I just took my 2003 G35 in for service at 76k miles and the dealer said that I am down to 2mm on the front pads and thus I need to replace the pads and rotors. I do not hear any grinding sounds or abnormal squeaking (the brakes always seem to squeal every once in a while but it’s not constant), and I looked at the rotors and do not see any obvious evidence of a gouge or anything that would indicate I am getting metal to metal contact on the rotor. The dealer also quoted me at $525 to replace everything, so I’ve elected to do it myself with a couple of buddies and we’re all pretty good with tools. This decision has led to a few questions that I’m hoping the friendly people on this forum can answer.
1) At what point do rotors need to be replaced vs. turned? I’ve had the car for 40k miles and the rotors have not been replaced yet as far as I can tell.
2) If I do need new rotors, will any rotor that fits the car work or do I need to get OEM parts? I have heard that not getting OEM carries a greater risk of warping, but I’ve also heard it doesn’t matter.
3) If there is anyone who has changed these rotors on this car, is there anything specific I should watch out for or will a Haynes manual suffice?
4) I have seen reviews that this car can tear through brakes if you have the standard non-Brembo brakes on it, which I do. How true is this, and should I consider changing the standard rotors out for the Brembos?
Sorry for the long post, but I’m looking forward to hearing the feedback. Thanks in advance!!
If the rotors are NOT warped or scared they should be fine.
Find a local independent mechanic. Should be cheaper and hopefully they won’t be trying to ADD parts. Many dealers and chains the mechanics work on commission. So the more parts they can sell the higher their wage.
1, 2. If it were me, I’d replace the rotors with ones from Autozone/etc. At a minimum, I’d turn them, but new ones are typically not very expensive, and I doubt there’s any higher incidence of warping with those vs. OE. Important - make sure you correctly tighten the lug nuts with a torque wrench to spec. Warping sometimes results from incorrect torqueing.
3. don’t know
4. unless you’re a racer, don’t worry about the Brembos. You’ve proven that your driving doesn’t 'tear through the brakes.'
I would get high quality pads. You’ll be able to see for yourself how much pad material is left. You might want to do this before buying anything.
Don’t turn the rotors. Either leave them alone or install new ones. Turning makes them too thin and they will warp very quickly.
I would not spend the money for Brembos. I might consider OEM rotors, however. Same with the pads. Others will differ, but I’ve never had a complaint using OEM brake parts (except for the price).
Thanks for the feedback everyone! I’m impressed with the response time and I will definitely visit more often.
I did look at the autozone web site - they have new ones for $70 each, not as cheap as I had hoped (the ones for my ES were about $30). Tire Rack had Brembo disks for a little more ($86), but they’re back-ordered. Oh, well…
Thanks for the tip Texases. I’ll check out both those and shop around, but at least I have a baseline.