[73henny]

Our 125d has developed spongy brakes over the last day or two. Some of the 'bite' has gone too.
This morning the pedal was hard, with very little braking effect (worryingly), then after a few miles / presses had gone to spongy.

Any thoughts? Only just turned 4000 miles.

 

[nickfrog]

The cold might mean that it takes longer to get some heat in them ?
If you have any doubts take it to your dealer though.

 

[73henny]

The cold might mean that it takes longer to get some heat in them ?
If you have any doubts take it to your dealer though.

Not sure about the cold as the brakes on my 330dx are fine.
Dealer is 2 hours away though - might use assist if it gets any worse.

Just wondered if anyone had seen or heard of something similar.

 

[marco_polo]

Standard callipers, or Big Blues?

 

[73henny]

Standard. The wife drives it much more than me so wasn't any point in speccing them.
I have them on my car though

 

[marco_polo]

I would try some pretty firm pedal pressure with the car stationary (just to make sure the sliders aren't sticking), see how it feels afterwards?

 

[73henny]

Okay thanks. I'll give that a try tomorrow.

 

[Allentreefella]

Both my 1 series and the current one with msport brakes seem to have a spongy pedal, never really thought anything of it. Sometimes, on start up they are firm and other times a couple of pumps to firm them up.

 

[Sean_Jaymo]

The standard brakes on mine are definitely not as sharp as those in the wife's A3. I just put it down to BMW making the brakes lack feel on purpose so that you spec the posh brakes next time round.

 

[73henny]

They seem to have lost some bite though over the last couple of days. Definitely not as sharp as they were.

 

[nickfrog]

The standard brakes on mine are definitely not as sharp as those in the wife's A3. I just put it down to BMW making the brakes lack feel on purpose so that you spec the posh brakes next time round.

Audi brakes are massively over servoed to the detriment of modulation and for you to think that they are sharp. In reality they are an on off switch, which is a pain IMO. The BMW brakes will trigger the ABS as quickly but will need more travel / more effort. A good thing and full credit to BMW for not falling into the marketing / placebo trap for those who value better driving dynamics

 

[DuracellBunny]

I have the "Big Blues" and I would say the braking has not been as sharp as usual... I'm putting it down to the cold weather for now.

 

[Sean_Jaymo]

The standard brakes on mine are definitely not as sharp as those in the wife's A3. I just put it down to BMW making the brakes lack feel on purpose so that you spec the posh brakes next time round.

Audi brakes are massively over servoed to the detriment of modulation and for you to think that they are sharp. In reality they are an on off switch, which is a pain IMO. The BMW brakes will trigger the ABS as quickly but will need more travel / more effort. A good thing and full credit to BMW for not falling into the marketing / placebo trap for those who value better driving dynamics

Plenty of modulation once you adapt to it. They just require a more delicate touch and feather.

I hope my response doesn't come across as patronising as yours does.

 

[nickfrog]

The standard brakes on mine are definitely not as sharp as those in the wife's A3. I just put it down to BMW making the brakes lack feel on purpose so that you spec the posh brakes next time round.

Audi brakes are massively over servoed to the detriment of modulation and for you to think that they are sharp. In reality they are an on off switch, which is a pain IMO. The BMW brakes will trigger the ABS as quickly but will need more travel / more effort. A good thing and full credit to BMW for not falling into the marketing / placebo trap for those who value better driving dynamics

Plenty of modulation once you adapt to it. They just require a more delicate touch and feather.

I hope my response doesn't come across as patronising as yours does.

I would say that yours sounds quite a lot more patronising and defensive than mine, as mine wasn't either of those things in the slightest. Both cars will trigger the abs as front tyre adhesion is always the weakest link on road cars. The on/off switch pedal on the Audi will never give the same amount of feel/modulation as a longer travel pedal (by definition) however calibrated you are to it. More is usually more, not less. (this is not meant to be patronising either, as I feel that sometimes stating the bleeding obvious is useful). BMW brake pedals have always been like that so there is no commercial motivation here, just a functional one. Whatever you do, don't drive a Cayman, you'll think they don't come with brakes. Or an Elise for that matter.

 

[Sean_Jaymo]

Used to own an Elise, great brakes but no servo on my version...