E61 Brake Judder

[Gad-Westy]

My 525i has a judder under light to medium braking. I jacked the front of the car up. I couldn't detect any wobbles, knocks or loosness through the suspension on either side. I then rotated the front wheels by hand. The passenger side rotated freely and consistently. The drivers side also rotated easily but you can hear that is catches the pad once per rotation. So it seems I either have a wobbly disc, a wobbly hub or some pad pick up. The hub seems least likely so I'll park that idea for now but in the short term.

New front discs and pads and a good clean up and inspection under there seems to be the order of the day unless anyone suggests otherwise.

I want to make sure I actually fix the problem rather than mask it though so I'll pull the pins out the calliper on both sides and meticulously clean everything up but I also want to make sure I don't buy a disc and pad set up that is prone to warping.

Can anyone suggest what pad and disc combo I should be looking at and where to purchase?

I can get a pair of pagid discs and pad set and wear sensor from ECP for around £200 with current discount. Seems an okay option.

[JakeT]

I'd go Pagid, agreed.

Does it seem like pad deposit at all? Does a good few braking events clear it up? It the caliper sticking, too?

[Gad-Westy]

JakeT said:

I'd go Pagid, agreed.

Does it seem like pad deposit at all? Does a good few braking events clear it up? It the caliper sticking, too?

No obvious sign of deposit. At least not on the outer face of the disc. If I were putting money on it, sticking calliper has caused warped disc. Or maybe a cheap disc is installed and it's warped easily but I find that less likely as up until this point in its life the car has only been to main dealers.

Hard braking does not seem to clear it though the effect is not there whilst braking hard. If that makes sense.

[d_a_n1979]

As said; either pad deposits or a sticking caliper

Unfortunately you won't know unless you swap out the calipers; or at least take them off and see if the sliding pins are stuck/sticking etc (soon clean them up and add some Wurth NeverSeize or similar)

Some safe but hard braking should clear any pas deposits etc

Pagid discs and pads are fine; them or the likes of ATE, Jurid or Textar are OEM and will be fine; just don't go Brembo and the likes; just not good quality any more unfortunately

[roadie]

Before I replace the front brakes on my 130i with the Brembo setup from the F2x I had a vibration under braking that was the disc itself. The coated Brembo discs are my go to as they do not rust at all.

[clockworks]

I had similar with my old 525D E61.

Replacing the discs and pads fixed it for a few months.

Getting the discs skimmed on the car fixed it again for a few months.

Getting the calliper slides removed and cleaned fixed it until I sold it.

[Gad-Westy]

clockworks said:

I had similar with my old 525D E61.

Replacing the discs and pads fixed it for a few months.

Getting the discs skimmed on the car fixed it again for a few months.

Getting the calliper slides removed and cleaned fixed it until I sold it.

Cheers. That's good to hear. I'll definitely get the slide pins out then.

[Gad-Westy]

d_a_n1979 said:

As said; either pad deposits or a sticking caliper

Unfortunately you won't know unless you swap out the calipers; or at least take them off and see if the sliding pins are stuck/sticking etc (soon clean them up and add some Wurth NeverSeize or similar)

Some safe but hard braking should clear any pas deposits etc

Pagid discs and pads are fine; them or the likes of ATE, Jurid or Textar are OEM and will be fine; just don't go Brembo and the likes; just not good quality any more unfortunately

Cheers. Much appreciated. Seems it's not deposits. Shame.

[Gad-Westy]

roadie said:

Before I replace the front brakes on my 130i with the Brembo setup from the F2x I had a vibration under braking that was the disc itself. The coated Brembo discs are my go to as they do not rust at all.

Thanks, I'll see how they look price wise.

[Krikkit]

Get a dial gauge and check the runout of the hub as well - I had similar issues which turned out to be goosed wheel bearings.

Can highly recommend the coated Mintex discs.