'06 M45 - Did the Front Brakes Yesterday

[combsatl]

Over the past few months I've been working my way through the list of things I have for my M. Picked up a set of four new tires, ordered Brakemotive pads and rotors for all four wheels, then, after the rotors and pads had arrived, decided to order their rear calipers, too.

I must say, I enjoy working on these cars. There's plenty of room to do what needs to be done and nothing is overly complicated. The springs, once we saw how they go, were simple, pads slid in effortlessly, the fronts were done in under 45 minutes, working at a moderately slow pace. I didn't do the rears because the calipers haven't yet arrived and I figured it best to wait. I have 5qts of Pentosin brake fluid and will do a full flush this weekend once I get the rears done.

The pads and rotors I took off were not bad at all, actually. There was plenty of meat on the pads and the rotors appeared to be evenly worn, even though there was some vibration from the front brakes when stopping. After bedding the front pads, I must say I am more than impressed. They work terrific, considering what they cost me compared to what a dealership would charge for OE. No vibrations, no sounds, everything feels excellent. Now, with the front so quiet, I can hear the rears squealing away when stopping.

We were also able to diagnose the front right wheel bearing as going bad as it had a grinding noise when turning. I'm wondering if some of the 'road noise' I was hearing wasn't the tires and was, instead, the failing wheel bearing. I picked up one on Amazon and will give that a shot. Looks simple enough to do.

Still really enjoying this car. Nicest I've owned by far (my wife and I often argue about who's is nicer, her BMW or my M.. [the M wins]) and I just love driving it.

[Ilya]

Good stuff.

Yeah, doing maintenance on these cars is made even easier by the plethora of HowTo's that various members have written over the years. In fact, I did the brake one lol.

howto-change-your-brakes-front-and-rear-t571286.html

[veery]

It is nice to know there are more blended families out there! My wife has a bimmer (X3) which she loves and she doesn't particularly like driving my M, though it may be she is afraid she might get it dinged in the parking lot and have to deal with the fallout!
What I really want though, are BIG brakes, like she has on the X3!

[combsatl]

@ Ilya: Absolutely, man! Those DIY guides are lifesavers and I definitely checked out yours before I tackled the job. If I ever have to tackle a job that hasn't been documented well or is something new, I'll definitely write one up, too.

@ veery: Haha, yeah! This is actually the first Japanese car I've owned since my very first car (1989 Honda Prelude) and, since, I've pretty much only had German cars. My wife is exactly the same about driving my M (or any of my cars, really).. she's always afraid she'll ding it up. I'm the guy who always parks next to a curb or as far away from other cars as he can. I put so much love into my cars and I like them to look nice.

Oh - on a side note - I spent a few more hours on the paint of the car. I don't think I'll ever be able to fix the hood (but I may repaint it), but I was able to correct so many of the scratches that didn't completely go through the clear coat. The car is looking beautiful.