Do you DIY your brakes or not?

[newbieboyy]

So im coming up for needing new discs and pads all around on my A3 and im not sure what to do. On my previous cars i have DIY'd it quite easily but im unsure on the A3.

I have had a quote of £534 from Audi for discs and pads all around, for genuine parts through a local indy i got quoted a staggering £620, or £460 for non-genuine (Still seemed very expensive to me though, saving only £70).

I can gets all the parts for £200ish from ECP or £300ish for genuine.

Is it pretty easy on the A3? I assume you don't need VAGCOM like you do on some of the A4's?

Its a 2010 A3 Sportback 2.0 derv.

 

[16VG60]

There is an argument to say that if you are asking such questions, then your knowledge is questionable and therefore you should not be working on safety related systems on your vehicle. That's me playing devils advocate, but please take onboard the message. I have no wish to offend and most certainly would not discourage the competent DIY mechanic. Changing the brake pads and discs on the A3 / S3 is not at all difficult, if you know what you are doing and have the required tooling. Might I suggest that on this occasion it might be better all round if you seek the best deal using dealer quality parts, fitted by a independent specialist. Or indeed you might find a fellow member on this forum who is local to you who might carry out these works for a nominal fee, and in so doing afford you the familiarity with these works that you seek for a future occasion.

 

[Tezgreig]

If you have diy'd previous cars then you will have no problem with the A3. Vagcom not required.

 

[newbieboyy]

So I have all the tools (rewind tools etc etc) I was purely asking if the Audi has any quirks, or if VAGCOM is needed to "pull" the piston back into position. I know the A4 needs VAGCOM to do one aspect of it, whereas seemingly the A3 doesn't.

If you have diy'd previous cars then you will have no problem with the A3. Vagcom not required.

Thanks, I assumed it was the same just wanted someone to clarify!

 

[desertstorm]

Have a look at carpartsforless, with the discounts the Pagid items work out quite reasonable, you could probably upgrade to some redstuff pads on the front and still be saving a load of money compared to Audi prices.

Karl.

 

[newbieboyy]

So worked out at £173.01 delivered via UPS for Pagid discs and pads all around, with an extra £17.30 in cash back from Quidco tracked as well!

£155 for all discs and pads saving £380 quid!

 

[Watts6087]

If u have done them before on other cars you will be fine. Vag com is only ever needed for rear pads if you have an electronic hand brake. You do no even need a rewind tool for the fronts the pistons just push back

 

[Veedubnoodle]

The only thing I will say is make sure you select the correct size discs and pads for your A3 as ECP has a habit of bringing up all sizes from 280mm to 345mm discs and everything in between.

As for changing them they are easy enough to do, just like changing brakes on any other car really. Just make sure you have all the correct tools

 

[leshkin]

Make sure to torque all of the bolts correctly

 

[newbieboyy]

The only thing I will say is make sure you select the correct size discs and pads for your A3 as ECP has a habit of bringing up all sizes from 280mm to 345mm discs and everything in between.

As for changing them they are easy enough to do, just like changing brakes on any other car really. Just make sure you have all the correct tools

Yep, i found a useful link on here that gave me the exact sizes based on the code in my service book so i made sure i got the right ones!

Yeah tool wise i have pretty much everything lol, i also have Elsawin to assist with the bits before hand!

 

[Ironborn]

I'm far from a mechanic but I managed it, never again it was a pain in the ****. Seized caliper, rounded bolts that took a real fight to remove. If your car is fairly new, should all go much more smoothly.