uneven brake pad wear, normal or not?

[zzz3]

so i recently had my stock pads replaced at 56000km with some stoptech's. my old man took a look at my oem pads and says that the uneven wear is an indicator of a possible problem with the calipers. too me it appears normal, or at least in the realm of reason that one side can wear faster than other and be considered 'normal'.

any thoughts on this? i ask because my bumper to bumper warranty is coming to an end soon, and i will be making a trip shortly to the dealer to get some minor problems sorted out before it expires.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-UOWkus9HaBo/T9As-EN4oTI/AAAAAAAACCo/WGbgR16lpHk/s800/IMG_0376.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-92kYj-ovA_o/T9AskCglWoI/AAAAAAAACCI/CjET5EmOgPA/s800/IMG_0372.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-N1wPYzPtS5g/T9AsrLKvUqI/AAAAAAAACCQ/64nlV7POUV4/s800/IMG_0373.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Gu6bxy4rO90/T9AslNW791I/AAAAAAAACCY/AV9VFfPfxJo/s800/IMG_0374.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gzTv0KYCsc0/T9As4V5nADI/AAAAAAAACCk/3IztkV5r7lQ/s800/IMG_0375.JPG

[silverstarmazda]

lube up the sliders. one on each of my rears r difficult to slide. its like the rubber it slides in is swelling...

[Wes08M3]

Hard to tell from the pictures which pads have less material than the others, but as silverstarmazda said the slider pins can start to seize up causing uneven wear. It's important to lubricate them regularly as part of the 24 000km brake service.

Also, it's normal for the inner pad to wear slightly more than the outer pad since the piston is only on the inside of the caliper.

[zzz3]

that's what i figured it was a result of. i haven't gone in for my yearly service yet which includes lubing the pin.

thanks.

[bubba1983]

along with lubing your sliders, if once lubed, they are still hard to slide in and out of the rubber, remove the rubber, and clean the bore that they sit in. its shitty white metal, and gets corroded, therefore making the rubber "swell". and if the rubber is too far gone, replace it.

[silverstarmazda]

along with lubing your sliders, if once lubed, they are still hard to slide in and out of the rubber, remove the rubber, and clean the bore that they sit in. its shitty white metal, and gets corroded, therefore making the rubber "swell". and if the rubber is too far gone, replace it.

lol im gonna have to look in on that. one of my piston boot has a very VERRYYY small hole in it. doesnt leak anything and it doesnt see much day light cuz wen its all the way in its retracted into its "seat" position. should i try to seal it or is it something i gotta replace??

[krimsalt]

If a pad is wearing on the angle its not good. Give us side-shots of the pads so we can see. But it looks ok as far as i can see

[liquidzyklon]

Side shots would provide a little more information. Also, I can't tell if these pads are fronts or backs (I am guessing fronts?)

But from your first photo, I agree with your dad that there is uneven wear. The two right pads are wearing more quickly than left two pads. The top right does not have the middle ridge anymore compared to the top left pad. The same can be said about the bottom set of pads except the ridge isn't gone on the right.

[zzz3]

yes they are fronts. looking at the sides, the driver side caliper pins need to be lubed asap...i'll still get the calipers checked out too.

drivers
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2pzmTqzrb1g/T9YZbVY30pI/AAAAAAAACFg/w5xhrjZXlQM/s800/IMG_0395%255B1%255D.JPG
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-a5HX2VSmDHM/T9YZ7KNFDWI/AAAAAAAACFw/AgeEC14vl4o/s800/IMG_0398%255B1%255D.JPG

passenger
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-cILNkGeHdm0/T9YZokdD75I/AAAAAAAACFo/vHwNAOcDyc0/s800/IMG_0397%255B1%255D.JPG
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u5B-sYKVFzY/T9YaK63F4HI/AAAAAAAACF4/yVmoaCQH-Ok/s800/IMG_0400%255B1%255D.JPG

[krimsalt]

Yea thats not normal.. Looks like one piston might be seized. Or your break distribution is off.

[Reddie1337]

yes they are fronts. looking at the sides, the driver side caliper pins need to be lubed asap...i'll still get the calipers checked out too.

drivers
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2pzmTqzrb1g/T9YZbVY30pI/AAAAAAAACFg/w5xhrjZXlQM/s800/IMG_0395%255B1%255D.JPG

Is this the outside or the inside? If the top one is inside (against the caliper piston), its the probably caliper, if its outside, then pins are most likely your culprit.

[krimsalt]

Is this the outside or the inside? If the top one is inside (against the caliper piston), its the probably caliper, if its outside, then pins are most likely your culprit.

It doesn;t matter because both severely worn ones are on one side of the car, so it looks like that caliper is seized

[Wes08M3]

The drivers side appears to have much more significant wear than the passengers side. Maybe you do have a seized caliper... Those pads are pretty cooked. What's the mileage on your car? Or we're you tracking them? Pad wear seems nice and even vertically and horizontally across the pad though.

Edit: btw you can do the brake maintenance yourself and save a ton of money. If you can take the brakes apart, which you obviously can, you can easily do the exact same maintenance the dealer would charge $100+ (I think) for about $20 and an hour or so of your time.

Maybe you already knew this but I just thought I'd throw it out there.