2012 Q5 front brakes
 

Completed my brake job, however I didn't see the sensor connection on the driver's front. Naturally I thought it to be on the passenger, NAPA brakes and sensor look nothing like the oem. Anyone over come this?

There is a sensor at each wheel.


Grey

Thank you, I watched that as well. Just my sensor didn't look like that either.

Are you the first or second owner?

I ask as a common way to temporarily fix a pad sensor light is to cut off the wires and tie them together in a loop, then replace the pads after. If you never pull that loop back up and use factory style pads then the sensors won’t be there.

Take a look at this thread and especially post 8 from member spijun. The attachments should answer any questions you have.

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q5-...e-job-2854325/

Grey

My 2013 Q5 had only one front brake wear sensor on the passenger side. I expected to have one per side.

I just did my wife's front pads. We had an issue with a popping noise when changing from forward to reverse. Apparently Bosch label some 3rd party pads that had a smaller bump on the outer pad that was wedging itself to the caliper until you went in reverse when it popped out. They replaced mine at no charge. The only difference I could see was instead of round mound there was more of a 90 where the mound met the back of the brake pad.

Trying not to hijack the thread, but also not create a duplicate.

I'm looking into doing front & rear pads & rotors on a 2012 Q5.

Can anyone confirm how many sensors are on the vehicle?
If the light has been triggered, can the sensors be re-used or do they need to be replaced? (the light just came on)

The fronts look pretty easy and straight forward (minus knowing how many sensors there are), but what about the rears?
From what little I've found so far, the rear has an electric parking brake. Is this difficult to work with?
Do the rear pistons turn in with a caliper tool like other cars do with the built-in parking brake?

Sorry for all the questions. This is my first time touching a German car and things are a bit different than my normal work (primarily GM).

Thank you,
Matt

Hi Matt, There is only a single sensor on the front. Some pads have the cable built in, others disconnect at the pad. Either way they all plug into the car near caliper. For the side that doesn't have the plug you can just cut the wire off the pad. I do not believe there are sensors on the back, but to turn in the e brake, I think you must remove the e brake motor first. Im sure there are DIYs for that on the forum if you do a search.

My 2011 only had (1) sensor on the driver (left) side (front). Can usually be re-used if the light never came on. If the light came on you should compare to a new one and decide if its a good plan or not.
The rears are easy with VCDS and a battery charger. There are workarounds to do it without but you need some skills. No caliper tool.

Thank you guys! I feel better about the sensors then.

I don't have a VAG-COM device nor currently an OBD2 scan tool to do EPB reset, but I'm looking into some right now. (I know my Subaru has EPB so I'll need it in the future anyways)

Did find this video in reference to the EPB removal for a DIY job.