Chawski

I'm probably a few months away from doing pads all around am am having a few questions come up with this car. I'm no stranger to changing out brembo or "fixed caliper" brakes, but these seem a hair different from what I've seen. Typically you can remove a few clips and remove the pads from the top. It seems like on the sq5 rotors, you have to remove the caliper to get the pads out. Is this correct? Rotors are measuring fine so planning on leaving these alone.
Any tips on the job are much appreciated!

vkamnyev

that is accurate - my B9 A4 has a similar setup, where the entire caliper has to be removed in order to access brake pads.

minmet

Looking at to do the brakes for my 17 A4 soon. Do you have the torque specs for the front and rear fixed Caliper mounting bolts? Thanks!

vkamnyev

The fronts are supposed to be torqued at 170 ft lb. I don’t remember on back and don’t have access to the software anymore :/

minmet

Thank you for the info, vkamnyev!

minmet

Did further digging. For any body with B9 A4 and would like to do brakes your self (at least the US models), the front brake uses fixed 4 pot caliper while rear brake uses floating caliper. The torque for front caliper mounting bolt is 200 Nm (147 ft.lb) while the torque for rear caliper mounting bolt is 100 Nm (74 ft.ib) plus 90 degree turn. The rear caliper guide pin bolt is 35 nM (25 ft.ib). The rotor discard limit is 2 mm from new. Basically will need change the rotors with every pads change.

vkamnyev

thanks for confirming! I was way off on the fronts - went by memory and looks like I need some ginkgo biloba

PredFan1

Thanks for posting. Just what I was searching for.

Rustydog

In regards to the rears (2018 SQ5) the electric parking brake needs to be dealt with. I last had them changed by my local independent shop but want to them myself next time. There is not a lot out on you tube I could fund but did see a video where it was suggested to manually unwind the piston. Not a fan of this technique. I've been told the correct way is with the VAG software. Anyone have any comments on this? Is this the correct software? https://www.ross-tech.com/index.html
Thank you

PredFan1

I've not done my rear brakes on my 2017 A4 but have used the Ross Tech VCDS after completing / resetting service inspections on my A4 and VW Jetta. I also used it for modifying programming on my Jetta's computer. I've seen the instructions on how to use it for the electronic parking brake while working the rear brakes on the A4 on their web site. I'm confident in it's capable.
Working on the Electro-Mechanical Parking Brake (EPB) - Ross-Tech Wiki (ross-tech.com)

I was having some problems with a computer recognizing their VCDS after a computer update after previously working flawlessly. They were very responsive and worked with me for a few weeks to try and solve. The computer died and my new device did not have the same problem.