TeRC_19kilo

I've got some crazy brake squealing going on. I understand the basic causes behind it but can't get rid of it. I've got the OEM calipers, new drilled&slotted rotors, and new ceramic pads all around. I've tried cleaning and sanding everything down, sprayed some anti-squeal stuff on the rotors, pads have the shims, and even the put gel on the back of the pads....NO JOY. Someone help me out here, I'm pretty handy with DIY stuff. The current thing I'm wondering is...does the direction of the slots and holes play a role?

houbmw

did you get new brake sensors as well? If not, that could be your reason for the noise. I opted not to change mine out and my brakes squeal to the point where I try and engine brake instead of actually braking to avoid the noise. The pads are still good, but it is the sensors for me at least.

TeRC_19kilo

I'm not sure if they were changed. Why/how would the old sensors cause the noise? Is changing them a DIY thing or does a dealer has to reset stuff? I'm new to BMW so I'm learning.

e6t.lab.rat

It's your pads. I suffer from the same squeal since day one ever since I bought the pads (Hawk Ceramics). No matter what I did, sanded, turned rotors, applied and re-applied anti-squeal (4x!), the squeal just won't go away. Ironically this only happens on my front cross drilled rotors, the rears are just fine. This may be due to the amount of surface contact on the front pads. It also squealed on my OEM rotors as well. I can't wait to replace these! Some swear by these pads, I swear in a different tune!

6825786

Hi there,
I also had a really annoying squeal that I just could not get rid of. I decided to have the brakes bled as it was due anyway. I could not believe it! After a year of trying everything, bleeding the brakes cured the squeal!!!! Not sure how? I would say it's worth a shot if you already have not done s

tonyb635

I doubt its the sensor unless the pads are worn down some already. I also had/have a squeel, it comes and goes but I am using non oem pads and rotors. When I looked at mine in more detail, there is no possible way the sensor could contact the rotor until my pads wear more, or at least I couldn't see it. There is service bulletin that address this and explains about adding a chamfer to the sensor, but again, I can't see it contacting until a reduction in the pad occurs.

TeRC_19kilo

The brakes don't feel spongy at all, but I'll try bleeding them. Got nothing to loose. If that doesn't work, I guess I'm going back to OEM cause I don't think the pads are OEM.

e6t.lab.rat

Glad to hear it solved your issue, unfortunately it didn't solve mine. I bled the system with the "blue" racing brake fluid (forgot the name of it) and squeal is still there. It's the pads. I forgot to mention that when I did put the oem pads back on the squeal went away. I invested $xx amount of dollars in these pads so I'll just bite the bullet and use till it wears half way and I'm chucking it.

acuteperformance

That's crazy to hear that bleeding brake fluid has fixed a squeal. Perhaps it is just because your pads are ceramic, they're known to squeal until they are heated up I've heard.

justoracle

I had the same problem with the drilled rotors and hawk pads, I did everything you did as well, even spraying the expensive anti-squeal "paint" on the rotors too! it seemed so silly but tried it cause it was my last hope, the squeal was still there, I must've taken the pads and rotors off 2-3 times, nothing helped, went back to zimmerman rotors and OEM pads, now I have crazy brake dust but no squeal. The brake dust seems the lesser of the two evils, having a nice e60 that squeals when you come to stop light drove me fn crazy