Brake Wear Indicator - what to expect

[Aronis]

Hi all,

My brakes have plenty of life left, at least 1/2 the pad after 25,000 miles, but I want to plan ahead.

Has anyone had the experience of what to expect when the brakes get down to the point where the sensor goes off? Does a light come on? Does it make a noise (older warnings did)? How much brake life is left after the warning goes off????

I reviewed the brake pad changing technique in the manual, VERY EASY! Front calipers are nice, don't need to remove the caliper! Just two pins, two retaining brakes and like a toaster oven, pop the pads in! All 4 per wheel LOL.

Rears look easy as well.

Mike

[eph94]

Wish I could help you out here but I bypassed the brake wear indicators, so I have no idea what happens. I've changed front pads many times and it is as easy as it looks. Not sure about the rears, because of the integrated parking brake.

Joe

[BBGT2]

Aronis,

After changing countless brake pads in my life on many cars (no RS yet)my experience will allow me to tell you that you should aprox. have about 20% of brake pad left when the warning light illuminates.
Good rule to follow is as soon as you get the yellow warning light it has time to change them, keep in mind that a sensor on a RS6 is on 1 pad and not on all 4 per wheel so do it as soon as it goes off.
I have had warning light s go off due to pad sensors numerous time due to a bad sensor or water conatminating the connector so ALWAYS check before you replace them.


Bajo

[JAXRS6]

My brake warning light went on, and stayed on, around 38K mi. Dealer inspected, determined I was "barely below spec" and replaced pads + rotors (under warranty in US). I don't recall any percentages, but just looking at the pads & rotors, they seemed low but not dangerously so.

[RS6-dreamer]

I did this already with different cars (vw / audi) but not an RS6:

You can bypass the indicator cables and you're brake warning light went off

But the question is, who is the driver? ?

I recommend when you use the brakes very much (fast drive), brakepads with 30à40% comes faster hot than an new or almost new pads. Than chance it.

Choise is yours?

[Benman]

Originally posted by JAXRS6
My brake warning light went on, and stayed on, around 38K mi. Dealer inspected, determined I was "barely below spec" and replaced pads + rotors (under warranty in US). I don't recall any percentages, but just looking at the pads & rotors, they seemed low but not dangerously so.

I'd agree with the low, but not dangerously so.

At the Nationals way back, the light came on in the middle of the event! :bigeyes: A little concerning to say the least. I did notice decreased brake performance, but just took it a little easier (was running @ about 90%, so went down to 80-85%, so still, plenty fun).

When I got back to the dealer (300 some miles later), rotors were still OK, just needed a brake pad change.

Ben

[nene]

I was on the same boat. At the 15K miles service maintenance, I complained about pads squealing, and they mentioned that it was at about 60% good, and very little they could do about it. They tried the bleeding again, and that seemed to fix the squealing a little.

Well, when I went back for the 25K miles service interval, the pads were much more worn. The brake light indicator was on in the dash. The pads squealed a whole lot more in fact. Not so much the case with the new pads. But I drove it for about 500 miles with the light indicator on, and did not find much of an issue other than the squeal.

[Aronis]

thanks for all the input.

I have noticed a bit of vibration on hard braking.....rotor perhaps warped a little...

Mike

[Hy Octane]

On the standard A6 they only have warning sensors on the fronts.. So, if your rears are low there will be no notification given...Not 100% sure if this is the same on the RS6, but it probably is..