Brake pads sticking after washing car?

[XMetal]

Does anyone have this issue with their brake pads sticking if parked overnight after washing their car? Only way I know to get around this is to take it for a short spin after the wash. The coupe is the only car that I've ever owned that does this.

[JPWEraser]

Originally Posted by XMetal

Does anyone have this issue with their brake pads sticking if parked overnight after washing their car? Only way I know to get around this is to take it for a short spin after the wash. The coupe is the only car that I've ever owned that does this.

Yes, it happens. It's best to take the car for a quick ride after washing to dry the brakes OR (if on a level surface), park the car in gear without the parking brake engaged. It's alarming when you encounter it the first time huh?! It happens on other cars too, depends on the composition of the pads and rotors. I am a professional detailer and I mainly see it on performance brakes.

[Swashplate]

Normal, do what he said. Yes, it's unpleasant.

[XMetal]

I've tried parking the car in gear without the parking brake engaged. I've even went as far as just rolling the car in without applying the brakes at all and park in gear. Nothing worked thus far. I had figured it was the semi-metalic composition of the OE pads, but have recently switched to Cool Carbon pads and still get the sticking...so the Cool Carbon is probably semi-metalic as well. I guessed I'll just have to dry it by taking a spin around the neighborhood after the wash

[jdoublehcubed]

I do both of the above approaches - always park the car in gear when washing (no parking break) and immediatley drive it afterwords. Despite my best efforts, I still have a little bit of pad deposit on the rears (I can just barely feel in at the pedal). This is the only car I have ever owned that seems so sensitive in this regard.

[searchdev]

I have an extreme case of pad deposits as my car was washed and then parked for storage throughout the winter (6 months). Any suggestions on how to get the pad prints off the rotors?

I can feel it in the pedal and it is bad. This coming weekend I have a track event and the rotors are to bad to take as is.

Last year I had to replace the four rotors because where the pad print was it corroded and pitted the rotors.

My thought right now is brake clean and scotch brite pad. Any help you can offer would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

[JPWEraser]

Originally Posted by searchdev

I have an extreme case of pad deposits as my car was washed and then parked for storage throughout the winter (6 months). Any suggestions on how to get the pad prints off the rotors?

I can feel it in the pedal and it is bad. This coming weekend I have a track event and the rotors are to bad to take as is.

Last year I had to replace the four rotors because where the pad print was it corroded and pitted the rotors.

My thought right now is brake clean and scotch brite pad. Any help you can offer would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Well depending on how extreme the situation is, you could try a bed-in procedure. This would remove the pad material from the rotors and also get a good fresh transfer layer on the rotor for your track event.

http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

[searchdev]

Originally Posted by JPWEraser

Well depending on how extreme the situation is, you could try a bed-in procedure. This would remove the pad material from the rotors and also get a good fresh transfer layer on the rotor for your track event.

http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

Yes will definitely go through the bedding process but they are too aggressive right now to start with that. I feel like I need to get the layer down enough so that the bedding process can then do the rest.

Is there any harm that can be done with my plan of brake clean and a scotch pad? I would do the entire rotor both sides not just the print. Try to get the entire rotor down to a new level that I can then start with.

Thanks for your help.

[JPWEraser]

Originally Posted by searchdev

Yes will definitely go through the bedding process but they are too aggressive right now to start with that. I feel like I need to get the layer down enough so that the bedding process can then do the rest.

Is there any harm that can be done with my plan of brake clean and a scotch pad? I would do the entire rotor both sides not just the print. Try to get the entire rotor down to a new level that I can then start with.

Thanks for your help.

I don't think I would take an abrasive to my rotors. Reasoning: hand work is so uneven and inaccurate and as sensitive as the performance braking systems are on M cars, you could end up with warped rotor surfaces. Warping could also be compounded/exacerbated by the extreme heat you'll be putting in them at the track. If you are that concerned, I might recommend to take them to a reputable shop and have them turned. That way you have machine precision and a flat surface to bed in. Some shops even do a crosshatch cut to aid in the bed in process.

[searchdev]

Originally Posted by JPWEraser

I don't think I would take an abrasive to my rotors. Reasoning: hand work is so uneven and inaccurate and as sensitive as the performance braking systems are on M cars, you could end up with warped rotor surfaces. Warping could also be compounded/exacerbated by the extreme heat you'll be putting in them at the track. If you are that concerned, I might recommend to take them to a reputable shop and have them turned. That way you have machine precision and a flat surface to bed in. Some shops even do a crosshatch cut to aid in the bed in process.

Thanks for the advice.

[JPWEraser]

Originally Posted by searchdev

Thanks for the advice.

Sure thing. I would just hate for you to run into problems with this set of rotors knowing that you've recently replaced them already. Best of luck!

[dc_wright]

Originally Posted by XMetal

I've tried parking the car in gear without the parking brake engaged. I've even went as far as just rolling the car in without applying the brakes at all and park in gear. Nothing worked thus far. I had figured it was the semi-metalic composition of the OE pads, but have recently switched to Cool Carbon pads and still get the sticking...so the Cool Carbon is probably semi-metalic as well. I guessed I'll just have to dry it by taking a spin around the neighborhood after the wash

The parking brake didn't make any difference because it doesn't use the calipers at all for braking. There's a small set of drum type brakes in the rear that are the parking brakes. The rear rotors have the parking brake drum integrated into the inner side.

