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Unfortunately there are very little after market parts for the S8. OEM Rotors alone are $1100. And if you can find after-market ones they are in most cases more costly. S8 rear rotors have great availability but the fronts are rare.
If your pads are near the end of their life they will have worn down past the chamfer which causes the squealing. My pads are very worn and they squeal like crazy. I have new pads and hope to install them this weekend. I tried to do it Monday morning but found I don't own a 9mm allen. All my sets go from 8 to 10. Couldn't find one in the local parts stores either so I ordered one.
Audi front rotors for the D4 are a quasi two piece design that is only available from dealers. I don't know all the fitments across the different sizes for D4, but definitely applies to the S8 400mm ones. Apparently patented and hence no other availability. Used by BMW and Audi, and some kind of license is held by the two. Hence no other availability, and the "why."
Adams are machined OE's, and I believe so are Disc Italia's. While Disc Italia looks like a supplier in how they position themselves, I think they are a combination of an aftermarket machiner of blanks (here dealer OE) and branded pads probably sourced from an underlying manufacturer.
Net for S8 fronts, it is either dealer OE or a couple of cosmetically machined dealer blank alternatives. Front S8 rotors are $274 each from audiusaparts as one online dealer, and probably similar from a couple of others. List is $330 as a reference point. Classic example BTW of why ECS is NOT a great source for dealer OE parts. Almost invariably you get a better price from an online dealer; counterintuitive perhaps to those who are programmed to think dealer is always most expensive source.
My dealer has told me that I will need a brake job soon. I have only had the car a year, purchased CPO. They told me $2,500 for the fronts. Seems egregious. Thinking about upgrading to drilled or slotted rotors. Any suggestions on a brake kit?
How many miles since you purchased the CPO car.? Had an issue with my Q7 needing brakes 9,000 miles after the CPO certification. Dealer agreed that I didn't burn through the pads that quickly and they should have been replaced when the certification was done. I got 60k miles out of the set they installed.
I purchased 4 Zimmerman rotors and a set of 4 OEM pads with wear cables online for about $600 shipped (audionlineaparts.com, an AW sponsor). My dealer's service dept. will happily install my parts for $550 both axles. Total investment $1150 for all 4 wheels. Albeit I have a C7 A6 but I would imagine sourcing your own rotors and pads including labor for an S8 wouldn't be significantly more expensive - certainly not 4-5 times more.
ha...you would think wouldnt you? well 2 front s8 rotors alone are around $700 shipped lol...then oem pads and rear rotors plus deal install would run closer to $2k.
either way i dont understand why no one makes just a solid 1 piece front rotor for the s8...i mean with the s6 s7 s8 all using it there is definitely a premium market for it. i dont autocross or track my s8 lol so i dont need to save 1 lb per corner for that semi 2 piece oem rotor or the slight heat dissipation benefits of the those rotors.
however the oem rotors seem to last a decent amount so ill be changing only pads for a while...at 25k miles i barely have any grooves probably due to the less aggressive ceramic pads i put on since 5k miles...but looks like the rotors could go a far as 100k miles for me as i mostly drive highway.
...either way i dont understand why no one makes just a solid 1 piece front rotor for the s8...i mean with the s6 s7 s8 all using it there is definitely a premium market for it. i dont autocross or track my s8 lol so i dont need to save 1 lb per corner for that semi 2 piece oem rotor or the slight heat dissipation benefits of the those rotors. ...
They probably will eventually, though it can take 5 years for the aftermarket guys to see enough markst demand as the cars age to where it makes sense. Thus, even the pads were slow to become available, and really only have been in the past year or so. Having said that, I wouldn't use them personally. The weight delta will be a lot more than a pound. A guess is closer to 10 per corner, all unsprung weight. Folks pay big bucks for forged aftermarket wheels to take that kind of weight out per corner, probably more than 10x the delta in the rotor cost.
For example, the D3 S8/W12'a at 380mm in a conventional rotor already weighed 39 pounds new. A guess is at 400mm it might be like 45 pounds in a conventional rotor, and a guess is the D4 ones are in the 35 pound range. Also insidious is a lot of the reason the mediocre longevity of the front suspensions on all of the D bodies has to do with the way high porker weight to all this stuff. The underlying suspension design originates from a late 90's A4 down at like 3500 pounds--back when they first shifted to aluminum arms. Those had entire wheels w/ tires that weighed in at like 40 pounds, and maybe a 20 pound rotor. Even with the light weight rotors these are probably 70% more weight per corner on a vehicle that weighs another thousand pounds plus. Honestly the parts are not beefed up remotely like that weight increase over the early late 90's designs. Thus, I don't even get into the debates about how much unsprung weight "costs" performance wise for rotating mass when the suspension can barely deal with the weight now as for as reasonable longevity.
I was told that worn pads have a sensor that trips a light in the dash (front and rear). Is that not accurate?
Yes, correct. Sensor is sacrificial, so any that have thrown have to be replaced. Sometimes folks change out pads early (noise, different pad preferences, etc.) or do both front and rear at same time. In those scenarios existing still good sensors can be reinstalled.
Alos on theme of S8 and other models with the 400mm brake set up, there are also some pricy special anti vibration backing pads that go between the pads and the 6 pistons each front caliper. Another $2-300 depending how close to dealer list you pay. Some DIY'ers report success just peeling carefully off old pads and applying to new. Yet another factor that drives up brake jobs on these, maybe more so at dealers who likely just change them out routinely with any front pad replacement.
ha...you would think wouldnt you? well 2 front s8 rotors alone are around $700 shipped lol...then oem pads and rear rotors plus deal install would run closer to $2k.
$2K for all four rotors and pads installed is still a lot less less costly than the $2500 for fronts only quoted by the OP's dealer.
$2K for all four rotors and pads installed is still a lot less less costly than the $2500 for fronts only quoted by the OP's dealer.
Well yeah true but I'm just guessing what dealers would charge... Could very well be the 2500 for fronts.
Also the guy from brake world that sold me the disc Italia told me I didn't have to use those little backing pads on each piston... So I didn't and the is no problems at all.... Not really any noise or vibrations. I'm hoping it will be ok without those things... But I think it is as other brembo bbks don't use them.
10-25-2017, 07:08 AM
