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Brake Disks Look Good After Sitting 2 Weeks

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Llama.

Lurking somewhere up North
Jan 25, 2021
332
187
Who knows?
Hello all

I’ve left my 2021 M3 LR sitting for 2 weeks without driving for 2 weeks. This is the longest it’s gone without driving since purchase.

I came back to find the brake disks looking very clean. See pic. Much better than any car I’ve seen which would have very rusty disks in this time.

When driving on return there was only a brief period of noise from the surface of the brakes as they were applied for the fist couple of times

I know they last a long time due to the regen braking. Perhaps this is a feature of their design. But What’s your experience with this? Are brakes on Tesla’s more resilient to sitting or not being used more generally ?

What’s the longest you’ve lay your cat sit, and what was the state of your disks on return?

Thanks

Llama
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Mine were quite rusty and noisy after a recent 4 week overseas trip. After the first half Mike drive to grab a coffee before heading home they were silent and clean. Overseas this weekend for near two months so will be interesting how they look when I get back - and what the battery state looks like 😬
 
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Not unless they changed the disc material since 2019! Mine are very marked even though in earlier times I made sure to use them firmly from time to time in an effort to keep them decent. I’ve given up now… they still work ok but they ain’t pretty!
 
I went 12 weeks without touching the car on my driveway (busted windscreen if you must know)
Not checked the discs - they are hiding behind the aero wheel covers.
I did wonder if the parking brake might bind but a quick and naughty drive to the local Aldi a few days ago had no problems moving off.
Not tried or needed to use heavy braking but there was no particular noises and it braked fine.
 
The independent who serviced mine said "Drive it with Regen off periodically" so that the brakes got some use.

In olden days I'd drive with feet on both pedals to "clean" the brakes ... Tesla has a dashboard message for that "You are driving with both feet, you twit" (or something like that!), so those oldschool days are gone
 
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There are a couple of horror stories on here of brake discs and pads needing replacement after a very short period of time due to lack of use.


And a bit more info here



I keep regen on low (swmbo on normal) to give them a bit more use although still don’t need brakes very often. I don’t think the low/standard regen is an option on newer vehicles for some reason.
 
VW has put (sealed for life I think) drum brakes on rear of ID ... seems like a good idea. If a child runs out and I jump on the brakes all the braking is going to happen at the front ... if I needed to gently slow down that would use all of them, but pretty much all the time I do that sort of slowing down with regen.
 
Can some moderator correct the spelling in the title of this thread? It's only since being on this forum, and since looking at car related comments on YouTube, that I have discovered how challenging it is for people to differentiate between breaks and brakes. I hold back from mentioning the odd typo but when it's in a thread title it really becomes too much to bear.
 
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Can some moderator correct the spelling in title of this thread? It's only since being on this forum, and since looking at car related comments on YouTube, that I have discovered how challenging it is for people to differentiate between breaks and brakes. I hold back from mentioning the odd typo but when it's in a thread title it really becomes too much to bear.
Along with the grocer's apostrophe that's crept into every pluralisation.
 
I have recently changed our disks due to corrosion. They looked fine from the outside but the MOT man invited me under the car to look at them from the inside. They were horrific.
I have never changed discs due to corrosion before, arguing that they will sort themselves out with use, but that may not happen in an EV. No more difficult than the same job on an ICE car. Hardly any wear so probably original disks and pads. (2014 vintage at 60k miles). I found the pads stuck in the callipers which may be why the inside of hadn’t been doing much. Gave everything a really good clean up before re-assembly.
I still leave the regen on max but the first time I drive the car each month I make a point of doing a couple of big stops.
 
I still leave the regen on max but the first time I drive the car each month I make a point of doing a couple of big stops.

Mobile Service which did my cars recommended turning Regen off for some trips to deliberately exercise the brakes. I said "Can I just drive like a loon instead and go heavy/late on the brakes" but he said that wouldn't be as good ... YMMV
 
I didn’t think you could turn regen off?

Also I’d expect EVs that leverage regen a lot should have systems to automatically clean the brakes by applying them occasionally at low levels during regen. They shouldn’t rely on users to have to schedule ‘maintenance’ to keep them clean.
 
I didn’t think you could turn regen off?

Also I’d expect EVs that leverage regen a lot should have systems to automatically clean the brakes by applying them occasionally at low levels during regen. They shouldn’t rely on users to have to schedule ‘maintenance’ to keep them clean.

Indeed ... you certainly can't turn regen off on a Model 3. Mine is an earlier car that does at least allows a "low regen" setting but in normal use my brakes do suffer from surface rust. Also the calipers need service in countries with salted roads i.e. the UK. Mine had seized pad retaining pins that I was in danger of deforming by hitting so hard in my efforts to shift them ... resorted to a Service Centre job. (It's my opinion that there was little or no brake grease used at the time of original assembly.)

(A very kind mod just corrected the spelling in the thread title ... phew, my anxiety can settle down again now ...!)
 
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