Warped Rotors

[rushbmw]

Recently, I notice that I have a slight case of warped rotors. I live in a very hilly area and under long braking the rotors start to vibrate. The problem is that it only does it under long braking and when braking, like in light traffic it seems fine. My question is do you think BMW will cover replacing the rotors. Its not bad enough to cause concern but its annoying to me. I got a funny feeling that the dealership is not going to see it as a problem.

[Lester]

If they give you any hassle, just get the performance rotors from Dan at United. They are not that expensive.

[ichiban]

just remember not to wash your car soon after a drive. The most common way to warp your rotors is dousing them with water when they're hot.

[rushbmw]

Originally Posted by Lester

If they give you any hassle, just get the performance rotors from Dan at United. They are not that expensive.

I will try the dealer first and if the do not cover then I will go the way of performance rotors.

[xbook]

Originally Posted by ichiban

just remember not to wash your car soon after a drive. The most common way to warp your rotors is dousing them with water when they're hot.

This +

never put on your parking brake after using the hell out of your brakes. That will also lead to warped rotors. If youhave just gone on a fast drive, and have to park the car somewhere, leave it in gear and DO NOT Set the parking brake.

[My135]

Demonstrate the problem and they should either replace or re-surface the rotor.

[rushbmw]

Will do!

[rushbmw]

Update on the rotors, the dealer replaced both front rotors, pads and sensors. They didnt even question me just went ahead and did it.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by rushbmw

Update on the rotors, the dealer replaced both front rotors, pads and sensors. They didnt even question me just went ahead and did it.

thats awesome

which dealer in NY?

[rushbmw]

Bmw in Mount Kisco

[modbargains]

How were you able to warp your rotors under daily driving conditions? If this was done through no fault of your own, the dealer should replace it no questions asked; But they might hassle you for it as it isn't easy to warp a rotor, especially without beating the heck out of your brakes.

[rushbmw]

Originally Posted by **********s

How were you able to warp your rotors under daily driving conditions? If this was done through no fault of your own, the dealer should replace it no questions asked; But they might hassle you for it as it isn't easy to warp a rotor, especially without beating the heck out of your brakes.

Ok, I have to be honest. I didn't put the two together until later on. I was rushing to my Gf house and on the way I decide to go through a car wash. Now before anyone get on my case about going through a car wash. My car was full of dirt and it was about 20 degrees outside, LOL. When the car wash guys where scrubbing my car they where also spraying the crap out of my rims. Now, I know from experience about cooling down rotors when hot. However, I didnt think they where that hot. It wasn't until the next day that I noticed the warped rotors when only driving down long hills. So maybe it was that, that caused the problem. The brakes couldn't have been that hot to cause the issue but it does make sense as another member here mention.

On a side note, after they replaced the rotors and pads that hyper grabby feel the brakes once had is gone. I wonder if BMW changed the type of pads my car had when it was built.

[KerryE]

I warped my front rotors and the local dealership replaced the pads, sensors, and rotors. No questions asked. When I picked it up they did asked "who in the heck has been driving this car"

I think they do not want any bad press on a new car, so they did the right thing.

[Evolution Racewerks]

Does the brake pedal feel spongy? Could be that while the techs were changing the pads, the left the caliper hanging by the brake line. Not to disrespect any dealer techs here, but most try to do the job quickly and just leave the caliper hanging. This could stretch the rubber brake lines from the weight of the caliper and could be causing the spongy feel. When I first started working on cars 12 years ago, I learned this lesson the hard way and had to replace the brake lines.

That or it could be that they changed to less aggressive pads as people were burning through them.

That or some newbie tech cracked open the lines so the caliper piston would compress and got some air in the lines. This is very unlikely though.

Originally Posted by rushbmw

On a side note, after they replaced the rotors and pads that hyper grabby feel the brakes once had is gone. I wonder if BMW changed the type of pads my car had when it was built.

[rushbmw]

Originally Posted by Evolution Racewerks

Does the brake pedal feel spongy? Could be that while the techs were changing the pads, the left the caliper hanging by the brake line. Not to disrespect any dealer techs here, but most try to do the job quickly and just leave the caliper hanging. This could stretch the rubber brake lines from the weight of the caliper and could be causing the spongy feel. When I first started working on cars 12 years ago, I learned this lesson the hard way and had to replace the brake lines.

That or it could be that they changed to less aggressive pads as people were burning through them.

That or some newbie tech cracked open the lines so the caliper piston would compress and got some air in the lines. This is very unlikely though.

Thats very interesting. I have to see as more time goes by. One of the things I thought was that the tech just replaced everything and didn't bed the rotors and pads. Maybe with more time the pads will get a better bite. However, I doubt BMW at the factory do high speed brake bedding on our cars so it should feel the same. On another interesting point they might have went to a less aggressive pad as I don't have that much brake dust on my rims.

Only time will tell, maybe as more people get there pads replaced we will see if they change to less aggressive pads.

Once the after market world invest more time in the 1 series. I will remove the stock brakes and go with better pads, better fluid and SS brake lines.

FMI - Has anyone done SS lines and better brake fluid? Any change?

[Evolution Racewerks]

If this was the case, you should take it back to the dealership and have them fix it under warranty. That would save you money.

