Squeaky brakes
 

My X5M is a year old. When I first got it brake squeal was awful. It seemed when the weather warmed up the problem resolved. When it got cold the squeal was bad when first starting out. I had the vehicle in for 15,000 mi. service and complained about the noise. They did clean the front brake pads and now no squeal at all. So I guess service CAN do something about this annoyance.

Do a search, the brake squealing has been widely discussed.

Your relief is short lived and/or a result of you living relatively South.

BMW (IMO) sacrifices pad noise, aka squeal caused by glazing on rotor/pad surface (not resonance) for pad lifespan and perhaps some performance. Read, more likely lifespan-related due to their 4 year no charge maintenance.

My X squeals like a pig in reverse and also in forward if the ambient temp dips much below 20 degrees F.

Countermeasures are:

• Scrub of the varnish by doing four or five 70-5mph not-quite-ABS-invoking stops in a row. You will smell the brakes: This is good. Squeal should go away for a short time.

• Ride the brakes for a couple of minutes (yep, I said a couple of minutes) at moderate speed and with fairly moderate pressure on the brake pedal. If you push too hard, the brakes win. If you don't push hard enough during this (absurd) maneuver, you will continue to listen to the squeal.

• Live with it and wonder why BMW didn't satisfactorily cold-test this brake system.

I've contacted the dealer 2x about this. Standard response: 'it's a high performance braking system and occasional brake noise is normal'. I have to call Bu!!sh*t on that. On a vehicle with carbon ceramic rotors, yes.. On a passenger car/SUV, no.

The SA finally suggested that I do several panic stops in a row to de-glaze the pads. Oh, ok.. good idea SA guy. That's convenient.

Be glad you live in a relatively warm climate.

Might be enough to push me out of BMW-ville when my lease it up.

My cure was permanent; the dealer replaced pads and rotors but also placed an anti noise material purchased from Bavarian auto. www.bavauto.com. the high pitch noise was due to the vibration of the back side of the pads against the caliper. In temperatures from 0 -95 F, I no longer get the noise.

I remember reading that your squeaky brakes were 'fixed'.

I'm glad for you, but I'm not sure this is a resonance issue. If it were, I'm not sure my de-glazing countermeasures would be effective.

Colder it gets, the worse it gets.. Our temps dip quite a bit lower than yours.

My dealer is clueless, but I'm going to call them again. Can't hurt to try.

You have described, in every excruciating detail, exactly what I experience in my X5M. I have dismissed it up until recently as a result of having "high performance brakes" but, to tell the truth, I'm not even buying that excuse myself anymore.

Some kind of embarrassing to be backing out of a crowded area in a $100k vehicle and have the brakes squeal so loudly that it hurts dogs' ears within a 1/2 mile radius...

I know that feeling....If I'm going to have company in the car, I ride the brakes for a while before I pick them up (and wonder why I have to do this).

My X is going in soon for a new alternator (excessive battery discharge) warning, so I'm going to ask (again) my SA to put some goo on the back of the 'new' pads and see if that works.

If it does work, we all owe JDM a beer.

His fix - P/N NF4OZ
http://www.bavauto.com/assets/imglib500/NF4OZ.JPG

a special order from bmw fixed my brake sound, here are the parts

34-11-6-799-964 repair kit,bra
34-21-6-794-879 repair kit,bra
34-35-6-789-080 brake pad wear

the sound never returned

I too had some really squeeky brakes. First only in reverse, then mose recently going forward and lightly touching the brakes. The dealer cleaned the front pads and then chamfered the pads. So far no sounds, but it's only been a few days. Will see if it lasts...

It comes back not to worry. E53 what are those parts and what does it include.

Went in to have 1,200 mile service yesterday(turns out not required on this truck) and address squeaky brakes. Dealer installed new pads listed as repair kit 34.11.6.799.964. It's nice to not have to duck under the dashboard anymore in embarassment.