brembo 18z brake upgrade project.

The pedal is not that bad to be honest, maybe as it's a new install it will settle after a while , as you say probably give it another bleed in a few weeks just to make sure there's no more trapped air.

the pads I put in were budget ones they supplied , I think they were the 18z ones for the 350 discs , there sending me better ones mintex I think, not used them before but worth a go, they are the 17z ones for use with 345 disc.
 
well done Rob mate, they look big in those 18's, i've got some mintex in mine there sound, not to dust either
 
The Mintex will be better IMO.

I did mine the following day Rob and I also ran the ABS pump roughly 10 times or 5 minutes to ensure the ABS pump hadn't got any air in it.

But I do think they will stiffen up a little and will feel much better.


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Just been totalling up all the bills for the bits based on what I paid for the 18z's, sundry bits and the original fitting kit .
Fitted it has come in at £519.78 , I had set myself a budget of £500 max so only £20 over , I didn't factor in replacing the brake bleeder kit at the start so that's another £10 off the bill , that ends up at a round figure of a £509.78 , I can live with that.
As the seller has supplied me with better discs and pads etc that makes the project even better for the cost.....all in i'm a happy bunny now despite the ups & downs along the way.

cheers chaps,
rob
 
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I know a fair few guys have done this mod aswell with no probs , and everyone has there own way to do a job , but what I would recommend is this, if you're using the ML discs 345 or 350 make a template up and drill a new retaining hole for the small disc retaining screw.
Its not rocket science to do and really does make the fitting a lot easier frankly, just fit the disc and replace the screw , no balancing the disc on the lip or winding in wheel bolts etc , it really makes the job a heck of a lot more user friendly, just my input chaps and everyone to there own method ..

rob
 
The pedal travel shouldn't really be any different, certainly shouldn't be noticeable as the A4 MC is more than up to the job, all B7s use the same one including the RS4 so it's well up to the job.

Totally agree with Carl, they aren't the easiest things to bleed and can take several attempts to get a good pedal. You started with the inboard bank first?

The 17z pads are a much better fit and will avoid the lip that builds up on the 18z pads after a while, changing them over would be a good oportunity to try another bleed.

The only other potential issue are the actual calipers, not all 18zs are the same. The Q7 and Touareg ones are the ones you really want as they have the smallest combined piston volume, easily spotted as they generally in an unfinished condition. Avoid factory finished red ones as they come from the Cayenne turbo S and have the largest piston volume. The factory finished silver ones from the lower cayenne models are ok to use, I think their piston size is somewhere in between but still safe to use. Bizarrely the 17z although slightly smaller actually has the largest piston volume so best to avoid.
 
I will probably have another bleeding session when I change the pads over, strangely though there wasn't a lot of air being expelled when I bled them.
What I did do which was by mistake was that I left all four bleed valves open after I connected the brake lines, when I came back 20 mins later there was small puddles under each caliper in jars , I assumed that by leaving them open by mistake and gravity doing it thing for 20 mins a lot of air would have been pushed out already....anyway and the bleeding aswell just pushed out the remaining pockets of air.
its not a big difference but just one that I suspect will go after a bit more fine tuning of them.
 
Just an update on the wear sensor plugs, it would aappear that if I want to retain the oem wear sensor setup then i'll need a pair of these adapters , they are the audi - Porsche cayenne adapters...and they are a part of the ecs kit, not sure about other kits though, just need to find them for sale over here as a pair.
Plug2
 
seems like this is the only off the shelf solution readily available.

Audi Q5 Brake Pad Wear Sensor 649Vg0160 Ate , and at £12.00 each they are not really cheap as chips, may just stick with the bypass method I have used.

Mt7
 
Just cut the wires off your old pads, shorten then to around 3/4", solder them together and then cover them with a piece of waterproof heat shrink.

Plug and play....no more false warnings when there's still 1/2 to 3/4 of the pad left and in theory the new set up will last a lot longer as your not using them as hard to stop.

Also you should be able to see how much of the pad is left much easier than the old set-up.

Now stop being an old woman and just enjoy.....
 
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ajax1976 said:
The pedal travel shouldn't really be any different, certainly shouldn't be noticeable as the A4 MC is more than up to the job, all B7s use the same one including the RS4 so it's well up to the job.

Totally agree with Carl, they aren't the easiest things to bleed and can take several attempts to get a good pedal. You started with the inboard bank first?

The 17z pads are a much better fit and will avoid the lip that builds up on the 18z pads after a while, changing them over would be a good oportunity to try another bleed.

The only other potential issue are the actual calipers, not all 18zs are the same. The Q7 and Touareg ones are the ones you really want as they have the smallest combined piston volume, easily spotted as they generally in an unfinished condition. Avoid factory finished red ones as they come from the Cayenne turbo S and have the largest piston volume. The factory finished silver ones from the lower cayenne models are ok to use, I think their piston size is somewhere in between but still safe to use. Bizarrely the 17z although slightly smaller actually has the largest piston volume so best to avoid.
Click to expand...

So are the part numbers different the various types of 18z or are they all the same?
 
carlcall said:
Just cut the wires off your old pads, shorten then to around 3/4", solder them together and then cover them with a piece of waterproof heat shrink.

Plug and play....no more false warnings when there's still 1/2 to 3/4 of the pad left and in theory the new set up will last a lot longer as your not using them as hard to stop.

Also you should be able to see how much of the pad is left much easier than the old set-up.

Now stop being an old woman and just enjoy.....
Click to expand...

