2006 Brake Sounds...Normal?

[browad]

Greetings all, I am a recent and proud owner of a 2006 LT, and have some brake related sounds that I am wondering about.

1) There is a mechanical sound, similar to servos in fact, that I hear when I use the brakes, especially when it is quiet. Is that the...servo actuator I hear? :histerica Ye gads, I kill me.

2) Incredibly annoying brake grinding sound from rear brakes. Oh my god. This was a reason I traded in my HD, cause I couldn't seem to shake it when it showed up. Sprayed some brake cleaner, as the dealer advised when I asked about the sound. Glory be, it came back pretty quick. Is this the cursed beemer brake? It is embarrassing. I don't need a loud exhaust to get noticed now.

Seriously though, I did a search for brake sounds and such, and got bowled over by the amount of threads. If someone would be good enough to point me to the best of the bunch, I would be grateful.

Cheers,

[astuber]

1) There is a mechanical sound, similar to servos in fact, that I hear when I use the brakes, especially when it is quiet. Is that the...servo actuator I hear? :histerica Ye gads, I kill me.

2) Incredibly annoying brake grinding sound from rear brakes. Oh my god. This was a reason I traded in my HD, cause I couldn't seem to shake it when it showed up. Sprayed some brake cleaner, as the dealer advised when I asked about the sound. Glory be, it came back pretty quick. Is this the cursed beemer brake? It is embarrassing. I don't need a loud exhaust to get noticed now.

Seriously though, I did a search for brake sounds and such, and got bowled over by the amount of threads. If someone would be good enough to point me to the best of the bunch, I would be grateful.

Cheers,

You can turn on the key but not start the engine to see if the noise is coming from the ABS servo unit. You should be able to hear the pump running, at least you can on my '03.

As you said, there is a LOT of information on brake noise. Many people have replaced the stock BMW pads with EBC (or others) pads. I am running the EBC pads on the front and the stock BMW pads on the rear. One thing that works for me to eliminate/reduce the noise from the rear is to find an open stretch of road with no traffic and to accelerate to 50-60 MPH and use only the rear brake lever to stop. [this will also apply the front brake but at a reduced level] I repeat this several times and the noise goes away for at least a while. The noise seems to be caused by glazing of the brake pads and this seems to be an effective method of deglazing the rear pads. HTH

[hschisler]

I have the EBC pads on the rear. Unlike some -- who got immediate relief after they were installed -- my rear brakes continued to squeal for a couple of weeks. It's been a long time now without a peep from them.

[browad]

Not to belabor the point, but I just cruised home from work, and oh my god. It sounded horrible. I'll forget just how bad it is up until I pull to the first stop sign.

Magic 8-Ball says: I see a brake pad change in your future. Maybe an HID upgrade as well.

[UncleRock]

At the first Ohio tech session, Medina Mike was going to look into if the ridge left by the rotor (on the pad) was causing harmonic distortion Thus the squelch you hear.
Haven't heard the results yet
Rock

[Serebigal]

Same problem. Finally disappeared after 13K miles. Permanent de-glazing I hope! Did I mention front-end wooble?

AL

[graydude]

My rear brakes squeal like a nobodys business on my 06. I know many have shifted over to the EBC and I want to as well but I know there have been several part numbers floating around recently. For those of you that had success with the EBC, which is the correct part number?

Thanks, Todd/graydude

[astuber]

The EBC catalog show the part number for the rear brake pads to be FA304 (standard organic) and FA304HH (sintered).

The part number for the front is FA294HH (sintered only) which is be replaced by FA407HH (includes the backside clip) when the stock of the FA294HH is depleted.

[zippy_gg]

The EBC catalog show the part number for the rear brake pads to be FA304 (standard organic) and FA304HH (sintered).

The part number for the front is FA294HH (sintered only) which is be replaced by FA407HH (includes the backside clip) when the stock of the FA294HH is depleted.I noticed a drastic noise improvement (as in LESS NOISE) after replacing the rear EBC Sintered pads with the EBC organic. No noticeable braking performance loss. And they are much cheaper too!!!
I also use sintered EBC pads in the front. Quite happy with them.

[cfell]

Loud Brakes Save Lives!... naa.. I noticed if I wash my bike too well, especially the rotor it will sing like a "racked" canary.

If I keep away from cleaning the rotor the noise rarely occurs.. Guess she likes to play dirty....

[Reid]

I had my rotor replaced (warranty) because it was loose in the mounts and couldn't be tightened. Clanked like a Sherman Tank when I ran over anything similar to a bump in the road at low speeds.