BMW Brake Kit - Zimmermann/Textar 34112283801KTF

Front brake kit featuring Zimmermann Z-coated rotors, Textar brake pads, and Bowa pad wear sensors

It's time for a brake service if your BMW's steering wheel shakes while braking or the light is illuminated on your dash indicating your brake pads are too thin. There are numerous critical parts of your BMW's brake system. The two main wear items are the brake pads and the brake rotors. By their very nature, they are intended to wear out.

Brake rotors can wear out in several ways. The most common reason for replacing brake rotors is because they are "warped". Warped brake rotors are another way of saying that there are uneven deposits on the rotor surface from the brake pads. This can cause the steering wheel to shimmy while braking. Rotors can be machined to remove the deposits but this is usually counterproductive and it's often safer and easier to just replace the rotors. One brake rotors reach the minimum specified thickness they must be replaced.

Brake pads are the friction material that allows for braking, to begin with. They are softer than the brake rotor surface and tend to wear quicker. The brake pad wear sensor attached to the brake rotor will be tripped when the pad becomes too thin and illuminates a light on your dash letting you know that a brake service is required.