DEEZ11

I got some nice slotted and coated rotors from Adamsrotors- and paired them with a nice Pagid Endurance Pad, much better than OEM for $700 installed.

S8code3

Excellent choices.

sashir

I am considering going with Brembo rotors and pads. However, Brembo does not seem to make pads for the rear. I checked on the Brembo website as well, and could not find rear pads. The only pads I see for the 2013 Q7 are Part #: P85065N
These are listed as Premium Ceramic OE alternative pads.

Does anyone have any experience with these? Would you recommend getting the brembo pads for the fronts, and some other brand for the rears (Pagid / Bosch) to pair with the Brembo rotors? Does it matter if the rears are ceramic or semi-metallic pads?

Thanks for your help!

JonnyRotten

I'm pretty sure that the OEM pads are Bembro.
If you're going with Bembro rotors and pads why don't you just buy them from the dealer or are you trying to find them at a better price than the dealership?

sashir

Yes - I am getting them for a lot cheaper than the dealer, and plan to have them installed at an indy shop. The only problem is that I cannot seem to find Brembo pads for the rear. If I just get the OEM Audi pads for the rear, would that be a problem (being different from the fronts. etc)?

Audi Vader

I have a 2015 Q7 that needs new brakes. I read all the threads on the aftermarket pads and I am not sure which ones to choose. I am looking for the same stopping power as the OEM pads and much less brake dust. I noticed some of the feedback on the Hawk Performance Ceramic pads had significant brake dust. Is that an accurate assessment? Are there better choices? Just to vent - I wish we could buy the same type of pads on the 2017 Q7 because they do not create any brake dust.

JonnyRotten

kristatos you should consider doing the brakes yourself. It's very easy and you can save yourself a bundle. It's also very satisfying doing the work yourself.
I just replaced the front and rear pads on my Q7 without any difficulties.

pdisme

Hey all, just wanted to follow this thread up with a correction to my original price; apparently the dealer was "confused" when they told me $900 for the full brake job; it was going to be more like double that, he's not sure how he got that wrong.....

So, decided to do it myself for $656 out the door with StopTech slotted rotors, Hawk LTS pads, and four new wear sensors. The sensors were $50 of that so if I'd known they can be re-used if not worn through, I'd likely have done the brakes before they wore through LOL. Some may not be but I won't know until I get them off, and will probably break them anyway so figured may as well buy all four corners.

Will follow up with a new thread once I see how the new pads work out.

J. Patterson

That makes sense. I wondered how any dealer could do it for your original quote. Here's a copy and paste from another discussion. It will contain a couple of pointers you might find helpful when you do yours. Those rear caliper bolts are very tight!

"I just put on our second set of pads and replaced rotors for the first time at 101,000 miles. The rotors did have a large edge lip and I had had to jumper the sensor wires due to the lip cutting into the sensor. They performed as well as ever though with 60k on the pads and 101k on the rotors. These were Audi OEM but I went back this time with Centric rotors and pads. The Centrics even came with new pins and anti rattle springs. I bought inexpensive sensors from ECS. Took me 4 or 5 hours in the garage on jack stands but if $1900 is the going price, I saved $1400!!! Wait till I tell my wife 😉
BTW the rears require a 16mm triple square for the caliper bolts and they are TIGHT. You'lll need the vehicle high enough to use a long breaker bar from below or an air operated impact. I only had jackstands and it was TOUGH.
One more pointer. If the parking brake shoes are too snug and prevent removal of the rear rotors, there is a star wheel adjuster at the 3:00 (left) and 9:00 (right) position in the hub. Remove the screw in plug from the rotor near the lug bolt holes with a 5mm triple square and you then can roll the adjuster wheel with a flat tip screwdriver. (Just like old school drum brakes) My rotors came off without having to do this but it was close.
Good luck with those caliper bolts."

pdisme

Thanks!

I got a relatively cheap XZN / triple square bit set on Amazon, and am a bit worried about the rear caliper bolts since the same parts have reviews showing the 12mm bit shearing off. Hopefully the 16mm will stand up to whatever torque the bolts are currently at to get them removed. Factory service manual for my '14 Q7 shows proper torque on the rear bolts is 180 Nm / ~132 ft/lbs so going back on I'm not as worried about.

I was going to call the dealer tomorrow and see if they stock the Audi part for that 16mm bit, T10198, and just do that instead rather than risk stripping things if it does start to self destruct. If not we'll see what happens. T10198 is really just a Snap-On bit, and Snap-On's public part for similar is STSM16SE in case anyone happens across this thread looking for a stronger option.

The service manual also says not to re-use the caliper bolts, so I plan to heed that advice as well even though I see plenty of people re-using them. :-)