Problems with brakes....

[m3tiko]

Hey folks...

I recently got a bbk fitted up front ( Performance friction etc..)...and I hope thats not the problem.

All round were 15mm spacers that Teddy supplied through H&R, all thebolts never arrived so had to do with ones at the fitting garage. What the garage didn't realise that the bolts went right through and into the brake discs drum causing possibly dislodging of the drum springs(?) constant brakes been applied to the rears. This in turn caused noticeable noise and the car to not 'free wheel' but come to a proper stop when gently forcing it to roll.

So, I thought it could be the old discs and pads causing the squealing....so paid another £600 odds (£3200 fr and rear now) and got Stoptech discs, braided hoses and pagid pads thinking this should be erradicate any faults....How wrong was I??

The squealing is there constant and more noticeable when the steering wheel is moved in either direction...


Justin has gracefully taken the challenge on so far.....but thought maybe some of you could help diagnose the culprit!!

Thanks in advance

Upset M3 driver....really upset:(

[J13JUT]

we have the technology tiko we will find that speak .

get it back over when you can bud

[m3tiko]

Cheers Justin...

Mate it got even worse after giving it some serious welly....I carried out those heavy bedding in techniques thinking....but now it sounds like a double decker's brakes lol.

What I did notice was on release and off the handbrake...the off side rose considerably more than the near side??? The car is definately binding....after changing everything I stumped!!!!

Cheers mate, I'm leaving it in your capable hands.....

[alexsh1]

Clearly there is a prob somewhere. Try to eliminate it one by one.
First, take out spacers cos you do not have the right bolts then see if the problem is still there. Secondly, see if the braking disks are installed properly.
The best is to take your car to the installer and explain your problem.

[m3tiko]

You're right one by one is probably best way in finding the fault. Hence so far, I've spent over £600 to find the fault....and thats just parts!! So its becoming a very expensive job.

Could it be handbrake cable??

[J13JUT]

tiko we can take all the adjustment of the handbrake shoes and then drive it
but if you recall when we had it on the brake tester there was no bind on the brakes at all maybe we need to have a look over your bbk

[peppernick]

the bolts went right through and into the brake discs drum causing possibly dislodging of the drum springs(?) constant brakes been applied to the rears.
Unlikely. The bolt ends, if too long will prevent the wheel from turning as they will jam against the rear handbrake components. It's all or nothing given the handbrake shoes that spins against the bolt end is not a flat/flush structure. So at once point, the tip of the bolt will catch the protruding part and stop the wheel from spinning altogether.


When you say BBK, what calipers are you using? Or do you mean just a brake disc upgrade?


Is the squeal more obvious after 10 mins of driving and not there when the brakes are cold? Also, if you hit the brakes hard, the squeal goes away and only come back when you touch the brake pedal lightly?

[m3tiko]

I'm sure they said the bolts were just slightly too long and hence didn't protrude to the other side...as I remember driving and it was a constant ticking sound.

The BBK upfront i'm using performance friction discs with monster hispec calipers....afaik same setup as Robins in his turbo.


The only way I can explain is like a constant drone coming at very low speeds 1-2mph....this is without any brakes applied. Once the car is running it then becomes a constant squeak...like I said more noticeable when the car is steered to the right. The brakes now make the best way to explain it....is when a big bus halts lol...

Yes Nick....I notice after 10 minutes of braking a more noticeable noise and then that constant squeak when light pressure is applied.

Justin mate, the car still rolls to a full stop. On a light incline...most cars still have some roll...mine just stays put.

[J13JUT]

the wheel bolts were fine tiko

[peppernick]

I had similar issue with the AP Racing BBK on my 330. It's the fact that the pads did not retract fully after the brake pedal was released; hence, they were rubbing with more pressure than they should on the discs (brake pads are never fully retracted from the discs as they rub ever slightly to keep the heat in) than they should and when heat built up, the sqealing started.

Problem is, it's almost impossible to tell which pad is the culprit unless you measure the temperature in each of them after a normal drive, or wait till one of the pads wear out prematurely.

2 faults on my 330 could explain this. 1) Faulty caliper pistons/piston seals that prevented the piston/pistons from retracting appropriately after the release of the brake pedal. 2) Faulty master cylinder that resulted in altered brake fluid pressure dynamics.

TBH, I didn't bother finding out the problem as diagnostic cost was spiralling and I was going to change to an M3 anyway.

[alexsh1]

I'm sure they said the bolts were just slightly too long and hence didn't protrude to the other side...as I remember driving and it was a constant ticking sound.


I had this problem when I was using longer bolts on the standard 17" alloys on my BM. If was a ticking sound from the back. As soon as I installed regular bolts, its gone.

Can you borrow the proper bolts somewhere to uninstall spacers to see if this is causing the problem?

[m3tiko]

I don't know Alex if thats the real culprit...will try though. Also, I got the BBK fitted in Hartlepool. I've did 3 runs prior to actually picking the car up and it wasn't cost effective. Hindsight is a great thing.......

Like Justin said lets investigate the fronts...Nick i think you might be onto something there, the calipers might not be releasing properly causing uneven brake bias and possibly causing them to bind....

I have to keep the car as it isn't worth selling. £45k car when bought....after 4 years trade-in I was offered was £17k...

[mikem]

From my own experience,if your sure its not just the handbrake re-adjusting, I`d put shorter bolts back on first and see if that solves it, then look at removing the stone guards.

[m3tiko]

Mike, Justin says the bolts were fine now so it can't be them....hopefully

I think this Sunday we're stripping front and rears completely taking all brake components off....

[robinh20mrv]

I have had no problems with mine at all m8....

Justin will get to the bottom of it :)

I think you should just give me 50k for my car as it is (with all the toys on it) .....it could be yours :) :)

[bmwboy73]

What Robin said x2

:D

[J13JUT]

I have had no problems with mine at all m8....

Justin will get to the bottom of it :)

I think you should just give me 50k for my car as it is (with all the toys on it) .....it could be yours :) :)


robin you say we had no probs with yours but was it not pagid yellows that we had to take out of the rear of the porsche because they were squealing

cuz thats what we've but in the back of tikos m3

[alexsh1]

This is a really annoying prob! May take ages to trace it.
All I can suggest is try and check every caliper one by one

[rafi_rovers]

mate did this problem get resolved?

[robinh20mrv]

aye, but that was with the std discs, with the performance friction discs i have had no bother at all, even after the track day at knockhill where they were being used hard,

I would go for ferodo ds 3000 front and ds 2500 rear :)


robin you say we had no probs with yours but was it not pagid yellows that we had to take out of the rear of the porsche because they were squealing

cuz thats what we've but in the back of tikos m3

[m3tiko]

This was a painful and expensive experience....but alas all was resolved not too long ago.

After spending more money getting the rears upgraded, new front pads (Red stuff - Pagid Yellows - Green Stuff - Ferrodo) to the PF discs we found sticking calipers up front.


It's fair I overspent to find the cause but feel pleased now the car is fixed

[mysticm3]

glad you got it all sorted now mate