scoopman

Today, at just over 20k mi, my S5 SB told me it needed new brake pads.

• Car was just in at the 20k mi service at the dealer 500 mi ago, and they flushed the brake fluid as part of the service, but I assume they don't look at the brakes themselves for wear? My paperwork only showed them replacing the brake fluid.
• So I like driving in a spirited manner, but I haven't ever tracked this car. This seems really early to need new pads. Are others seeing this kind of wear?

heisnuts

Brake pad wear is one of those things that is what it is. It is also one of those items that will vary from driver to driver depending on the conditions the car is driven under. I am coming up on 19K right now and just looked at my pads last week when I swapped out my Winter tires out for the season and the pads still had a lot of meat left to them. I did notice wear on the rotors as both the front and rears have a little lip to them now on the edges, but it is not too severe right now. Did your dealer give you an inspection report during your service? If so (most do), that report should have a measurement of pads listed.

I drive in a spirited manner too, but that might be a different than your definition. My spirited driving consists of open country roads with hairpin turns and 55 mph speed limits. I will usually be coasting into turns and accelerating hard out of them. On normal commutes I will have those quick 0 to 60s getting on freeway on ramps, but I also always drive ahead of myself meaning that when I see traffic slowing up ahead I am off the gas and coasting well in advance so I am not running up on stopped cars quickly and then slamming on the brakes. The same applies for surface streets, if I see a light is turning red far in the distance, I am coasting well in advance of it where sometimes the light will already be turning to green before actually having to come to a full stop for the light.

The other thing I have found is that DAP tends to use the brakes a lot more than I would. In stop and go traffic it will accelerate into stopped traffic ahead and then hit the brakes as it gets close to the stopped car ahead. Repeat this process every day and on long commutes and I could see frequent pad and rotor replacement for this car. I love using DAP on long drives where the speeds vary slightly along the way, but if it is true stop and go, then I usually take over and that requires a lot less braking than with DAP.

This is my first Audi, but as I understand it brake replacement on this car consists of replacing both the pads and rotors in addition to a new sensor since yours has already triggered and is a one time use. The rear brakes on this car have the extra complication of the electric parking brake, which will need to be retracted electronically before new pads can be installed. I would be really interested in hearing what happens in your case, meaning what parts were needed, the cost, and who you had perform the work.

scoopman

I do use DAP frequently, and my environment is pretty urban with plenty of Bay Area traffic, but I've not had this kind of wear from any of my previous vehicles -- including a 2015 S3 with DAP.

I'm taking it to my dealer today ... Replacing rotors and pads and that sensor sounds like an expensive weekend.

scoopman

Turns out my dealer only has car drop-off today, so I didn't leave my car.

But I didn't see the service warning when I drove it this morning (the next time after the warning came on). I'm hypothesizing that this could be a faulty sensor reading -- and that the service warning for this would show up until it was addressed if I really needed brakes.

1 RARE T

If the pads and rotors need to be replaced already, I'd take a trip to Germany and drive it right through the front window of the Engineering offices.

That is absolute bull-****.

If those pads are that soft, it's a consumer rip off.

Again, premium vehicle? What a joke.

Those of you who agree with this scam, I'll take all that extra money you somehow justify wasting.

J. Patterson

It CAN be a faulty sensor connection. The system looks for continuity. If unplugged or just poorly connected you’ll get a warning light. Only sure way to know is pull a wheel and look at pad thickness. The sensor does wear thru pretty early however. At about 3 mm pad remaining.

scoopman

Dealer visit this Wednesday to check the brakes and sensor -- I tend to think its the sensor, maybe with a flaky connection, and not my brakes. Thanks for all the insight!

J. Patterson

Easy now. Pad life depends far more on how a vehicle is used than on the pads or design. I’ve worn a set totally out in 8 track days (about 800 miles) but on the street I easily get 40000 miles out of a set.

JBDinTX

My 2010 S5 had 60,000 miles when I traded it. Brakes were still thick. My 2014 SQ5 had 49,000 when I traded it for my current 2018 RS5. Pads were still thick. If my RS5 needs pads at 20,000 you better believe I will just trade it.

Slides

This car is not easy on the brakes. We've heard this from multiple owners who have had to replace brake pads and even rotors at 20k or fewer miles.