Front brake discs problem

[x6edge]

Hi I'm just looking to see if many other x5 drivers have had any issues with their front brake discs.
My 2003 3.0d sport front discs were fine until about a year ago when at 102000 miles the front brakes developed a judder under braking. the front brake discs were replaced which seemed to cure the problem. However about 3 months and 3000 miles later the judder returned. again the front brake discs were replaced and this again seemed to cure the problem. then in march this year and at 118000 miles the judder returned. I took it back to the independant garage and asked them to this time use BMW OEM front brake discs and to change the brake pads.
this seeed to cure the problem until about 3 weeks ago, when in early sept at 120000 miles the judder returned.
I have taken the car back to the garage to get it fixed again but am seriously beginning to loose confidence in the front brakes on the car.

All the suspension bushes were changed in 2011 and the car has not been offroad at any time.

If anyone out there has had a similar experience or can offer anything in the way of what might be causing these repeated failures of the front brake discs then I would be most grateful to hear from you.

Many thanks.   

[jaynana]

Phew that's a serious amount of metal, probably gone to china by now to recycle

I had this prob and based on below I only hope it won't come back!

Got it fixed by replacing the front bushes and the tyres were near the limit so the replaced the front tyres as well.

In my research the suspect parts ppl had replaced to fix this:
Front bushes
Ball joint
Disks and pads

If u search this forum there are others who've had this as well.

To Be clear - this is a judder on the steering when braking from about 70mph to 60mph. All normal at low speed braking - No judder or padel pulsating feel on low speed braking (warped disk issues). No steering wobble without braking at any speed (balancing issues).

[x6edge]

Hi Thanks for your reply. this issue does not occur under normal driving, only when braking and from any speed. The garage found that only the right hand front disc was slightly warped and they skimmed this which seemed to cure the problem. However since then the vibration under braking has begun to return. This is driving me mad but the garage seems to believe that its down to bad batched of front disc brakes. ANyone got any other ideas other than to get rid of the car???

[scooby1doo1]

Buy some uprated disc maybe an option, but should not be going through disc or warping them at that rate.
Are your callipers sticking at all, if your right disc was warped checked this side first.
Just drive around as normal, then after your drive just feel the wheel then compare with the other wheel. Clearly need to do a few miles and use the brakes to get some heat into the wheel, no need to do any ermerancy stops though just light braking should be enough.


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[fenj66]

i had similar problems years ago, i thought for all the world it was warped discs and changed them to no avail.
turned out to be the front bushes worn.
dont waste time having cheap ones fitted though, they could wear out in no time at all. get oem and they should last many years. 

[Riggie]

I had a similar issue and changing the front tyres sorted it.

[jaynana]

[quote="x5edge"]
Hi Thanks for your reply. this issue does not occur under normal driving, only when braking and from any speed. The garage found that only the right hand front disc was slightly warped and they skimmed this which seemed to cure the problem. However since then the vibration under braking has begun to return. This is driving me mad but the garage seems to believe that its down to bad batched of front disc brakes. ANyone got any other ideas other than to get rid of the car???

[/quote]

if your disks are warped the chances are when you apply a slight amount of braking pressure at low speeds you would be able to feel a 'pulse' on the brake peddle. this is because the 'warp' on the disk would move the disk pads in and out as the wheel rotates. that in turn would be felt on the brake pedal.

my indy did that and ruled out any issue with the disks. went for the bushes next.

[Turks]

Have all the bushes checked. This will cause similar symptoms under braking.

Also, have the actual Caliper checked to make sure that it is not sticking. If this occurs, excessive heat will be produced which will cause the warping of the discs.

Your indy is wrong to say that it is a bad batch of discs... 


Turks.

[dgm]

I had a similar problem with vibration under braking although it did occur at higher speeds only.  The previous owner had just replaced the ball joints and I put in new lower control arm bushes before replacing the discs and pads.  None of this cured the problem until the MOT threw up that the ball joint straight arms needed replacing.  As soon as they were replaced the problem disappeared.  Worth a try as I go along with others in doubting the bad batch of discs theory. 

[scooby1doo1]

Have you found a fix yet mate


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[x6edge]

Hi and many thanks to everyone for their suggestions.
I am abroad at the moment but when I get back will be trying to tackle the problem again but through another garage this time, I've lost faith with the first garage.
My feeling is that for whatever reason the issue is not the brake discs, the ones currently fitted are BMW OEM, and the pads were changed at the same time.
I am beginning to think that it may be something to do with the right hand front hub that is causing the warping. The Garage that has changed the discs says that there is no sign of the disc overheating, the inside of the disc shows no indication of heat buildup at all, in fact he said that the disc looked like new (except that it was warped).
This is spoiling what had been a great car up until this problem started, just wish that I could get it fixed