Service (and repairs) time ...

[moltuae]

Brilliant!

Thanks very much MJ!

[Goran]

My breaks creak a bit too, I suspect the front calipers, even though they were re-conditioned a couple of years ago. No ill effect so far. Although I will try re-greasing them too as MJ suggests.

[MikkiJayne]

The S8 I have in at the moment came in to the workshop with the brakes almost on fire. Turns out the inner pads were jammed solid in the calipers and only the outer pad was moving, caused by rust on the edge of the pad backing plate, plus dirt and brake dust building up on the caliper. The calipers on this one were reconditioned a couple of years ago, but the Brembos are a flawed design in that regard as the clearances are so tight. I pull the pads and clean everything up every oil change which stops them getting stuck

(I also pull and re-grease the front strut pinch bolt every oil change too )

[David's8]

MJ is always spot on with advice. The front caliper creakiness is (was, in my case) associated with the pads jamming in the stainless steel pad guides held in place on the aluminium caliper block by torx headed screw which is impossible(?) to remove without splitting the block. The corrosion between the s/steel and aluminium forces the guide outer edges which then clamp on the pads. You can do a certain amount of cleaning out the corrosion with the calipers removed using emery paper etc but its difficult to get the guides to resume their former shape. You can, of course, file down the edges of the pads so that they can fit but its not really a solution. Thats the point at which I got mine refurbished.
I suggest you test the temperature of the discs after a run to see if there is any overheating but its a certainty that wthout some work, it will develop into overheating pads/discs at some point in the near future.

[Goran]

Thanks, definitely need to look into it then. I often check the disc temperature after a drive after one of the rears jammed on my previous S8. On this one so far no excess heat, just creaking. I guess the ultimate solution is a front brake upgrade lol.

[27litres]

Originally Posted by Goran

I guess the ultimate solution is a front brake upgrade lol.

There is a simple upgrade solution for S8's that is bolt on from what I've read and replaces the Bembos with an OEM 4 pot caliper - D3 360mm discs and calipers.
Min wheel size is 18", not that that's a problem for S8's...

[MikkiJayne]

That only works on the non-Brembo setup as the D3 calipers are axial mount. The D2 Brembos are radial mount so have different uprights to suit. You could of course swap the S8 radial uprights for A8 axial ones, then it would work

[sarg]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

The S8 I have in at the moment came in to the workshop with the brakes almost on fire. Turns out the inner pads were jammed solid in the calipers and only the outer pad was moving, caused by rust on the edge of the pad backing plate, plus dirt and brake dust building up on the caliper. The calipers on this one were reconditioned a couple of years ago, but the Brembos are a flawed design in that regard as the clearances are so tight. I pull the pads and clean everything up every oil change which stops them getting stuck

(I also pull and re-grease the front strut pinch bolt every oil change too )

MJ, could this be causing the brake smell and heat I described?

[MikkiJayne]

That was top suspect, but they aren't binding - I checked that.