Caliper replacement

Tiny
AMRITA SINGH
  • MEMBER
  • 2008 BMW 328XI
  • 111 MILES
One person said I should change all four calipers, rotors and brakes. Another person advised to change just the back rotors and brakes because the calipers appear in good condition and the front rotors and brakes are fine. Any advice will be great.
Tuesday, November 13th, 2018 AT 8:59 AM

5 Replies

Tiny
JONNYB1963
  • MECHANIC
  • 252 POSTS
Good morning,

Well let me start by saying that changing the calipers is not a normal thing to do on a car unless they are damaged or severely worn out, leaking or seized up. Given the age and mileage on your vehicle I would be highly surprised that you needed to. I have a 2003 with almost 300,000 miles on it and I am still running on the original calipers.

Changing the rotors is done as needed. The only time you need to change them is when they are worn out, damaged or warped. These can be damaged by neglecting to service your brakes in a timely manner where the pads are gone and make metal to metal contact, scoring up the rotor and making lots of bad grinding noises. Sometimes they overheat and can warp which causes your brake pedal to pulsate when you brake. If your brakes do either of those two things then you should replace them. If not, then save your money and just do the pads but have the rotors inspected to see if they still have enough thickness left in them.

Always do brake service in pairs, left and right. Whatever you do to the left side, you should also do on the right side. I have found that front brakes require service more frequently than rear brakes. This is because the car makers put a "proportioning valve" in the brake system that controls the "bias" of the brakes. The front brakes work harder than the rears because when you step on the brakes, the weight of the car shifts forward and gives front wheels more traction, so to take advantage of this, the valve send more pressure power to the front brakes.

There is no reason to service both the front and rear brakes every time but, it is a good idea to inspect the rears each time you are going to service the brakes.

Are you having a specific problem with your brakes or are you just asking for general information?
Jon
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Tuesday, November 13th, 2018 AT 9:16 AM
Tiny
AMRITA SINGH
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Initially, the brake message came on my display screen which I checked out and it turned out to be the brake sensor touching the rotors because the rotors are thin and I know needs changing.
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Tuesday, November 13th, 2018 AT 11:08 AM
Tiny
JONNYB1963
  • MECHANIC
  • 252 POSTS
In that case then the rotors should be replaced. The calipers should be inspected at that time but I am confident that they are okay. So brake pads, and rotors for you then!

Let me know if you need anything else.

Regards,
Jon
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Tuesday, November 13th, 2018 AT 11:39 AM
Tiny
AMRITA SINGH
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Do the brake pads need to be changed with the rotors if it has not yet worn out?
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Tuesday, November 13th, 2018 AT 12:18 PM
Tiny
JONNYB1963
  • MECHANIC
  • 252 POSTS
Yes, they should be changed at the same time so they can break-in together. But that is it. You should not need anything else but that.

Jon
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Tuesday, November 13th, 2018 AT 1:17 PM

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