More squeaky brakes - this time driving forward
 

Don't know if it's the cold, but my X5M has been driving me crazy the last 10 days.

3000 miles.

Light to light/medium brake pressure = SQUEALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.

Thought it was glazing, so I did a couple of very aggressive stops from 60.. helped for 5 minutes then back to squealing.

Called the dealer - suggested it was glazing. In fact, it's so loud that the service advisor could easily hear it over the Bluetooth.

Told the SA I tried to self de-glaze. Suggested doing it 5 or 6 times. I retorted that it's absurd to expect customers to perform 5 or 6 panic stops to de-glaze pads. (snow + panic stops = bad).

He said I could bring it in.. :rolleyes:

Anybody else have squealing brakes while driving >>>> ?

*Love the truck, not loving BMW's apparent lack of brake system usability testing in reverse and forward.

its really cold here in CO and I am getting that too...only light braking and not all the time

Yes! I don't get all the time either.. maybe 15-20% of the time.. press harder and it goes away, right?

Quote from any dealer. "Performance Brakes"

We had squealing in reverse from the time of delivery. Just yesterday, started squealing when going forwards, as well :( It happens every time we reverse out of the garage.

Same as the others - light brake pedal pressure. It is seriously cold here, too (minus 30 Celsius the other day), so maybe that has something to do with it.

Haven't tried deglazing with hard stops, but there is a thin coat of packed snow everywhere, so that isn't an option at present.

"Performance brakes". Hmmmmm. I call BS. Our other M cars' brakes don't squeal at all, and I would think THEY are "performance" brakes.....

Subscribed.

I agree.. BS on 'performance' brakes. They are not ceramic and they shouldn't squeak.

Mine is going in on Monday.. I'll LYK what they say.

its not quite as cold today and the car is not squeaking, I don't know if its the cold or the fact that I hosed the car off yesterday and removed a lot of brake dust

Maybe its her way of telling me she needs a wash :)

I'll hose her off and see how the weekend goes.

At 1100 miles mine started doing it when I reverse with light brake pressure like out of the garage, but the start coincided with it getting really cold here in Seattle, about 15 to 20 degrees. Didn't do it when it was above freezing. So far just in reverse no forward brake noise.

Be intersted to see what your dealer says on Monday

it was bitter cold earlier this week ~0 degrees F when I noticed it (going forward), today its a balmy 36 F and its not squeaking...wonder if the huge rotors change shape enough when really cold to cause the squeak.

Have you guys tried the grease that goes on the mounting parts of the pads?

I did this and now no sqeels...

Guys, I think comparing it to other Ms is not quite fair. These things are porkers with 5,300 pounds+ that stop on a dime, there has to be a little bit of compromise somwhere. While I agree that a little squeeking is annoying (I get the reverse squeak a lot, the front one only when it is really cold), if that is our biggest gripe then BMW did a hell of a job.

This is true. The only thing is, I have driven both the Cayenne turbo s (which has something like 16.1" brake rotors at the front :wow:, and weighs 5200lbs), and thd Range Rover Sport (Supercharged - which weighs 5800 pounds!!), both in the cold (Minnesota - it was zero degrees fahrenheit), and neither had any squeak, at all.

It IS a minor thing, really, and would never preclude us purchasing an X6M.....

But it IS, obviously possible to make something this size, and this fast, with non-squeaking brakes.

My 4.8 is squeaking now that it is cold (for Cinci, anyway) so I don't think this is just an M issue.

Still a very light squeal when backing up but I have not experienced it driving forward.

same here, just going back.

Not only do mine squeak with cold weather, but apparently my driver's side rearview mirror also cracks completely....

-29 celsius here and the damn things are squeaking all the time!!!!!! i was given the "glazing" line too...

The "performance brake" explanation is no bs. Have you ever change a OE pad to a performance pad? Chances are it squeaks. The OE brake on my C63 also squeks, as did various other Porsches I've owned. Doesn't bother me.

performance brake or not, its pretty frickin bothersome when you're pulling up to a red light and there's a symphony of squeaks and squeals coming from your car...i would much rather prefer to make a graceful entrance...but you are from australia...you don't use brakes! :rofl::rofl:

These are not 'performance' brakes per se.

10 degrees today - squealing.
25 yesterday - squealing.

It appears to be cold related. It's not glazing - at least it's not glazing that I can scrub off with several 80 to 0 stops.

Deal breaker - no.
Annoying - very.
Will I be pushing for a solution - yes, for $92K I expect my daily not to squeak. *unless my daily is a F430 with ceramics.

