Sir you shouldn't be driving this car cos its dangerous". No wonder. It isn't dangerous because the discs are fine.
The mild corrosion I suffered was simply caused by lack of use over the last two months. I won't let that happen again.

Still leaves the un answered question.. Why was I originally recommended to change the discs. Hmmm.

Chris

m12_nathan

5,138 posts

259 months

Wednesday 3rd May 2006
quotequote all
Because all car dealers are clueless?

DaveCavrs4

614 posts

231 months

Wednesday 3rd May 2006
quotequote all
clueless or cvnts

MattNM3E36

5,449 posts

265 months

Thursday 4th May 2006
quotequote all
Similar happened to me with the old M3 - dealer recommended replacement of the exhaust (£1500+) due to 'inner lining wear' (think that was it) - went to an indy and was told the dealer was pulling a fast one, exhaust was good for another 12,000 miles and beyond

Can just about stand their mad labour rates and 'my sh** doesnt smell' attitude (apologies to the genuine dealers out there - generalising here) but when they blatantly try and rip me off I get a little p'd off (in this case, more than a little)

They even had the nerve to say I asked them to change it (as I pointed out, I know how to turn the key and prod the 'go' thingy but my mechanical knowledge would fit on the back of a (v small) stamp!

mrdemon

21,146 posts

265 months

Sunday 7th May 2006
quotequote all
if you drove it you would not get the problem !!!

colin72blue

63 posts

219 months

Tuesday 16th May 2006
quotequote all
m12_nathan said:
I think I paid about £1600 for the front kit, I got black calipers rather than the red. .


Where did you get the kit from? Just starting to look for some new brakes before i venture on to the track. Will probably fit them myself but haven't decided whether to go for red or black.

Ta

m12_nathan

5,138 posts

259 months

Tuesday 16th May 2006
quotequote all
I got them from HTR who are no longer trading

Thorney Motorsport have them but seem more expensive than I remember paying, I'll dig out the invoice later to confirm exactly how much they cost.

psjkxp

18 posts

240 months

Friday 2nd June 2006
quotequote all
Bought an E46 M3 last feb from HR Owen
Only done 4500 mls in it.Weekend use only , bought it with 19k ... so total of 23500

Had some odd noises coming from the rear , though it might be the diff.
Took it in to be told it was broken spring and brakes are worn which are not under warranty

The reception bloke tells me that they must be worn out beacuse I don't use the car much !!
Infact I need new discs and pads all round ... in 4500 mls !
He claims I don;t understand. That if th car is not used regularly the brake wear out quicker !
Am I mad .... or is this guy talking b*&£$%ls?
Should I expect them to pay for new discs and pads as they should last sometime ?

If I have to pay for disc and pads all round what should I expect to pay ? parts and labour?

robm3

4,927 posts

227 months

Saturday 13th January 2007
quotequote all
I washed my CSL just prior to going away for a week and half (Doh!!) and when I returned the brakes were solid with rust!
They are still usable now but vibrate under hard braking as if slightly warped, I'll see how they go on the track but if they are kaput I'll replace myself with none OEM ones first (just disks) then maybe the AP set.

Anyhow, moral of the story is... don't wash your CSL just after you've parked it up for a while!