s5blitzer

Hi all. Anyone has any experience on what a dealer would charge for front brake pads on a 2010 Q7? Any alternatives (brake pads brand) I could request instead of the OEM brand?

Is this worth a DIY project? How much time? I guess it depends on what the dealer would be charging.

Thanks all.

ATL2.8Qmmm

The dealer will require you to use OEM parts and also replace the rotors. Audi specifies an absurdly low 2mm wear limit for their rotors and therefore rotors are replaced at every brake pad change. That doubles the price and with OEM prices that gets to be around $300+ extra. So figure at least $550 in parts and 1.4 hrs labor (by the book) @$120/hr = $168+550 = $718 give or take.

I did my 2008 a couple of months ago. I got OEM pads and sensors which ran me around $210. I didn't do the rotors since there were in good shape but slightly below Audi's recommended minimum. So far so good though. No pulsations and no noise. Once I got the brakes (there were OEM in an OEM box) they had PAGID stamped on the metal backing plate. The Brembo logo and Audi part numbers were on the antisqueal plate on top of the backing plate. See the 4th picture on http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-Q7--TD...ads/ES1599133/
If I were to do it over again I would just order Pagid brake pads. They are about $120 (D956P). OEM price is $188 and can be found for around $150 around the web.

I also ordered the OEM disk brake sensors. They're about $20-30/ea but I see you can get aftermarket ones for around $4/ea. I used OEM but again I might try the cheapies the next time.

I would consider it a DIY job but then again I've done brakes on every car I've owned and even on some I haven't owned. These were somewhat different since they are fixed calipers and not floating. But it also made it a little easier since you don't have to fight with a heavy caliper. The trickiest part is getting the retention pins out. Mine were heavily caked and baked with brake dust and wouldn't come out of the hole very easily. After trying many things, I found that using a socket that was small enough to fit through the hole on and extension and a hammer provided enough persuasion to drive it out. A metal punch/drift would work as well. Drowning the area in brake cleaner might have helped as well but I didn't try that. After you get the pin out you can use a pry bar or large flathead screw driver to pry against the pads and the rotor to push the pistons back in. I covered my pry in blue tape to keep it from scratching anything. Keep an eye on the brake level in the resevoir under the hood (under a cover on the drivers side near the firewall) so that the fluid doesn't spill over. Remove some fluid if it gets near the top. Put the new pads in, put the new sensors on, reassemble in reverse order and voila.

s5blitzer

Thank you! I did not realize that the rotors will most likely be part of the costs of replacing the pads. I thought rotors that lasted longer than that.

DUTCH VanAtlanta

They do. Audi just likes to pimp parts.

chickdr

We were quoted $800 by our dealer for the brakes(I think that was just for new pads on all four wheels). I can't believe it would only be $550 in parts for 4 rotors and pads and sensors for all four wheels. This was at 25k miles. I bought ceramic pads and new sensors on Ebay and had them installed at an indie shop. Total cost was under $400. It sounds like it is a pretty easy DIY but I didn't feel like messing with it. I am at 53k now and the car is still braking fine with the original rotors. I am sure it is about due for a full replacement. I highly recommend ceramic pads if you like clean wheels.