My dealer can't get a loaner til Wed, so she'll go in for their anticipated 'performance brake' mantra then.

<rant>

Another ridiculously annoying drive to work today. 6 degrees.. SQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALing @ nearly every stop sign/light.

Really?!

Roads suck, so I didn't bring it in today because I can't waste 2 hours in traffic. Called the service tech - they don't have an item as simple as brake pads in stock for an X5M so at a minimum I'm looking at 2 different appointments or a couple of days without my brand new X.

Hey BMW - (really) TEST YOUR FKING BRAKES (in all climates) before you put your vehicle up for sale.

</rant>

Less squeaky drive home.

Talked with the Service Manager at my local dealership. He's hearing about the same type of issue with their deployed X6's and some X5's. No other X5M's have reported back in.

Thinks my issue is a combination of cold weather and not aggressive enough of a break-in period (manual says to take it easy - he thinks (I agree) that the brakes should be aggressively bed-in when new - aka, glazed brakes.

He suggested another try of bedding the brakes (60-0 several times in a row), and if that doesn't work, we'll try new pads with a more assertive break-in.

FWIW, he said his 535xi was also squealing and completely understood/shared my frustration.

I'll post back when I have more info.

Cool, thanks for the update! I remember having the same issue with my M3, a lot squeak around 2-3k miles which resolved soon after getting really bad. I say hang in there for another week or so and see what happens. Mine is still only in reverse although the temps are not that low here yet.

Mine started squeaking braking forward this morning. I have 1200 miles and its warm today mid 40's. This is some screeching.... My 2006 E53 4.4 squeaked lightly and could be ignored. My 2008 E70 never squeaked once. But this thing is unbelievable. It actually almost hurts my ears when your in a parking garage. Hope someone comes up with an easy fix.

I just went to lunch with one of our vendors. Since the brakes weren't squealing this a.m., I thought I'd be safe taking my car.

Wrong.

Squealed on braking the entire way to the restaurant.

WTF!?

Glad I drove my 'new' SUV there - sounded like a POS pickup or something.

<rant> back on.

Cosmoline?(sp)
 

I was at the dealer today getting the ARS module replaced on my M and asked the shop foreman about the squeak while braking in reverse. He stated it was the cosmoline(sp?) they put on the rotors for shipping. He said it will wear off eventually or I could do some hard stops in reverse to burn it off sooner. Size of the rotors and hard pads make it more prevalent on the M's.

Not sure if this reason holds water but I guess makes some sense...

Thoughts?

BS as usual

I'm 99.9999% sure it's not cosmoline related.

Really odd - hit or miss for sure.. doesn't seem to like cold and wet or very cold (wet or dry). Dry and mild (20's) seems to be relatively OK.

Still waiting on the dealer to call to LMK they are at least prepared for something other than stating 'normal'.

Anyobody else getting this who hasn't chimed in?

Anybody think it might be useful to start to document the conditions when the squealing is most prevalent?

Just took delivery of a new X6M; the brakes sound like a big dump truck! Started day one when I backed out of the delivery bay. It has been doing it in reverse only all week. Today, this interesting feature surfaced while going forward also. I have only 220 miles on it. I am bringing it in tomorrow to show the service manager. He stated that he has never heard of this issue?

By the way, it has been relatively warm all week 40's. Today low 20's and noise is the same.

My previous X6 50i and 3.5i never made any noise while applying the brakes?

Dealer is ordering different pads?

My dealer offered to order in new pads/rotors. Same material (eg, not a softer/different pad).

I have bed the brakes in (hard, but not ABS invoking 70-10mph x 6) several times and it's kept the squealing away.

Definitely worse as the temps get lower.

BMW is smoking crack if they think that consumers should have to bed their brakes in to avoid squealing.. (don't tell me this is 'normal'), but I'm doing what I have to do.

Anyone else have success with this approach?

Problem solved!!! The dealer installed new pads and rotors. They also coated the pads (caliper side) with a product called Noise Free from bavauto. It was expained to me that the squeal was actually the back side of the brake pads vibrating against the caliper at a very high frequency. They believed the Noise Free product would do the trick alone but figured they would replace pads and rotors also, just to be sure.

Good to hear. Keep us posted on the fix as it might be a few miles before they start up again. Mine didn't start squeking until about 1000 miles..

Interesting. I wouldn't think that the normal brake squeaking vibrations were the cause. I'll be interested as well if the issue re-appears, especially when temps fall below 10F.