B9 S4 Brake Feel

[Wurzel_Audi]

I’ve had my second hand S4 for about about a month now.

The brake bite / feel seems to be lacking - I was expecting the S brakes to be pack plenty of bite and power. It’s similar to when I had non oems fitted to a previous BMW in the past.

At high speed if standing hard on them they do stop well.

Is this just how the brakes are?

 

[eggraces]

Personally, I'd say yes. I came from a Golf previously and I think the brakes do bite more softly in mine. Definitely stops when you stand on them though!

 

[Spearo]

Is the fluid fresh ? How are the disks ? Good condition or lipped / scored or not ? How much life is in the pads ? If they’re relatively fresh, maybe pop them out and deglaze them with some sandpaper and try re-bedding them... costs nothing just a bit of time ....

 

[KapB]

Ive had my S4 for 2 months now. Im also having a similar experience, feels like the car is very heavy under braking. My rear pads are over 90% worn and the fronts must be around 70%. Given the car is 3.5 years old Ive decided to change to Brembo pads on the front and rear. Hopefully it will improve the bite. The discs look great, no rust, cracks or lips. After 25k it would be surprising if they did need changing.

I will report back on my experience, the car goes in next week.

 

[Wurzel_Audi]

My S4 is on 37k; it had brake fluid a year ago according to the history. No service information on discs and pads - does this normally show on the electronic record?

I’ll go and have a look at the pads and discs. Looking online there is a method to remove the calliper bolts from the carrier but a risk of stripping aluminium threads vs a longer process of removing the whole carrier.

let me know how it goes with the brembos.

 

[KapB]

My S4 is on 37k; it had brake fluid a year ago according to the history. No service information on discs and pads - does this normally show on the electronic record?

I’ll go and have a look at the pads and discs. Looking online there is a method to remove the calliper bolts from the carrier but a risk of stripping aluminium threads vs a longer process of removing the whole carrier.

let me know how it goes with the brembos.

Depends who owned the car? If its full Audi SH then it could have been done or the owner may have done the work elsewhere. Audi do a free health check, let me check it for free.

Worth also checking the MOT history, if it came up as an advisory then it would have been done or due to be. Report back next week

 

[Wurzel_Audi]

Looking at the fronts seems plenty on the pads so assuming they’ve been done some where at some point.

the rears have JH marked on the pads which I think are genuine and discs have lips so assuming original

 

[KapB]

Looking at the fronts seems plenty on the pads so assuming they’ve been done some where at some point.

the rears have JH marked on the pads which I think are genuine and discs have lips so assuming original

Could be worth a fresh set of pads and discs on rears. Again i will feed back.

 

[KapB]

Pads changed, I can report a night and day difference! The garage is a VW/Audi specialist and they advised that my fronts were also 80% worn.

Even though I've only put 20 miles on them I can tell the bite is instant, so it should only get better after the wear-in period.

I would certainly recommend Brembo pads, part numbers from https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/

Qty	Part#	Description
1	10144434A	Brembo Brake Pad (Front)
1	10144429A	Brembo Brake Pad (Rear)