I did that first thing carl when I noticed the plug cockup... I'm fine with them being bypassed, I've never had a brake pad light come on before anyway on any previous cars...good personal maintainace is allways better than relying on a light on the dash...
just thought that as I had been supplied the leads i'd use them but not at extra cost to have them acctaully work..
 
Anyway, been out this afternoon for a nice drive and the pedal is much better , in fact when I first went out it was almost back to normal, so I think a bit longer and i'll be 100%
 
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Dani_B19 said:
So are the part numbers different the various types of 18z or are they all the same?
Click to expand...

Not really sure to be honest, I just used to search for Q7 or Touareg ones as they were cheaper without the Porsche tax.
 
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well a few days on and life with the big red ones is coming along nicely.....
My replacement mintex pads have appeared but not fitted them yet as the budget ones seem to be passable for a bit longer....
Strangely the long pedal oddity has sorted itself out , the pedal is travel is spot on now and I really like the progressive feel of the brakes , really nice , not tried an emergency stop yet ....just in case I end up close and personal with my windscreen ..lol
When I change the pads on Saturday I may just check the calipers for air but based on the feel now I doubt much air if any will be present.

So then , if anyone is thinking about doing the mod and just cant decided on wether it really is worth it , don't even think about it, just do it .....its a brilliant upgrade and look the business too...

and if anyone wants some nice special ed calipers (S4 based but without the s4 carriers) and 320 disks etc as an upgrade drop me a line....
cheers
rob
 
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It's a new day and all is well in my world....so I thought it was a good time to try these big reds out a bit more than just light foot action....see how good they really are , even with the budget pads still in......
One word " Epic" did some miles this afternoon around assorted back country back roads to get a good overall feel them......and they are so very good, really progressive with a reassuring feel , and so much power when you need that extra bit of stopping power ,and, I suspect with the mintex pads going in over the weekend they will be even better, even got a set of A4 B5 rs4 wear sensors for £6.00 that fit perfect.
I'm one happy chappy today....one of those mods that is just worth every penny of the cost involved...

have a good one chaps.
 
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carlcall said:
I think this is the kit you want Rob CP5570-1002 @ around £2.5k and if you are never going to use them apart from a bit of bling to fill your wheels they would be a total waste of money.

Calipers are the easy bit second hand but then you have the rotors which will basically be the same as a set for an RS4 as you'd have to buy both bells and rotors and I'm not sure AP will sell the appropriate carrier on its own.

A phenomenal amount of stopping power which would be wasted as it would never be used unless you brake at the last second coming up to a junction.


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Click to expand...

Ended up fitting the AP's on the race car
I can get AP kits, bells rotors, Lines, brackets and DS2500 pads for about £1300

Rob
What discs did you use, the ones from creation had to larger bore size
My Audi has a 57.1 bore, they sent a 66mm bore disc
I still have a set of brembo so fancy giving another try
 
Jasesapphy said:
Ended up fitting the AP's on the race car
I can get AP kits, bells rotors, Lines, brackets and DS2500 pads for about £1300

Rob
What discs did you use, the ones from creation had to larger bore size
My Audi has a 57.1 bore, they sent a 66mm bore disc
I still have a set of brembo so fancy giving another try
Click to expand...

Your Audi has a centre bore of 57.1 where the wheel mounts but the disk sits on a wider part of the hub which is 68mm. The most common disc to run 18zs is the Merc ML one, Merc centre bores are 67mm so you have to get the disc centre machined out by 1mm to fit on the B7 68mm hub.
 
ajax1976 said:
Your Audi has a centre bore of 57.1 where the wheel mounts but the disk sits on a wider part of the hub which is 68mm. The most common disc to run 18zs is the Merc ML one, Merc centre bores are 67mm so you have to get the disc centre machined out by 1mm to fit on the B7 68mm hub.
Click to expand...
Sorry to bring up an old thread but would the S5 B8.5 discs be better to use as they already have a bore of 68mm and are lighter.
 
all down to personal choice really , more than happy with the ML spec ones to be honest.
 
Just Rob. said:
all down to personal choice really , more than happy with the ML spec ones to be honest.
Click to expand...
Good, so the s5 discs can be used then? I’m a bit confused about the pads, the 17z pads can be used in the 18z calipers?
 
When I need to replace my ML's i'll go B8 S4 to be honest but that is someway ahead as I just don't do the milage these days.
 
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Just Rob. said:
When I need to replace my ML's i'll go B8 S4 to be honest but that is someway ahead as I just don't do the milage these days.
Click to expand...
Or you can upgrade to this kit:
nzgfa8.jpg


356mm 2-piece discs, 8-piston calipers, EBC red-stuff pads and SS brake lines, and the right brackets for the A4 B6/7
I have it for sale, almost brand new(less then 500 miles)...
 
Just Rob. said:
When I need to replace my ML's i'll go B8 S4 to be honest but that is someway ahead as I just don't do the milage these days.
Click to expand...
Amy reason to go with the s4s rather than the s5s Rob?
 
They are marginally better dimension wise , not much in it but when you're working within mm and very tight gaps every bit helps , the s4's do allow for a little more space height wise , only a bit , but really all down to preference and I can get the s4's a lot cheaper than the s5's
 
audi upgrades
hi guys, read through the whole thread but cant find the info i need. with calipers and discs and pads already bought. i only need the nuts and bolts and the pipes correct? does anywhere sell the pipes already made up? if so where? and the nuts and bolts, what size are they? so i can order high strength ones.

i saw ROb mentioned a fitting kit he bought, but cant find anything on ebay. isnt it sold anymore, or am i looking in the wrong place.

how do you rate the mtec disks Rob?


cheers
 
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