JSay64

Need some advice from my "Audi Family". I have a 2014 RS5 with around 8000 miles. Obviously the car was not driven much by the previous owner. I have started driving it regularly now and noticed a brake wobble. Took the car into my dealer and they said I need a complete brake job. Pads are OK, but rotors need to be replaced because the car sat around without being driven. They are saying that when cars sit around rust gets on the rotors and can cause problems (warping?). Car was garaged at all times.
So now I'm faced with the prospect of spending $5K for a brake job on a car with only 8000 miles on it.
Am I screwed or what?
Thoughts appreciated!
Many thanks!

superswiss

Break shudder/wobble is actually a known issue on some RS5. It seems that OEM pads are prone to leave behind deposits that then cause brake shudder. It seems to mostly affect cars that are not driven hard, so the brakes don't get their regular workout.

Audi now offers two different pads for the RS5. One is for more street driving and the other one for aggressive driving. However, it seems some folks are still having issues even with the more street oriented pads.

You can try to push the issue with AoA and your dealer, but your brakes are out of warranty now. Your other option is going aftermarket. You can get good aftermarket rotors and pads plus installation at a good indy shop for less than $2000. I myself have gone aftermarket. Not because I had issues with the OEM brakes, I actually didn't at all, but because I wanted a bit of an upgrade for the canyons.

If your rear rotors also need replacement, then the cost is higher of course, but I would first do the fronts and then see how it is.

I can highly recommend the ECS tru-float wave rotors and Hawk HPS pads. They are a nice improvement over OEM for less money. ECS has matching rear rotors, too, if you do need them.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-part...281ecs02a02kt/

JSay64

Thanks superswiss, much appreciated!

eric strauss

Same thing happened to me at about 12,000 miles on my 2015 RS5. Audi replaced the front pads and rotors under warrantee. This is a known problem, so try to negotiate with the dealer. I am at 30K now and will soon do rotors and pads all-around and will go the ECS route...

Mine failed big time on a three day crush through the canyons of Central California. Middle of Day two and I was not going to give up the fun, so I learned a lot about using as little brake as possible as the problem exaggerated as the rotors heated up... If I kept them cool, I had at least one hard stop if I needed it.

Good luck as it feels pretty bad,
Eric

SloopJohnB@mac.com

brake applications. You might try bedding in the brake pads...bring the car up to 60-70mph and brake strongly but short of ABS to 30mph. Do this half a dozen times allowing a few miles between applications to cool the brakes, then bring it up to 80-90mph and hard brake down to 30mph a few times, allow cooling between applications. Needles to say you have to find a clear road to do this. When you're done don't just bring the car home and set the parking brake; that will leave deposits on the rear rotors.

JSay64

From my perspective, this is a major engineering design flaw and something that Audi should be covering. I have tried to get the dealer's help but they say that because the car is out of warranty and a 2014 model, they will not cover the cost of give me a break. The car is like new 9000 miles, always garaged. The problem is its a model year 2014.
Any recommendations out there about who I might write a letter to at Audi to seek some help with this? Seems crazy that Audi wouldn't stand behind a car of this quality and cost. It is supposed to represent the top end of Audi performance, no? Dealer is quoting around $5000 for parts and labor. The question remains, what is to prevent the same thing from happening again with new pads and rotors. No one seems to have a plausible explanation for why this occurs. Even if there was some small amount of rust residue on the rotors or pads (I don't think there is), the shudder seems to indicate something more severe (i.e. warped rotors). Very disappointing indeed!

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Years ago Saab made a set øf aluminum blocks that were grooved on the sides...you put some emery cloth around the blocks and locked the cloth on the block with the U–clip the held the brake pads or the block in place. Then you used the engine to turn the wheels/rotors (lock the rotor to the hub with the wheel off using wheel bolts and washer stack) and applied the brake to surface/deglaze the rotor. It was easy øn the fronts because the emergency brake worked the front caliper!...you could even disconnect the e-brake cable and actuate the emergency brake/caliper by hand while it was turning.

I would still try the old pad bedding technique first.....run the car up to 60–70 mph and use the brakes moderately hard to 30-40...do this 4 or five times and allow the rotors tø cool by cruising for a couple miles, run it up to 90 and brake hard to 40...chances are this will remove any crud or glaze on the pads and rotors. Don't part it with the electric brake on if you can figure out how...generally you have to stop the car in Drive and turn off the motor but the thing might automatically lock when you open the driver's door. Chock the wheels if you park it with the parking brake off....

Newt190

I just purchased a CPO RS5 this week. As part of the CPO certification, the front brakes were rebuilt - car has 23,500 miles. I saw the invoice - and the dealer invoice price was about $2800. My old RS4 had a quote for front brakes of $2500. I think that the $5000 number is too high...

JSay64

Not sure my last post made it, but thanks Sloopjohn for the advice and interesting story about the Saab! I tried bedding the pads a few times but unfortunately there was no change. Hard to believe the shudder is the result of pad residue or rust, and even harder to believe Audi engineers missed this badly. Still looking for any advice from anyone about how I might get Audi to account for their engineering mistake on an otherwise flawless car.

superswiss

I'm more and more convinced that there is no design flaw in the RS5 brakes. At one point it was discovered that the rotors were getting damaged while shipped to the factory, but that should have been address by now. I think the remaining issues are to be attributed to certain driving styles. The brakes on the RS5 were designed to get hot and to be used aggressively. Pad material is properly transferred to the rotors when the brakes get some heat in them, but if the brakes never get hot, the pad layer gets scrubbed off the rotors and then it's pads against bare metal.

Audi has responded to this issue by offering two different sets of pads. One is designed for more daily street driving and the other one is for street performance driving.

Since you bought this car used, there is really no telling how the brakes have been treated and if they were ever bedded in properly, so it's understandable that Audi won't warranty them. You are probably best off by replacing them with another set of OEM parts (pick the pads that fit your driving style) or go aftermarket with something that fits your driving style.

I'm of this opinion, because I drove my RS5 hard for the last 55k miles. I did European Delivery, tooling around the German Autobahn at 155+mph speeds for 4 weeks and even taking it to the Nurburgring. Lots of highspeed braking and never had any issues with the brakes. The original pads were consumed at 24k miles, so I went with an aftermarket setup to upgrade things a little bit for my canyon carving and get a more linear brake application. The current pads have already outlasted the original pads.

Brakes are consumables and they need to be matched to the driving style. Every car manufacturer has to compromise on the brakes as they don't really know how the cars get driven. Audi assumed that most who buy an RS5 take it to the track or regularly drive at least in a dynamic fashion. Turns out that in North America, many use the car to commute in stop&go traffic from and to work. Not exactly what it was designed for.