Uneven brake pad wear - problem or just luck of the draw ?

[Zeuk in Oz]

My old, neglected, 12/88 525i last had new brake pads about 70,000 km ago.

Yesterday heard grinding noise upon applying brakes to find that driver's side inside pad completely worn and pad backing material grinding against rotor rim. No warning as the wear sensor is on the inside of the passenger wheel and all other 3 pads at the front were only 2/3rds worn.

Good argument for brake sensors on all 4 wheels.

Replaced pads with set that were on it when I bought it to allow time to order parts (only half worn).

My concern is why did 1 pad wear faster than the other 3 ? Does this indicate a problem with my caliper piston or similar ?

At no time did the car seem to be braking unevenly at all.

Any thoughts ?

[Scott C]

My old, neglected, 12/88 525i last had new brake pads about 70,000 km ago.

Yesterday heard grinding noise upon applying brakes to find that driver's side inside pad completely worn and pad backing material grinding against rotor rim. No warning as the wear sensor is on the inside of the passenger wheel and all other 3 pads at the front were only 2/3rds worn.

Good argument for brake sensors on all 4 wheels.

Replaced pads with set that were on it when I bought it to allow time to order parts (only half worn).

My concern is why did 1 pad wear faster than the other 3 ? Does this indicate a problem with my caliper piston or similar ?

At no time did the car seem to be braking unevenly at all.

Any thoughts ?

Was the sliding mechanism in good shape or binding? (Assuming standard brake design ;) )

[repenttokyo]

here's my question: do we need to have brake sensors at all on these cars, or can I unplug them and not have any issues? I know when my brakes need changing, I don't need a computer to tell me.

[Jon K]

Unplug them and you'll have a brake linings warning - cut the sensor wire and twist together and you won't.

[Zeuk in Oz]

Was the sliding mechanism in good shape or binding? (Assuming standard brake design ;) )
Sliding mechanism looked fine and I had no trouble forcing it back to fit "new" pads.

[yaofeng]

One of the pistons seized?

[repenttokyo]

Unplug them and you'll have a brake linings warning - cut the sensor wire and twist together and you won't.


thanks for the tip :)

[Scott C]

thanks for the tip :)


And if you really wanted to have fun, you could wire sensors on all 4 corners ;)

[632 Regal]

could just be sticky slider parts, the are supposed to have NO lube at all, lube collects dirt and causes them to stick. All the hardware required is stainless steel so the rubber sourrounding parts might have to be replaced

[Zeuk in Oz]

could just be sticky slider parts, the are supposed to have NO lube at all, lube collects dirt and causes them to stick. All the hardware required is stainless steel so the rubber sourrounding parts might have to be replaced
Thanks Jeff, that is what I thought also.

I will give everything a good clean and inspection when I do the brakes when the parts arrive - have already ordered them from BMA.

BTW - just got the ix back from the garage today after a full Inspection II and lots of little bits done that needed tidying up, including fixing a leak at the steering rack. :D