Dealer replaced brakes and now have problem

[318tiwinner]

Hi everyone,

A little background on the car:
'97 318ti
126000 miles
3 yrs since last pad change (organic)
never replaced rotors


Okay, I decided to finally replace my front brake pads and rotors on Friday. I took my car to the local dealer, they replaced the pads, sensor and rotors. I picked the car up just after closing and was pulling out of the lot testing the brakes. Immediately they felt different than they have ever felt.

I came up to the first stop light and when I hit the brakes it pulled sharply left. I tested it on the rest of the 30 miles home and it continued to have the problem.

The dealer towed the car back today and yjeu said two techs drove the car neither one of them could reproduce the problem. They took it into the shop though and inspected everything, i am told that the caliper pistons are binding now and i need new calipers and a left ball joint. It will cost $1400 for the repair.

The way they explained it is that the piston had been extended and exposed to the environment for so long that it is corroded or messed up to the point that it won't function properly.

Why would the calipers work fine before and not work now?

Any ideas? I appreciate all of your feedback. Thanks!

[1996 328ti]

It's hard to 2nd guess but that sounds like pure bull.
I run my pads down to nothing to the point that the rubber seals tear.
I could understand pulling to one side if they did not bed the pads in which I would think they would or at least warn you first. Unless the brake sensor wire was worn there was no need to replace it.

How can two techs find no problem driving and determine that the calipers are bad?
If the calipers where bad they would have know before it went on the lift.
And if they were corroded they never should have let you drive the car.

On the other hand it is possible that the calipers just need a cleaning and a rebuild.
If you need to replace your calipers I suggest an upgrade although you will need new rotors. Your can either go with 325/328 calipers or the 330 rotor upgrade.

After this is all said and done I'd find a good independent shop.

[CirrusSR22]

$1400 is ridiculous! Get a second opinion.

If worse comes to worse, you can go to www.car-part.com and find some stock used calipers for less than $50 each. They are really not very hard to replace.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't know if you are mechincally inclined or not, but if so......

You can buy a new set of OEM control arms, with new ball joints and new control arm bushings for $203 total at www.eap4parts.com Replacing these is not really very hard, or as involved as it seems. It does require some brute force and getting dirty. The hardest part is replacing the control arm bushings. There are MANY posts on bimmerforums.com on how to do the project.

http://www.dol.net/~stimpee/carmrepl.htm
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...62#post1962162
http://www.understeer.com/lcab.shtml

[cali-ti]

i would take it to another independent shop or dealer IMMEDIATELY for a second opinion. i find it hard to believe you suddenly have issues with BOTH pistons and both need to be replaced. i'm also not seeing how they would get to $1400 for the job (replacing both calipers and one ball joint).

that whole thing with "two techs drove it and could not reproduce the problem" and then suddenly they find issues with the pistons binding sounds suspect to me. it's possible they're covering their collective a$$es. get it checked somewhere else for sure.

[L84THSKY]

Those "techs" are full of ****, and their rationale is totally bull****.
They call that trouble shooting? I'd love to have them try that on me

[pdxmotorhead]

Actuall the techs are only partially full of it (Price sucks though..)

1. You only replace calipers in pairs.
2. New brakes often bring out suspension issues because they work better.
(IE ball joints. BTDT)
3. As pads wear the piston extends and sometime inside the caliper it corodes
and then when you push the piston back it ruins the seal, or the piston sticks.
4. Did you ask for a brake job? or did you ask them to just replace the rotor and
pads? When I used to do this it was the customers call, I only asked them if they wanted new calipers if I saw a problem. Occasionally this meant people came back wanting the calipers done or a wheel bearing changed etc. But I was always upfront about my minimalist policy on the work I'd be doing.

Good Luck
Dave

[AlaskaBlue]

For that price I would go to a good non-dealer, get 330i front brakes, and meyle control arms. That is what I did. Very satisfied. Way less the 1400 for everything

[318tiwinner]

Thank you all for your quick responses to my little dilemma.

A little update...

I ended up going back to the dealer at lunch the next day and picked my car up. I knew that they were crazy about both the problem and the cost to fix it. As soon as I got in the car I know that there was nothing wrong with the car now. I tested the breaks on the way out and everything was fine. They felt the same as they had for the past 126000 miles.

My theory on what happened...

When I had the pads and rotors changed I think the tech screwed something up. When I had it towed back in her realized that he screwed it up and went ahead and fixed it. I am assuming that when the service manager drove the car that it worked fine. This whole thing about the calipers was a story from the guy who screwed them up. This might not have been the case but somewhere in the process of them looking at the brakes for a second time everything was fixed.

So that is where I am, everything seems okay. I am still concerned that they gave me an unsafe car to begin with.

Thanks again.

[stormos]

i'd sue seeing as its the us... heh

[hubrisin]

the moral of the story: buy the bently manual, do your own brakes and rotors. i just did my first front job and it was easier than i thought.

[L84THSKY]

I'm stickin' by what I said, and you only confirmed it.

Originally Posted by 318tiwinner

Thank you all for your quick responses to my little dilemma.

A little update...

I ended up going back to the dealer at lunch the next day and picked my car up. I knew that they were crazy about both the problem and the cost to fix it. As soon as I got in the car I know that there was nothing wrong with the car now. I tested the breaks on the way out and everything was fine. They felt the same as they had for the past 126000 miles.

My theory on what happened...

When I had the pads and rotors changed I think the tech screwed something up. When I had it towed back in her realized that he screwed it up and went ahead and fixed it. I am assuming that when the service manager drove the car that it worked fine. This whole thing about the calipers was a story from the guy who screwed them up. This might not have been the case but somewhere in the process of them looking at the brakes for a second time everything was fixed.

So that is where I am, everything seems okay. I am still concerned that they gave me an unsafe car to begin with.

Thanks again.

[cali-ti]

Originally Posted by hubrisin

the moral of the story: buy the bentley manual, do your own brakes and rotors. i just did my first front job and it was easier than i thought.

i concur. even rebuilding the calipers isn't that big a deal as long as you have an air compressor to pop out the pistons. it takes a while (and some money) to build up a stock of tools, but then it's just a matter of doing what you can yourself (maybe a little beyond your comfort zone even).

experiences like this is why it's sooooo important to find a shop you can trust (or perhaps a mechanic - wherever he/she ends up going).

[pdxmotorhead]

For what the dealer charges it wouldn't take long to buy the tools...

Dave