3 Signs Your Car Needs a Brake Repair

Your BMW is designed for smooth handling, but you must have the ability to control your speed. That’s where your brakes come in. Good, well-maintained brakes can keep you safe. They allow you the freedom to drive with the knowledge that you can control your speed when you need to. Bad brakes can place you, your passengers, and other drivers in danger. As your BMW dealership, we’d like you to know the signs that you need a brake repair.

3 Signs You Need a Brake Repair at Your BMW Dealership

Screeching Brakes

Your brake pads have a safety feature built into them. It’s a tiny piece of metal hidden underneath the friction material. The brake pads fit into the calipers above your wheel rotors. Each time you apply the brakes, the calipers are pushed against the rotors. This action causes the rotors to stop moving, and your wheels stop. The friction caused when the pads connect with the rotors slowly causes the friction material to wear off.

Once enough of the material has worn off, the tiny piece of metal mentioned above becomes visible. The next time you use your brakes, the metal piece will scratch against the rotor and make a loud screeching sound. When you hear this sound, its time to call our service department so we can replace the brake pads.

Grinding Brakes

A grinding sound is far more serious. If the brake pads aren’t replaced when they start screeching, the friction material will continue to wear off. Once all of the material has gone, the bare metal of the brake pads will connect with the rotors when you use the brakes. The metal brake pads will grind into the rotors, and this will cause serious damage to the surface of the rotor.

For your brakes to work efficiently, the wheel rotors need to be flat and smooth. This provides the perfect surface for the calipers to grip onto. The longer the rotors are being ground down, the worse your braking response time will be. You will also notice a vibration in your brake pedal, which is caused by the uneven rotor surface. We can check the rotors, and if they are not seriously damaged, we can repair them otherwise, we’ll replace them.

Pulling to One Side

It’s a scary feeling if you jam on the brakes and your car pulls to one side. When you apply the brakes, equal hydraulic force is exerted on the two front calipers to cause them to stop the rotors. This occurs because of a fault with one of your calipers. The caliper may be damaged and has jammed open, or there’s a fluid leak from one of the hoses.

A jammed caliper or a lack of brake fluid means the caliper won’t engage. If the caliper doesn’t engage, the wheel rotor it’s attached to won’t stop. Your car will veer towards the side that has a working brake.

If you think you may have a brake problem, call us immediately at Tom Bush BMW

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