MkVII Brakes (Pads, Rotors and Calipers) - Discussion and Questions

[LMF]

I am planning to change the front brake pads for my Golf 7 and I am looking for something with less brake dust. This is my first VW and I am going to change the brake pads myself, I have experience with changing brake pads of my previous cars and friends’ car but they all Jap car eg Corolla, Skyline, Silvia etc … I was wondering are there anything I need to consider? The only different I can think of between the VW and those Jap cars that I worked on is the sensors.

Has anyone try the Bendix Euro+ … are they good?

I can only find info on changing brake pads for Golf 6 GTI and I am assuming the procedure for MK6 and MK7 should be 99.9% the same.

[brad]

ATE ceramic pads or QFM A1RM from Brakes Direct. Remsa get very mixed results from "no difference" to "heaps less".

I have a pathalogical dislike of Bendix products and cannot recomend them.

They aren't a difficult pad to change although you might need a triple-square bit?

You will want to do the rears as well - the design of the braking system has the rear brakes come on first under light braking and therefore the rears dust-up & wear just as much as the fronts.

[DV52]

ATE ceramic pads or QFM A1RM from Brakes Direct. Remsa get very mixed results from "no difference" to "heaps less".

I have a pathalogical dislike of Bendix products and cannot recomend them.

They aren't a difficult pad to change although you might need a triple-square bit?

You will want to do the rears as well - the design of the braking system has the rear brakes come on first under light braking and therefore the rears dust-up & wear just as much as the fronts.

Brad: I've not changed the pads on my car, but won't changing the rear pads be complicated by the EPB? See Ross Tech video below

[brad]

Yes, your right. You'll need to borrow a VCDS cable.

Well done that man!

[DV52]

Thanks Brad. I'm sure that you know much more than I do about these things (I've read some of your previous posts). I just thought that I was missing something. Actually, I was hoping that I was wrong and that the job was just like the mk6 - but alas I think not!

Anyhow LMF, if you do change the rear pads, I'd be interested to know if there are any complications in using the VCDS cable to retract/close the callipers. The RT instructions look fairly straight-forward, but there's no better information than feedback from someone who has actually done it!

[brad]

Oh well. Do the easy ones at the front & see if you can live with the rear dust.

I rarely work on other peoples cars these days, so my chances of doing an electric rear handbrake are fairly remote.

[LMF]

Thanks for the replies people. I think I may change the front myself and leave the rear for the mechanic as I don't have the VCDS cable ... I heard some good things about the ATE ceramic pads from some overseas forum but where can I get this in Australia???

[brad]

HSY are the importer but they won't sell direct so you have to ring them & find out who their ACT retailer is.

[frogg]

Mk VII Brake Rotors & Pads

Good evening all.

I did a quick search...but either there is nothing around or I cant use the search function.......

Got told today that I need new Rotors and pads on Mk7 GTI after 30,000km - they say I have max of about another 5,000km left in them. Not too bad from what I understand.

I was quoted at just under $600 to supply and fit.

I tried calling GSL Rallysport, but they seem to be a little confused as to which Rotors are on the Mk7.

They *believe* that they have a 315mm rotor as the Mk6 did....but they need to double check.

Anyone out there able to shed any light? Are they the same ones? Any suggestions where I can source them from? Happy to change them myself If I can get them for a reasonable price.

Thanks.

[Mikey1]

Good evening all.

I did a quick search...but either there is nothing around or I cant use the search function.......

Got told today that I need new Rotors and pads on Mk7 GTI after 30,000km - they say I have max of about another 5,000km left in them. Not too bad from what I understand.

I was quoted at just under $600 to supply and fit.

I tried calling GSL Rallysport, but they seem to be a little confused as to which Rotors are on the Mk7.

They *believe* that they have a 315mm rotor as the Mk6 did....but they need to double check.

Anyone out there able to shed any light? Are they the same ones? Any suggestions where I can source them from? Happy to change them myself If I can get them for a reasonable price.

Thanks.

See your mechanic or retail stockist and ask them to contact HSY Autoparts (hsy.com.au) for availability of ATE discs, which you can view on the ATE website: ATE Brakes -ATE Web Catalogue

Unfortunately, there are no pads listed yet, which is annoying as their ceramic pads are brilliant for everyday use.

Try also ECS Tuning (ecstuning.com) since the Golf VII GTI is now on sale in the US.

[donweather]

New rotors and pads after just 30,000 kms seems quite harsh. Could I ask if your traction control gets a workout a fair bit?

[brad]

dealers are usually quite conservative. Shine a torch through the wheels & have a look. If the friction material is <3mm then it's time to start doing your homework. I bet they are at about 6-8mm.

If you have the GTI PP then they are 340mm rotors.

If it's a std GTI then they are 312mm

The brake pads look slightly different - they are longer & not as high. (PR codes: 1ZE, 1ZP, 1ZA, 1ZD, 1LV, 1ZC, 1ZG)

I think Ferodo, Textar & Pagid do the correct pad. Check their cattledogs for the partno. Send the diagram to Brakes Direct & they should be able to match them

[tom89]

dealers are usually quite conservative. Shine a torch through the wheels & have a look. If the friction material is <3mm then it's time to start doing your homework. I bet they are at about 6-8mm.

I agreed with this. I wouldn't stress too much.

[Arnold]

New rotors and pads after just 30,000 kms seems quite harsh. Could I ask if your traction control gets a workout a fair bit?

I have just under 67000km on my Mark V GTI and have not replaced the original brake pads yet. Just had its 7 year service and no mention of them being in danger of wearing out just yet.

[gerhard]

Front brakes 90TSI

My daughter now has a new 90TSI Comfortline DSG with driver assist.

She dropped over at the weekend and after only 900ks the front wheels were black and the dust also travelled up the doors. The rears were practically clean.

This is far worse than my MKV GTI and my wife's 6R Polo GTI. Both these cars get the dust of course, but usually more on the rear due to the design, but over general use front and rear are pretty much the same grubby mess.

So I'm on the hunt for front pads for the MK7, the rears can stay original as they are not dirty and require specialty replacement. It seems that the brake bias settings are different on this car.

So far the only listing I can find on MK7 pads has been from Ferodo, part number FDB4454. I emailed Bendix for a supply date and their reply was typical of businesses today - "We are unable to advise when we will have disc pads available to the MKV11 Golf mentioned, please continue to check on a website catalogue".

Has anyone managed to find some ceramics or other low dust pads? It's not driven as a performance vehicle, just a (very nice) daily.