Warning! New Brake Pads and Discs after 13,000 miles

[Kib336]

Just visited service centre after noise coming from brakes.
Model 3 performance 1 year old 13000 miles with full regen brake setting on.

Needs new pads and discs at £800+

This is my 4th EV and first brake replacement so a bit shocked.

Just a warning to others to switch full regen off from time to time

 

[webbah]

Just visited service centre after noise coming from brakes.
Model 3 performance 1 year old 13000 miles with full regen brake setting on.

Needs new pads and discs at £800+

This is my 4th EV and first brake replacement so a bit shocked.

Just a warning to others to switch full regen off from time to time

That's a bit suprising that it requires both pads and discs. However, I do switch to low regen during rainy or snowing conditions to keep the pads and discs clean and prevent squeaking. I'd love to know why they claim they need to replace them though. Was there so much grime buildup on the pads including some grit that then created deep grooves in the discs? Were the discs warped? Warping typically only happens with extreme heat and such. Sounds off to me.

 

[Sparkeur]

I'm a bit confused. I thought full regen meant the brakes got less use rather than more. In a lower regen setting, I would see the opposite happening - more brake wear.

 

[Kib336]

I'm a bit confused. I thought full regen meant the brakes got less use rather than more. In a lower regen setting, I would see the opposite happening - more brake wear.

That’s why they are warped - not been used

I’ve probably driven the car in full regen for weeks on end without touching the brakes without realising this would cause an issue

I also live by the sea.

 

[MadScientist]

Interesting, but I’m also struggling to understand the warping aspect which suggests extreme conditions. I find I do you use the brakes occationally when the low regen warning is on.

 

[m3p_uk]

Just visited service centre after noise coming from brakes.
Model 3 performance 1 year old 13000 miles with full regen brake setting on.

Needs new pads and discs at £800+

This is my 4th EV and first brake replacement so a bit shocked.

Just a warning to others to switch full regen off from time to time

Sounds like they are having you on tbh. I'd ask to see what the pads and discs look like. The discs shouldn't need changing even after track use for a number more miles. With the pads you should get a warning message when they need to be changed!

 

[Jeeves]

Never have I had a car that needed those things replacing in so few miles, and I’ve driven a few like they were stolen.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

Seems a bit of a waste of a M3P to be driven such that the brakes were never needed

But like others, it sounds odd and there is a question about fit for purpose as the car is designed to be light on brakes under normal driving so they should deal with it some how in the design. But I suspect its not that at all as we'd also hear about it a lot more if it was a design problem.

 

[Adopado]

That’s why they are warped - not been used

I’ve probably driven the car in full regen for weeks on end without touching the brakes without realising this would cause an issue

I also live by the sea.

Discs definitely don't warp through lack of use. You could certainly have some surface pitting and corrosion, exacerbated by living close the sea.

 

[rincewind]

I have an M3P with 11k miles on it. I realised early on that the brakes need to be used regularly - so I give them some hard use reasonably often. On a quick visual inspection, the discs are absolutely fine with a smooth surface and no lip. Brakes are like any other mechanical part on a car, without use they are likely to give problems.

 

[Sparkeur]

I have an M3P with 11k miles on it. I realised early on that the brakes need to be used regularly - so I give them some hard use reasonably often. On a quick visual inspection, the discs are absolutely fine with a smooth surface and no lip. Brakes are like any other mechanical part on a car, without use they are likely to give problems.

I drive with 'full-fat' regen but even still, I often have to lightly apply the brakes at the end of slowing down and I think they also get applied for a full stop (?). So I doubt that I'll ever build up rust on the disc. I don't expect them to last forever but I think it's accepted their life will be far longer than normally used brakes. Maybe living next to the sea does have an impact but it seems a bit worrying if all four pads and discs have to be replaced after one year.

