jk88 Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 My local Audi dealer is telling me that my 2006 A8 3.0Tdi requires new discs and pads all round. Being rather skeptical of this type of advice (my wife was told by our Mercedes dealer that her car needed new front pads - just 3 months after they had fitted them!), I wondered if this is something I can evaluate myself. Of course, I don't want to take any chances from a safety point of view, but neither do I want to replace something that has plenty of life left in it. The car has covered 90k miles, mostly mine (bought ex demo), probably 80% has been motorway. The front pads were replaced at 50k miles (I vaguely recall a warning light appearing in the dash). Given that, it would not be surprising if the all the discs and pads needed replacing, however a quick visual check shows the pads with 3-4mm (and no warning lights). Disc wear seems more difficult to assess, the depth of the lip is 1-2mm all round, but no idea if this is reliable guide. So any advice welcome a) To what extent can I evaluate myself (without specialist tools) the level of wear to the discs and pads ? b) If not possible, can any decent garage make the assessment and, if necessary, do the work (we have an excellent local garage on our doorstep) ? c) Any thoughts on a reasonable price to pay for new discs and pad fitted, Audi garage quoting £840 inc vat Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsYcHe Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Sounds like they're getting low, but not obscenly so, you could wait a bit until the light comes on. I paid around £300 for Pagid discs and pads all round from Euro Car Parts a few months back, they're OK, but not quite as good as OEM. Fitted them myself in under 3 hours for all four, but that was on a driveway with no special tools and jacking up each corner seperately. I'd speak to a local garage and see what they quote, even get them to quote on genuine Audi parts too as I'm guessing at least £300 of that cost is labour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapdragon Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Dealer techs are on a bonus scheme just like the sales staff, so the more jobs they find, the more money they get paid. If the warning hasn't appeared don't even worry about them yet, even the warning is very conservative. The brake parts for these cars are rather dear, so you don't want to replace them unless they are ready for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrundleFly Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 Just to warn you, I had an MOT done at my Audi dealer a couple of years ago and got an advisory for my discs and pads. I decided to wait for the warning light and just ignored the advisory. I then took it back to the same dealer for a new MOT a couple of months ago having not done anything with the discs and pads and they didn't mention it at all. I commented that it was very strange that previously they said they were low but this time didn't mention it... He agreed that was strange. The only conclusions I can come to now are that they were either trying to con me the first time or didn't check it properly the second time. I won't be taking my car there again but at least this warns you of my experience with a dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roberto1954 Posted June 23, 2012 Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 3.0tdi and 4.2tdi are completely different discs and pads wont cost anywere near £300 for the padgid ones think mine were £160 3.0tdi diy them i did its easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk88 Posted July 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Thanks for the feedback and advice. I've seen a couple of comments on other forums suggesting that changing the rear discs is more complex because the electronic handbrake has to be recalibrated using VAGCOM once the job is completed. Any thoughts ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapdragon Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 Yes, you do need to open/retract the pistons with VCDS (or similar) before you start. After the job is complete you need to close the callipers and do an adaptation that calibrates them by you manually entering the new pad's thickness so that it can predict them wearing out accurately Audi A8 (4E) Parking Brake - Ross-Tech Wiki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelV8V Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 I hate this discussion, when I had my first service with my 4.2 petrol (at about 30,000 miles) the dealer recommended new discs and pads, I was driving the family to Italy in a few weeks and didn't want to take any chances, so I said to go ahead and it cost me £1,000 just for the brakes Then I realised that anything that might need replacing within 2 years would be a recommended change, i.e. if it won't last till the next service, then replace it at this service. Wish I had just waited till some lights came on and changed things then. It would mean I wouldn't be so close to needed another set now, and another £1000 spend :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsYcHe Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Or look elsewhere for a price... I got discs and pads all round for under 300 for mine, then 2 hours to fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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