Brakes on '98 Elise standard...

[silvermachine]

Hi there, i've registered today, but have had my Elise for 18 months. The main dealer in London said that my brakes needed changing (discs and pads) front and back, back in March (£300 per axle). I haven't used the car that much since then, but does anyone know.....

1. Whether the Elise has wear sensors on the pads? and...
2. Whether there is a good place to have minor things like brakes and tyres done at a cheaper rate than main dealer.

I'm clearly a 'on-a-budget' Elise owner, so any comments greatfully received...

p.s. I did check with the search engine first but found no references to the above...

[Gargamel]

Hello

Try Lakeside in surrey - many elise owners use them - specialist in lotus - but about half the cost

pads usually last for about 30,000 miles normal use - ie not including tracks - no sensor that I no of but I am not sure....

www.lakeside-engineering.co.uk or some variation thereof

enjoy your car - the cost to run is not much different from a mid sized family car - but any lotus specialist parts are extortion... many aftermarket supplies

also look at www.elises.co.uk - great web resource for elise owners

HTH - ask away ...

[silvermachine]

Many thanks. I've emailed the lakeside place and await a reply. Just out of interest have you made many changes to your elise/exige? I'm interested in aluminuim heater controls, indicator stalks and handbrake cover??

Any suggestions???

Cheers

[Spooky]

Hello silvermachine.

You could try www.eliseparts.com who certainly have ally handbrakes and such. Good site for upgrades and gadgets too.

Cheers,
Spooky

[Bonce]

Also try Owen at www.race-speed.com who advertises on this site.

[Gargamel]

Bonce - beat me to it ... Owen has some of the best prices.

Re ally tat though - there is some good and some bad ally tat - not sure about the handbrake covers...

spend the money on braided brake lines, air filters, sports exhaust, etc

[silvermachine]

Excellent stuff, thanks guys. I've just read on www.eliseparts.com about replacement wiper blades. Mine's completely crap, smearing with the slightest bit of rain, is this a common thing? Has anyone else upgraded to this wiper blade as advertised on the above site?

Sorry if appear a bit naive, bit new to this forum thing, well at least re: Elise anyhow...

Cheers

[Gargamel]

yes i have upgraded - huge improvement !
the s2 blade is better too

don't worry about questions ...

[GCCK]

Forget the wiper - useless as you say - use Rain-X or similar and the water won't stick in the first place.

[fergusd]

There are no wear sensors on the pads on an Elise.
Have a look at www.elise-faq.info for info on he Elise regarding simple DIY stuff.
Brake pad ans disk replacement is actually quite easy, but if you're not that way inclined you can certainly do better re. parts costs than the dealer, any competant garage should be able to fit them, only issue is the jacking points on the car (make sure they know where they are) and the use of some special (but easily available) compounds to prevent corrorion of the aluminium suspension parts, all in the service manyal and mentioned in the FAQ site.

www.eliseparts.com
www.race-speed.com
www.lotusecosse.com

being 3 sites that spring to mind for parts

hth

Fd