 

[webbah]

I normally use high regen and rust does start to buildup. So I switch to low regen or am concious to do some more aggressive stops to seat the pads and clean the discs ocassionally when on nice open country roads. That said, there is nothing special about the P3D brakes or standard Model 3 brakes versus other cars. These are Brembos. So any competant shop can look at them and give you a second opinion. I personally do NOT use Tesla for my brake lubrication and cleaning needs which I do once every 2 years per the recommended guidelines for people that live in climates with weather conditions like ours in Switzerland, Norway, etc that deal with salting and grit on the roads during winter. No issue for them to clean and lube the caliper pins, check pads, etc.

To me the warping without using the brakes is a bunch of BS. Warping happens with extreme use with heat and cold rapid changes.

 

[webbah]

Here is a good practice to seat the pads when new, or if you start to hear any noise like squeaking:

1) Find a nice open road without traffic (or speed cameras) and do this in decent weather vs during a rainy or foggy day with mist
2) Switch on low regen
3) Accelerate to 80-90 Kmh (50-60 Mph or so) and then apply firm and consistent braking down to 10 Kmh. Do not vary the pressure and be firm enough to start to generate some heat from the pads to the rotors.
4) Drive for 30 seconds at decent spead to cool slightly
5) repeat this process at least 5 times, I do it 6-8 times
6) VERY IMPORTANT: once this process is completed do not then park the car. Drive the car on the highway for 15 minutes or so to cool everything down. If you park right away you can risk having the heat transfer pad material in one spot to the rotors.

Your rotors and pads should now be in great shape with a perfect spread of pad material to the rotors. No noise, and excellent bite.

 

[Durzel]

I must admit this has played on my mind too. On high regen quite often I’ve found myself not using the brakes at all, so my discs look a bit discoloured.

Other than aesthetics it hasn’t occurred to me that it could cause bigger problems.

 

[boater291]

All you have to do is activate TACC to get regular bursts of hard braking

 

[bangtidy]

All you have to do is activate TACC to get regular bursts of hard braking

Yep, it's not a bug - it's a feature....

 

[Dangerous Fish]

"Warping" is a catch-all term really. Modern rotors rarely warp as such, but the effects caused by corrosion or hot spots or pad material transfer can all feel roughly the same.

Living by the sea and not using your brakes hard very often is a recipe for corrosion-based issues.
Do what Webbah says above and you should get a very long life out of your brakes.
On a Performance, you can use track mode to dial down the regen below the normal "low" setting which will help clean the discs up even more.

 

[webbah]

For the P3D users out there that DO like to improve the rather disappointing brakes under heavy load without major changes of complete brake kits, here is what I did:

1) Swap out brake fluid to Motul 600F
2) Swap out brake lines to steel braided Unplugged Performance (no flex)

I did also swap out the pads initially to Unplugged Track & Street but they were nosier than I liked and more difficult to deal with. I do take my car to the track 4-5 times a year at Circuit de la Bresse in France which is a blast and has a Supercharger 5 min away. The above was a great and easy compromise to improve the OEM setup. And of course using Track mode but with aggressive regen.

 

[tomorrowman]

To be honest Kib366 issue sound like the brakes where rubbing i.e. partially on (a bit like driving with the handbrake on)

In some cars riding the brakes can do this but unless your left foot braking and/or resting your foot on the brake pedal this won't happen and even if you did I thought initial brake press did not apply brakes but used regen as well (with brakes only being applied in the last % of brake pedal travel).

Sounds like a mechanical FUBAR to me

 

[Glan gluaisne]

I had to replace the disks on my Prius, when the pads were barely worn at all. Happened twice, on different cars, at around 40,000 to 50,000 miles. Both times it had nothing to do with wear, it was disc corrosion, caused by the brakes not getting enough use to "wear themselves clean" as the technician put it. Regen braking was the culprit, as it seems that, for some usage patterns (like my fairly slow speed commuting journeys) the friction brakes weren't doing enough work to clean the discs of surface rust. Always amazes me how quickly surface rust appears. Often seems that disks will turn red with surface rust overnight in wet weather.