-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Anyone had M3P brake discs replaced?
- Thread starter Subevo
- Start date
That sounds appalling. I'd be more inclined to think "not fit for purpose". I don't do a lot of miles and have the uneven disc issues, but at least once a week I do the 50mph -> 20 mph sharp stopping trick to try to clean them up a bit. Doesn't appear to do too much. It feels like they know there is an issue but don't want to rectify under warranty. I'd be pushing back quite strongly to be honest.
It's still a car at the end of the day and you need to maintain it. Putting air in the tyres, filling the washer bottle, charging the battery are all manual tasks an owner needs to take responsibility for, as is keeping the brakes in reasonable condition. If one hard stop every week isn't doing the trick, do a couple every few days.
Don't be afraid of working the brakes hard now and then to keep them in good condition. They are consumable items designed to wear, not to be left to build up corrosion and ultimately be ineffective when you need to use them.
Presumably you clean your windscreen from time to time when the wipers can't cope with the build up of squashed flies and road debris? It's not much different to that.
Don't be afraid of working the brakes hard now and then to keep them in good condition. They are consumable items designed to wear, not to be left to build up corrosion and ultimately be ineffective when you need to use them.
Presumably you clean your windscreen from time to time when the wipers can't cope with the build up of squashed flies and road debris? It's not much different to that.
spooksman
Member
Hi - what age is your car, and how many miles have you done - might help us figure out if we have incoming...
I am not sure that it is as simple as that.
I have put mine on low regen, braked hard etc etc, once the rear discs have gone I am not sure that you can recover them.
After three months of this my front discs are normal but the rears are still not good.
It is that simple. You just need to use the brakes hard every now and then. But you are right that once they have gone too far they will need replacing or at the very least removed and resurfaced.I am not sure that it is as simple as that.
I have put mine on low regen, braked hard etc etc, once the rear discs have gone I am not sure that you can recover them.
After three months of this my front discs are normal but the rears are still not good.
I consider it a design fault if a car requires a person to drive as a boy racer to stop the breaks getting damaged, the problem should be design out by changing the software to use the breaks rather then regen when required to prevent break damage.
Tend to agree that there's maybe a better design needed for this. I'm sure I saw an earlier thread which suggested Tesla were going back to Brembo on it? It also seems weird that there are different degrees of wear etc on the various discs. My back discs are quite a bit better than the front for example.
For clarity, I'm running through the whole clean-up routine at least once a week, 6 or 7 "hard" stops etc with little apparent effect. I'll try increasing this. I also try to use the brakes using normal running as well; not solely relying on regen braking all the time.
Sorry to hear that.
That cost from tesla will mainly be labour (Plus their mark up). So if you are a dab hand at DIY and are not afraid to have a go, you could get the bits yourself and replace them.
Top of my head (Guessing here),
Vented disks (Generic not branded) could cost around £60? each (£240 total) assuming rears are similar
Pads for a perfomance (Again generic not branded) say £50? per set (£200 total)
Tools needed (but not limited too):
Slim jack
Pucks
Wheel blocks
Torque rench
Hammer
Thin thing for pins
Socket set
Alum/Silicon grease (Lub up pins and pads etc)
Wire brush (Clean pins etc)
Kettle
tea bags
(Not sure what else)
Or try a local garage that would replace them for you at a cheaper cost. They might even be able to grind/sand them to freshen them up as they have not been used much.
Disclaimer: Im not a Mechanic but a professional competent person. Do it at your own risk.
I haven't looked too much into it yet, but when I do need to change my brake pads I'm going to be looking at pads specifically designed for EVs:
nrsbrakes.com
Made from different materials designed for cars that don't use their brakes so much:
NRS-EV Brake Pads for Electric Vehicles | NRS Brakes
NRS Brake pads for electric vehicles use breakthrough technology to meet the needs of high performance and energy efficiency. We offer a wide variety of EV brake pads to suit any need. Browse our catalog today!
nrsbrakes.com
Made from different materials designed for cars that don't use their brakes so much:
I've found that the rotors are the main problem for hybrids/evs rather than the pads - they get corrosion which then wears the pads and/or makes grinding noise when braking.
This becomes more of an issue if the brake calliper sliding pins seize up through lack of use/water ingress/lack of lubrication - which then means the pad doesn't fully touch the rotor, which means temporary corrosion is never cleaned away leading to permanent corrosion etc. etc.
Always good to give the brakes some heavy use every few weeks to keep everything working correctly - a few consecutive 60 to 10 mph heavy braking runs should do the trick.
The brake system is Brembo already. You're not braking hard enough or for long enough if it's not having any effect.
You can't get 'generic' pads for the M3P. The caliper and pad are unique to that car.
You can get better pads than the factory ones which will give more bite and keep the discs cleaner but they are designed for track use so most won't want to go that route.
Brembo are supposed to bringing out disc and pad upgrades for the M3P for road use, but they've been very much delayed.
When driving press the gear-lever up and the car goes into neutral without any Regen. Got for break maintenance, once done flick down to resume drive.
Thank you for your thoughtful insights
Or with a M3P go into track mode and dial down regen.
But actually you don't need to do either, because even with normal regen it's possible to use the brakes hard enough to clean off the discs.
I'm afraid this is just very normal for most drivers regardless of whether they drive an EV or not. The vast majority never brake hard unless there's an emergency.
It's nothing to do with being a 'boy racer', it's about utilising the performance of your car in a way which will help you keep it maintained.
I use the car plenty, I just don’t’ use the brakes enough ! I just find it a bit strange that you have to change your pattern of driving intermittently to try and maintain brakes that you hardly use. I might see if my local garage guy can get Tesla parts and see if he can change them out at lower cost. I believe that Tesla can not refuse to supply parts to a third party in the UK.
