So i had my front brakes done last year. When i 1st drove the car with the new brakes, i noticed small vibration in the steering wheel when breaking from any speed of 45 mph. I called the shop that did the job and they told me that i would have to keep driving to break it in evenly. Well its been 8K miles and the problem is still there. Now, i'm pissed because i let a year go by and i dont think this shop will redo the breaks again for free.

Has anyone ever experienced this with new breaks?

 

Check if you don`t have anything loose or worn in the suspension/steering components.
I had worn outer tie rod ends that made my car vibrate under braking sometimes, even after having replaced the rotors/pads.

 

Thanks for the reply. Can you explain more in detail how to check it myself? I want to avoid bringing it to the shop if its something i can fix myself.

 

Yep, It's most likely your brake rotors. I just had to re-do mine a few weeks ago. 45+ hit the brakes and the steering wheel shakes. The other year, I damaged a rotor trying to remove it so was not able to have them turned. I ended up going to auto zone to get new ones but they are not oem and at first they were ok but over time my wheel started to shake more and more... I took them off last month and had them turned. there was just a little warp in there, but enough to be annoying. Reinstalled same pads, rebedded the pads and so far all is ok. If it returns, I'll just replace with oem rotors and pads.

 

What do you mean by "Turned"? is the same as cutting the rotors? I've been told that BMW rotors cannot be cut? Not true?

 

Turning is cutting. Yes, they can be turned. Bmw will probably not do it, but a machine shop or some parts stores have the machines. Obviously there needs to be a minimum thickness on the rotor before the cut. This is normally stamped on the rotor. I have oem rear and I had them turned the other year. The fronts that were recently turned were non oem.

 

I had the same problem in my Range Rover I got new rotors and replaced them myself end of story but if you say it happened right after you got them replaced I agree with mtler on checking suspension components. Good luck!

 

OEM BMW Rotors are not suppose to be turned/cut since they are not made of Steel. The Autozone kind can be turned, those are Steel.

 

Also Autozone / Advanced Auto Parts etc. will typically sell the rotors for $40-$50 each. Instead of paying $20-$25 to get each rotor turned, you're probably better off just purchasing new rotors every time you change your brakes.

 

I'm not sure what kind of rotors you have, but mine are made from steel. OEM on the rear and non oem on the front. I've never had anyone tell me they cannot turn a BMW rotor. I've had multiple three five and six series along with M3's and have had the rotors on every car at some point turned. My wife had a Nissan Murano once and these rotors were a composite metal of some kind and clearly could not turn them. My father in-laws Ford F150 you couldn't turn unless you removed the bearings in the rotors. When we purchased new rotors for his truck, they came with bearings already installed. All of my BMW have had steel rotors. I know the dealers will not turn them because braking is one of the things BMW's are known for. Anytime you turn, you obviously reduce the thickness which could cause cracking if you go below the min. There is a minimum thickness stamped on the hat and as long as you don't go below this its ok. Rotors at AZ were around $70 each and compare to $10 each for a resurface, one might want to consider the savings. Now, if I drove her hard and was hard on the brakes, probably I would be replacing with new rotors....