Brakes are terrible

[Carts850]

Not sure how recently this has been the case but the brakes on our M3 seem to have become absolutely useless. To shave any speed off it’s like trying to get the brake pedal all the way to the floor and hoping for the best.
Sure they don’t get used a whole lot, but our other car is a 2.5/ 3 ton ICE so we are used to normal brakes.
It can’t have always been like this.
Booked a service appt (no option for mobile - gutted) at Glasgow in a week - only brakes I guess, nothing urgent!!
Did a search but nothing similar found.
Anyone else?
Dec 2021 M3 LR

 

[GRiLLA]

What do the discs look like? I know that some folks have had lots of corrosion through barely using them at all, which effects their performance. Mine have always stayed quite shiny, but I do live up a hill.

 

[Whyone]

Not sure how recently this has been the case but the brakes on our M3 seem to have become absolutely useless. To shave any speed off it’s like trying to get the brake pedal all the way to the floor and hoping for the best.
.....
It can’t have always been like this.

Certainly not usual and the car shouldn't be used with brakes in that condition.

Do you routinely make a point of using the brakes (I suspect not from your comments)?

At least one a week I make a point of braking hard (straight road, nothing behind me) to keep the pads and especially the disks clean.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

Brakes feel dreadful if regen is limited because of a 100% charge or it being very cold. I’m not sure they actually are, but they do take a lot of application to match the stopping power with regen. It couldn’t be this could it? I’m not sure I’d even really notice a poor pedal feel the amount of regen that normally happens.

If it’s not, then I hope you get it sorted quickly.

 

[Carts850]

Thanks for the swift replies. Will do some disc checks and a few hard braking checks.

 

[Carts850]

No, I’ve had some comedy close calls when I’ve charged to 100%!! But this is with decent regen but the occasional need to anchor quicker.
Errant child or animal etc

 

[Zilla91]

The brakes are crap. I also can’t seem to get the rust off the disks no matter how much I try by doing a load of emergency stops back-to-back.

 

[Adopado]

Not sure how recently this has been the case but the brakes on our M3 seem to have become absolutely useless. To shave any speed off it’s like trying to get the brake pedal all the way to the floor and hoping for the best.
Sure they don’t get used a whole lot, but our other car is a 2.5/ 3 ton ICE so we are used to normal brakes.
It can’t have always been like this.
Booked a service appt (no option for mobile - gutted) at Glasgow in a week - only brakes I guess, nothing urgent!!
Did a search but nothing similar found.
Anyone else?
Dec 2021 M3 LR

Tesla recommend a brake service annually for cars driven on salted roads. They need to be well greased to ensure that the pads continue to move freely. It's a real challenge to keep EV brakes in good nick in our area ... the rustiest brakes I have ever seen were on a BMW i3 parked at the local garage I sometimes use. Presumably it was going in for some brake work!

From the manual:

"Brakes must be periodically inspected visually by removing the tire and wheel. For detailed specifications and service limits for rotors and brake pads, see Subsystems on page 196. Additionally, Tesla recommends cleaning and lubricating the brake calipers every year or 12,500 miles (20,000 km) if in an area where roads are salted during winter months."

 

[WannabeOwner]

no matter how much I try by doing a load of emergency stops back-to-back

The independent who services mine said to disable regen for a journey once or twice a month (that was his suggestion when I asked if "emergency stop" was the best brake-cleaning method).

I have a feeling that Regen can't be turned off any more on recent cars though?

 

[Zilla91]

I have a feeling that Regen can't be turned off any more on recent cars though?

Nope you can’t except if you have track mode enabled and set up to not use regen

 

[Adopado]

The independent who services mine said to disable regen for a journey once or twice a month (that was his suggestion when I asked if "emergency stop" was the best brake-cleaning method).

I have a feeling that Regen can't be turned off any more on recent cars though?

