[granadablanca]

hi everyone,

been a few months since i last posted. i did a search and read a few older threads on these issues, but nothing definitive or recent. my apologies if i missed the answer and this is a repost.

anyway, the car is a '06 330i, loaded, AT, had it for a while, it's now out of warranty (57K). it's been pretty good except for a never-ending leaking brake booster issue (i'm now on my 5th - don't get me started!). however, two new intermittent issues with the brakes have developed recently, and i'm hoping for some knowledge before bringing it in.

1. high pitched scraping squeal/whistle, sounds very much like the pads are simply wearing thin, but does NOT happen when actually braking. it's when cruising slowly or even accelerating. loud enough to hear easily, but quiet enough that you might think it was another car on the road and not you.

2. low pitched, loud groan/grinding sound right before coming to a stop (i.e. right at the threshold of 0 mph). i believe i can also feel the rumbling. seems to occur more when the steering wheel is turned, but that may just be in my head.

rear brakes say they're due in 7000, front 15000 or so i think (writing from memory). they feel fine, as best as i can tell.

these are both pretty intermittent, so i'm sure the dealer won't hear it when i bring it in, because that's just how it goes. so i'm asking here for advice/experience first.

thanks for any replies!
dave

[EAS]

Sounds like your brakes are due for a change sooner than you expect, both of the symptoms you have described are the noises heard when your pads are going. Since your car is out of warranty, it would probably be best for you to change to a lower dust and better performing brake pad, such as Cool Carbon brake pad that we have in stock at our facility in Anaheim, CA.

[e90pilot]

The pad sensor is only on one rotor per axel. They should ware evenly but since you have some brake system issues, you might be waring one side quicker than the other. When there's almost no pad material, you'll hear that grinding sound when you come to a stop. That's the back plate making contact with the rotor. The squeel is the back plate dragging slightly since the pads drag slightly when you're off the pedal on all cars with disk brakes. You can take the wheels off and check the brakes yourself.

[granadablanca]

Just an update on this. The grinding sound continued to get worse over the next couple of days until I simply had to stop driving the car.

Just looking through the wheel, the driver-side rear rotor is THRASHED. Completely scraped, and it looks deep. I can go take a pic if anyone is interested. The other side (and front) looks fine, the computer says they're not due yet, and there was no noticeable problem until last week. So, what could demolish a brake in just a couple of days? It was in for general service just a few weeks ago and nothing was noticed then either.

Anyway, when this started happening last week, I made an appointment at the local dealership, so I'll be bringing it in first thing in the morning tomorrow. Can anyone tell me what to prepare for? Presumably I'm going to need a new rotor - will I need to do both? Any idea what the dealerships typically charge for this? Will it run more than it would've if it was simply time to do them as scheduled? I'm just trying to get all my ducks in a row. Thanks everyone.

Dave

[e90pilot]

I think you'll be fine. If they give your trouble, you need to ask they why your brakes are so uneven. There's not much you can do to make them do that. There's something wrong with your car.