DIY Front Brake Pad Replacement '08 4.8L
 

Just got rid of the dusty stock front pads and installed Carbotech Bobcats which had to be custom made for the 4.8 front brakes. Here are a few pictures of the procedure. If you've done brake pads on BMWs before, there's really nothing new other than the anti-rattle clip now includes a dust shield, the brake pad sensor wire is much sturdier, and the brake fluid reservoir is hidden under a plastic grill. Oh, I also noticed my sport package wheels are made in Mexico!

Please don't attempt this unless you know what you're up against. Working on brakes can have dangerous consequences. I am comfortable doing this type of work since I run my e46 M3 on the track, and in fact never trust anyone with my brake work.

First of all make sure your e-brake is set. Slightly loosen the lug bolts before lifting the tire fully off of the ground. Lift the front of the truck by using the lift pad located in the plastic under engine cover.
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Set the truck down onto jackstands using the side jack pads.
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Remove wheels. Mine were already difficult to remove due to rusting although my X5 has never seen road salt. Banging the tire from behind with a loose lugbolt to keep the wheel from hitting the ground worked for me. Remove the anti-rattle clip/dust shield by prying it off with a screwdriver.
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Now remove the plastic caps that covers the caliper carrier bolts/pins. They are located on the inside of the caliper at the top and bottom. turning the wheel so you can see behind the caliper helps. The caps just pry off with a thin blade screwdriver.
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Now using a 7mm hex socket and long breaker bar remove the two caliper carrier bolts. They shouldn't be very tight. The bolts are inside of a rubber sleeve and you will have to grab them and pull them out once they have been totally loosened.
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Once the two bolts are out wiggle the caliper as you pull to the rear of the car to remove the caliper. Once the caliper is removed secure it with a bungee cord or metal hanger to keep the caliper from damaging the attached brake fluid hose. Remove the old pads. The inboard pad will be stuck inside the caliper cylinder by three prongs on the backing plate of the inboard brake pad.
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Unless the brake pads you have removed are fairly new, you will now have to compress the caliper piston to make room for your new pads. I use the old inboard pad with a C-clamp to compress the piston. Before doing this you will need to uncap the brake fluid reservoir. The reservoir is located under a plastic grill near the firewall on the driver's side of the engine compartment. The grill is easily removed after loosening four plastic quick release bolts.
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Once the piston has been compressed clean everything up and install the new pads. One has the clips that go in the caliper piston and the other just slides into the front of the caliper carrier. You probably want to pretreat the backing plates and the arms of the new pads with CRC anti-squeal goop.
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Slide the caliper back into place. Reinstall the caliper carrier bolts. Sometimes you will need to jiggle and press the caliper in order to get the bolts started in their hole. Make sure you're not stripping the bolts. Torque them to 22-24 ft-lb. Replace the anti-rattle clip by sliding it front to back until the prongs drop into place. It can be a pain to get it in.

On to the driver's side. Everything is the same except that there will be a brake pad sensor pressed into the inboard pad.
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Remove the sensor by grabbing it with needle nose pliers close to where it enters the pad. Make sure you don't lose the metal spring device that holds the sensor inside the pad. Sometimes it will stay in the slot of the old pad.
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Here's a picture of the sensor with the metal spring clip in place.
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Make sure you install it after you finish replacing the driver's side pads. You might want to practice sliding it into the pad before you install it, just so you know what you're doing since it's hard to see once the caliper is reattached.

Before you reinstall your wheels, apply a thin layer of anti-seize compound to the mating surfaces of the wheel and rotor/hub to keep them from rusting together. Enjoy your dust free wheels!

Awesome! thanks for the instructions. I am sure lot of people would benefit from this. I am myself very interested in getting bobcat pads. Do let us know about their performance and dust, once you have tested them thoroughly. :)

Excellent DIY with really good photos!

The only thing I might add is that if the brakes haven't been bled for a while, one might want to bleed them while you're in there and working on things.

I'll report back on how the pads perform once I've put a few hundred miles on them. Just bedded them last night. So far, so good!

Nice write up.:thumbup:

How about the rear pads?. Is this procedure the same?

Haven't done the rears yet, but I just ordered some Akebono Euros for the rear since now the rears get so much dirtier than the fronts. Can't imagine the rears being much different.

BTW, so far the Carbotechs have been great. Good initial bite, low dust, and NO squealing.

where to buy the pads , the dealer charge almost 650$ for front and rear

I've changed brakes on my m3 and 528 and the procedure looks to be the same as the x5.

xTony: Thanks for posting, great write up and pictures.

Thank you for the write up and pictures. How did you reset the pad distance remaining countdown on the iDrive?

I didn't reset anything, but when I looked at the miles remaining it seemed like I either had very little wear on my old pads, or it had reset itself. Either way there is a sensor which will turn your brake light on if the pad wears too thin.

Thanks for the write up! I also changed the rotors on a 2007 4.8L and it took me a little bit to find out which tool is needed to take off the rotor. It's called an inverted torx size E18. I called every parts store and the biggest size they had was an E16. I got an E18 from a buddy and finished the job.

And to reset the service interval I followed the instructions in this thread.

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...val-reset.html

It was pretty easy to reset it.

Just wanted to say thanks for this DIY. Changed out my front and rears with EBC Red stuff yesterday.

I need to either order a new sensor for the fronts or just bypass it to get rid of the error message.

In my opinion, I wouldn't do this unless it was overseen by a certified master technician. Just my 2¢

Great write up, I see the pad wear sensor is slightly different from the green wired ones on the E46 M3 ;)
Brakes are one of the easier things to do. Maybe if more people expressed an interest in working on their cars, BMW wouldn't cover everything up with plastic, and make it necessary to use all these specialty tools

Agree about the worth of your opinion. I guarantee that I am much more meticulous with ny work than any mechanic would be. In fact, when I take my M3 to the track, I won't trust anyone else to work on the brakes.

Changing brakes is not difficult as long as you take your time and make sure everything is torqued to spec. It's kind of hard to really screw it up. Worse case probably is that you drop the caliper and damage the brake line. Then get a tow to someone else to fix it.

I think the worst case can result in a loss of braking on one axle due to fluid loss, but the sudden pedal drop leaves the driver believing he has no brakes. Catastrophic accidents can result.

More often, people assume that replacing pads equates to doing a brake job. It doesn't. You need to inspect all parts, look for problems, and identify things before they become bigger problems. If someone hasn't done a brake job before, it should really be done together with someone properly trained, who can help the first time. Brakes are a safety system.

Funniest rework I ever got was a vehicle with one of the front pads in backwards, ie friction material away from the rotor. It made a loud grinding noise. Rotor was trashed. Person had just done his own brake job, lol. You'd be amazed at what goes on out there.

Suggestions
 

Anyone have suggestions for pads and rotors, I need to replace both front and back rotors and pads.

Thanks.

I can easily recommend EBC Red Stuff pads. I changed out all four corners to them recently and have really enjoyed the performance. The hard initial bite of the OEM isn't there and there's very easy and linear modulation of the brakes with them. Plus, after a week, the wheels don't have any noticeable dust on them.

As for rotors, I know EBC sells rotors to accompany their pads, but my rotors had enough material left and no problem areas, so I retained them.

Thanks for the write up!