I've put on stainless steel brake lines on our car however I did it at the same time we did our Brembo Big Brake upgrade so I can't really comment on the difference. However, it is known fact that stainless steel lines will give you a more positive pedal feel etc... Since I made stainless steel lines for our car and went through the trouble of developing them, we have them for sale. http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15373 . Click link for more detail.

Originally Posted by rushbmw

Thats very interesting. I have to see as more time goes by. One of the things I thought was that the tech just replaced everything and didn't bed the rotors and pads. Maybe with more time the pads will get a better bite. However, I doubt BMW at the factory do high speed brake bedding on our cars so it should feel the same. On another interesting point they might have went to a less aggressive pad as I don't have that much brake dust on my rims.

Only time will tell, maybe as more people get there pads replaced we will see if they change to less aggressive pads.

Once the after market world invest more time in the 1 series. I will remove the stock brakes and go with better pads, better fluid and SS brake lines.

FMI - Has anyone done SS lines and better brake fluid? Any change?

[BForbes]

Originally Posted by ichiban

just remember not to wash your car soon after a drive. The most common way to warp your rotors is dousing them with water when they're hot.

I did not know that. :eyebulge: I never held back doing that.

[rushbmw]

Ok, well Im back to the beginning again. After the dealer installed the new rotors and pads my car was fine for about two weeks. Now the warped rotors are back again!! I can't understand it. Its winter time and Im not driving my car aggresive in any way because I have my winter rims and tires on. The only thing I can think of now is the winter rim set causing the problem. Ive had no problems when I had the stock rim on. I've rotated the rims but the problem is still there. I have the Elbrus I02 in 17 inch with Blizzack LM25 in 205/50/17. The Centering Ring on these rims is made of what seems to be Teflon. You think that rims can cause rotors to warp? They are torqued to 75 ft lbs so they arent over torqued. Maybe they aren't soaking the heat from the rotors and causing them to over heat. Im finding this very hard to believe as brake rotors dont really rely on rims to remove the heat. Has anyone experience this with other cars. Im lost on ideas of what is causing it.

[Riss Racing]

I've had this issue on both my 335i, and E60 M5 after adding HRE rims and BBS rims. I ended up going back too stock...

[rushbmw]

Originally Posted by Riss Racing

I've had this issue on both my 335i, and E60 M5 after adding HRE rims and BBS rims. I ended up going back too stock...

WOW, I really can't understand how a rim can cause a rotor to warp. Did you have too replace the rotors when you went back to stock? Did just going back too stock get rid of the warp rotors?

[ec]

Rushbmw, I have the same vibration when I brake and I have Elbrus I02 wheels. It occurs for me with light braking at around 30-60 mph. I don't know if that's just coincidence or what. It just started a couple of weeks ago and I've had the rims on for 2 months. I'm hoping it's not the rotors (maybe the brake pads are uneven?) because I don't want to go through the hassle of trying to get BMW replace them.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by rushbmw

Ok, well Im back to the beginning again. After the dealer installed the new rotors and pads my car was fine for about two weeks. Now the warped rotors are back again!! I can't understand it. Its winter time and Im not driving my car aggresive in any way because I have my winter rims and tires on. The only thing I can think of now is the winter rim set causing the problem. Ive had no problems when I had the stock rim on. I've rotated the rims but the problem is still there. I have the Elbrus I02 in 17 inch with Blizzack LM25 in 205/50/17. The Centering Ring on these rims is made of what seems to be Teflon. You think that rims can cause rotors to warp? They are torqued to 75 ft lbs so they arent over torqued. Maybe they aren't soaking the heat from the rotors and causing them to over heat. Im finding this very hard to believe as brake rotors dont really rely on rims to remove the heat. Has anyone experience this with other cars. Im lost on ideas of what is causing it.

I'm going to guess you're not warping the rotors. If the winter rims weren't properly machined, or were drastically overtorqued that might have something to do with it, but I think you're probably getting deposits from the pads sticking to them.

Give this a try and see what happens:

Warm everything up with 10-20 minutes of normal driving, then take the car up to about 80MPH on a nice clear, straight road, and stop it as hard as you can, down to about 10MPH. Drive for a few minutes and then repeat. I'm betting the problem goes away.

I've had metallugists tell me that warped rotors are a myth on street cars, and that the problem is usually due to corrosion or deposits left from the pads. That's why a quick turning that barely takes off any material will put them back in shape. It's worth a try and see if they're right.


This isn't the only time I've heard this, but here's an example of what i'm talking about:

[bangs head against wall]

Here's how it works.

Brake rotors are made out of iron. Brake pads usually have some iron in them, because it's good for friction. Trust me on that. If you leave the rotors sitting in one position relative to the pads for some given length of time, especially if they are wet, you will start to develop a more significant oxide film on the surface of the rotors under the pads. The rotors are now slightly thicker in that spot, and it takes some time for that freshly built oxide layer to wear down.

If you crap the rotors up good, it might take quite a few hard stops to get them worn down to wearing surface again. Mine did this over the last few days - perfect conditions, and it took me the better part of driving to work and home for the rotors to get their acts back together.

Under normal driving conditions, even spirited driving conditions, it is simply impossible to generate the environmental conditions required to modify the metallurgy of a rotor. Track day, maybe. I want you to show me that rotor glowing, and then tell me you're a big enough dumbass to set your parking brake immediately after a session. And those would be your rears, not the fronts that most people complain about.

[not directed at you, B]