My older SR+ still allows me to run with lower level regen level (not fully turned off) which I've been doing to try and keep the discs clean ... it hasn't really made much difference as far as I can see ... and that's after leaving it in that setting for months ... but I still do it. (BTW if anyone is interested it makes negligible difference to overall efficiency, if any at at all.) Maybe next year I will consider getting the discs skimmed if I decide I want to see them pristine again! (None of this was enough to have an impact on passing an MOT)

 

[Carts850]

Just went to Kwikfit to have them at least eyeball the discs/ pads as a mate of mine thinks they’re shot.
“We aren’t allowed to touch brakes on hybrids”
I told him it wasn’t a hybrid.
“We aren’t allowed to touch brakes on electric cars”
So looks like it needs to go a dealer. It’s a salary sacrifice car lease so I’m not too worried re cost, but I’d like to be able to stop quicker than a fully laden 747.

 

[Jason71]

Just went to Kwikfit to have them at least eyeball the discs/ pads as a mate of mine thinks they’re shot.
“We aren’t allowed to touch brakes on hybrids”
I told him it wasn’t a hybrid.
“We aren’t allowed to touch brakes on electric cars”
So looks like it needs to go a dealer. It’s a salary sacrifice car lease so I’m not too worried re cost, but I’d like to be able to stop quicker than a fully laden 747.

One thing to be aware of is that if you drive using regen only then suddenly you have an emergency braking situation your discs can be stone cold and soaking wet not having been used. I nearly had an accident about 3 weeks into Tesla ownership due to not appreciating this.

 

[pow216]

One thing to be aware of is that if you drive using regen only then suddenly you have an emergency braking situation your discs can be stone cold and soaking wet not having been used. I nearly had an accident about 3 weeks into Tesla ownership due to not appreciating this.

I'm sure I read model 3 has disc drying function so there should never be a case of needing to emergency stop on wet discs.

 

[MountainPass]

Unfortunately with the reduced brake use of an EV, this is going to be a problem for most. The main reason for OP's lack of deceleration would be stock brake pads that have very little bite. They are designed for quiet and dust-free operation, but they are not exactly good at slowing the car down without a ton of brake pressure. There are some less aggressive, street-oriented brake pads available that will provide more bite without too much compromise in the noise and dust department.

 

[Jason71]

I'm sure I read model 3 has disc drying function so there should never be a case of needing to emergency stop on wet discs.

I have read the same. supposedly it minutely applies the brakes to skim off the water from the disc which I am sure is better than nothing but I doubt it dries them completely or adds any heat since that would be a massive waste of energy. So while it may be better than nothing, in my experience, it is no substitute for properly warmed up brakes.

 

[Carts850]

I really hardly use the brakes on the other car (admittedly an auto) and would go 100 miles on a motorway without touching them but it would still stop (quick) if needed. Maybe as per above they’re a bit weak, but I’m sure they’ve got a lot worse. Maybe I’ve goosed them with lack of use.
Shall report back.

 

[LoudMusic]

Not sure how recently this has been the case but the brakes on our M3 seem to have become absolutely useless. To shave any speed off it’s like trying to get the brake pedal all the way to the floor and hoping for the best.
Sure they don’t get used a whole lot, but our other car is a 2.5/ 3 ton ICE so we are used to normal brakes.
It can’t have always been like this.
Booked a service appt (no option for mobile - gutted) at Glasgow in a week - only brakes I guess, nothing urgent!!
Did a search but nothing similar found.
Anyone else?
Dec 2021 M3 LR

That sounds like low brake hydraulic fluid. Happened in basically every car I've ever owned.

 

[unhyphy]

Nope you can’t except if you have track mode enabled and set up to not use regen

You can turn regen completely off by using Brake burnishing mode in the service menu. I used this to bed my brakes when I first took delivery of my M3.

 

[M1tch]

I'm sure I read model 3 has disc drying function so there should never be a case of needing to emergency stop on wet discs.

Not seen anything on this?

Some absolute moron decided to randomly stop in the outside lane of a dual carriageway the other week and newly caused a 4 car pile up. Roads were under a mm or so of water and my car just didn’t respond to hitting the brakes. It took a few seconds to shift the water and the ABD kicked in - stopping me just intime. My last car did have disc brake massaging, my alloys were black after a long drive in the rain and the MPG was notably lower so doubt it’s a thing on an EV.