Brake Service Question
 

I am about to perform a brake service on my wife's X5 (2008 4.8). On examining the ritor it has a lip of around 2 mm. Should I replace or have the rotors machined?

Well, it depends.

Most car mfgs are going to pretty thin rotors- this improves performance (unsprung weight) and makes it easier to service (just replace, no need for skilled machining)...

You need to measure the thickness and see if- after machining- it will still be over the minimum spec. My recollection is that the wear limit on the rotor is only a few mm...so odds are you will not be able to.

Just think of all the money you are saving by DIY...drop 2-300 on new rotors from any vendor and replace them. BMW OE is fine as are the centric ones... rotors are one of those commodities, IMO. Pads I pay more attention to.

GL

A

Thanks.

I was just going to go OEM from Tisher. My sensors have not been triggered, do you know if I can reuse these?

I would just go OEM on the rotors.

Replace the sensors. First reason is they get hard from the heat. Second reason is you don't know if they have tripped. There are two steps in the E70 sensor. First step is used to calculate remaining pad life, supplementing the algorithm in the computer. Second step turns on the warning light near the end of life. You have likely gone through the first step, even if you haven't gone through the second step.

Background here: http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ry-bypass.html

Cant argue with tischer/getbmwparts.com...

Good point by JCL on the sensors- by the time you get to look at them, if you dont have them on hand to install it will be a PITA. Only a few bucks anyway. And if you dont need them now, you'll have them 'in stock'.

Great information. Thanks ard and JCL!