SkiingInABlueDream

About 1-2k miles, or a couple months, ago (which would be somewhere around 7-8k total miles for the car), I started noticing a pulsing/vibrating feeling when I brake at high speed. It presents as a pulsing in the brake pedal and/or vibrating on the seat. The car absolutely did not do this when it was new. I specifically remember the car feeling dead-smooth (seat and pedal) under aggressive braking, in stark contrast to the seat vibration from those terrible Pirelli Cinturatos.

Has anyone experienced anything similar with their brakes?

I suspect I have uneven pad material depositing on the rotors. I've always tried to minimize time spent standing on the brake pedal after full stops, but that's a bit harder with an automatic than a manual trans (duh!). I suspect I may also have underestimated the heated-ness of my brakes on my regular routes to work and home, and so using the parking brake probably helped cook the pads onto the rear rotors.

I tried re-bedding the brakes (doing several consecutive, moderately aggressive, 70-10mph decel runs) but it doesnt seem to have helped.

Short of replacing the rotors, any suggestions?

SkiingInABlueDream

Oh also (and at the risk of hijacking my main question), do you use your parking brake on flat parking spots? I don't, anymore, with this car.

I've always been a proponent of using the parking brake in auto trans cars because I hate feeling the car roll against the P brake mechanism when parking on a slope. But I've learned only recently that this car doesn't have a dedicated-brake-shoe P-brake design; the P-brake is the regular rear brakes. Fortunately for me, my home and work parking spaces are level and I can get away without the P-brake. But damn, it's kind of disappointing to do so.

Nyulak

I also have pulsating brakes. i complained several thousand miles ago and was told it wasn't a big issue. It has gotten progressively worse. My lease is due in several months, so I’ll just stick it out And let the dealership worry about it.

volcomic

I've noticed this in mine, but only under the specific condition of braking from highway speeds to zero while in heavy rain, and not having touched the brakes for several minutes prior. It was noticeable enough that I almost thought it was a built in feature to modulate the baking to get the rotor dry or something. I meant to look into it, but forgot all about it until I saw this post. I think I experienced it 3-4 times since I've had the car.

SkiingInABlueDream

It's not a big issue in the sense that the brakes still work. But it makes the car feel like s**t, which is exactly not the reason you buy an Audi (or any peer car). What boggles me is that I drove my previous car (the WRX) for 14 years and the only time I had an issue like this was during an approx. 2 year period when I did a few HPDE events (with an Audi club, interestingly) and was swapping between track and street pads. But with the A4, pulsing develops after less than 1 year. Maybe the OE pads are garbage?

This kind of sounds like ABS pulsing.

volcomic

Definitely not as distinct or as rapid as ABS

vkamnyev

I too had a similar issue that started at about 4k miles. Took it to the dealership on several occasions and was told that my brakes are fine or that they didn’t feel anything. Then one time got in an argument with the service director after he told me that my rotors are warped and I would have to pay out of pocket ($900 for the fronts). They can pound sand for that amount. I now have 20k miles and will just DIY the brakes once the pads are about gone. In the meantime, I keep my distance on the highway and brake lightly.

StKnowhere

Agree it is likely pad deposits. Any mechanic can install new rotors.

For rebedding to have a chance of working, the pads need to get hot enough that you can smell them. The A4 brakes are really good so you need to be really aggressive to get there, long lightly traveled down hill roads are ideal.

HyperS4

Yup, mine have been doing this for quite some time(32k miles on the car now). The rotors are warped, this is the feeling of that. Im pretty sure its my own fault for washing the car after I'd driven it or something like that. However, being that it seems many other people are experiencing this as well, they are more succeptible to warping than usual. Ive never had this happen on any of my prior Audis. Like Nyulak, my lease is up in Sept so Im just going to ride it out and not care. It still stops like it should.

5DoorS4

I have the same symptoms on mine. My dealer says it's pad deposits, and not covered by the warranty. And I agree, it feels like a cheap car characteristic. The cures include new rotors, rotor resurfacing, or re-bedding the pads. Aside from rotor replacement being expensive, there's a good chance the same thing would just happen again. Resurfacing would be fine, but it's not common anymore so you might have a hard time finding a shop that you would trust to do it properly. And I've been unsuccessful with rebedding; it sounds like I need to get more heat into the brakes.