Originally Posted by jdoublehcubed

I do both of the above approaches - always park the car in gear when washing (no parking break) and immediatley drive it afterwords. Despite my best efforts, I still have a little bit of pad deposit on the rears (I can just barely feel in at the pedal). This is the only car I have ever owned that seems so sensitive in this regard.

I've been running Akebono Euro ceramic pads on both the E85 and our E46 and haven't had any issues with pad deposits or prints after washing or rain storms. If you're not tracking the car they're good pads. With most of the trackable compounds you're looking at some type of ferro carbon compound and you're going to get some pad deposits and sticking. To avoid it for long term storage you can pop the wheels off and pull the calipers outward to retract the pads a bit and then center the calipers by hand so that they're not in contact with the rotors. It's a bit of work but it will prevent the sticking issue.

[Daemonblitz]

Mine stick quite badly on the rear as well and I have CoolCarbons. I've accepted that it's normal.

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by JPWEraser

I don't think I would take an abrasive to my rotors. Reasoning: hand work is so uneven and inaccurate and as sensitive as the performance braking systems are on M cars, you could end up with warped rotor surfaces. Warping could also be compounded/exacerbated by the extreme heat you'll be putting in them at the track. If you are that concerned, I might recommend to take them to a reputable shop and have them turned. That way you have machine precision and a flat surface to bed in. Some shops even do a crosshatch cut to aid in the bed in process.

A set of track pads on the street will definitely get rid of deposits.
But, even the most aggressive Scotch pads wont hurt the rotors.
I've done it many times and its a very commonly recommended alternative method.

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by Daemonblitz

Mine stick quite badly on the rear as well and I have CoolCarbons. I've accepted that it's normal.

How are you liking your CoolCarbon? I like their performance, but is very disappointed at their fitment for the front pads. My inner front pads have quite a bit of slacks in it and rattles over bumps. Some say the loose fitting pads are a safety issue, some say it's not. I'm gonna play it safe and pull the front pads off tomorrow and swap them for Akebono Euro.

[Daemonblitz]

Originally Posted by XMetal

How are you liking your CoolCarbon? I like their performance, but is very disappointed at their fitment for the front pads. My inner front pads have quite a bit of slacks in it and rattles over bumps. Some say the loose fitting pads are a safety issue, some say it's not. I'm gonna play it safe and pull the front pads off tomorrow and swap them for Akebono Euro.

Liked the performance, didn't like the squealing (The fronts had it quite loud). But I never had any rattling.

[jdoublehcubed]

Originally Posted by searchdev

I have an extreme case of pad deposits as my car was washed and then parked for storage throughout the winter (6 months). Any suggestions on how to get the pad prints off the rotors?

I can feel it in the pedal and it is bad. This coming weekend I have a track event and the rotors are to bad to take as is.

Last year I had to replace the four rotors because where the pad print was it corroded and pitted the rotors.

My thought right now is brake clean and scotch brite pad. Any help you can offer would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

If its the rears, there is an easy solution. Take them to a local mechanic and have them turned on a lathe. I had the exact same problem on mine last year after winter and turning them solved it 100%.

You may have to call around to find a shop that turns brake rotors, as its something of a dying art. Any franchised dealer most likely will not do it, you want a small independent shop.


If its the fronts, you're shit out of luck, because of the size and the two piece construction. Maybe try bedding them in repeatedly but I don't know if that will do it or not. Putting them on a surface grinder would definitely fix it, but that would cost more than the rotors unless you had a personal connection to a machine shop.

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by Daemonblitz

Liked the performance, didn't like the squealing (The fronts had it quite loud). But I never had any rattling.

Mine are pretty quiet (unless I hit a bump), but then again, I only have them on for a whole 3 weeks

The rattlings were so loud that I thought something was loose in my suspension or strut bars. I may have gotten a "Friday night special" pads, then, if you don't have fitment issues with yours

[Daemonblitz]

Originally Posted by XMetal

Mine are pretty quiet (unless I hit a bump), but then again, I only have them on for a whole 3 weeks

The rattlings were so loud that I thought something was loose in my suspension or strut bars. I may have gotten a "Friday night special" pads, then, if you don't have fitment issues with yours

They may start to squeal at low speeds once they wear down some more, that's how mine were.

Going back to the original topic, here's how badly my rear brakes were stuck when pulling the car out of storage. (I washed it right before putting it away but I took it for a quick spin first to dry the brakes, and I left it in neutral with the parking brake off)

If you compare the frame from the begining to the last frame before the car moved forward you can see how much it was squatting and struggling to move forward.

[XMetal]

Yikes...not what I wanted to hear or see for that matter I thought the OE pads were bad...looks like the CC are worse in terms of sticking after washing? I was hoping the CC pads would stick less. So, it still sticks after a quick drive to dry it off???

Thanks for the video, though.

[RADRACR]

I spent weeks researching where to grind my rotors and ended up here: http://www.truedisk.net/home.html

Shipping cost more than what they charged, but it's a guaranteed fix. I didn't want to risk not insuring my BBK rotors, but if you don't insure, it's an affordable solution.

I would never have these types of rotors turned on a lathe.

[sipman]

I've had this happen as well. Are we saying that the disc pads are sticking to the disc, or the drum shoes are sticking to the drum portion of the rear brakes?