Steering wheel vibrating when braking

[M3R8]

Hi,

I recently noticed that the steering wheel started vibrating when braking, it's especially strong at speeds faster than around 50mph.

I *think* it started after the missus took it for a spirited drive but I'm not sure. I/we haven't done anything so drastically bad to the car to warrant this.

The guys at the shop, without inspecting the car, say chances are it's one or more of the brake discs being warped. While that makes sense, I have the following questions:

1. Should I get any other parts of the braking or steering system inspected before I determine it's the rotors or just order a new set of rotors and pads?

2. The car is relatively low mileage, just under 12K miles, and just over 2 years old. In which cases would Audi replace this as a warranty item? Has anyone had similar issues and had them replaced under warranty? The garage folk told me *I* should call Audi and find out if they would - customer service here is not as developed as in the US, to say the least.

Thanks

[Europrice]

Warped rotors or pad deposits on rotors, especially since it's started after a spirited drive. When items are replaced they should also look for any loose suspension and steering components, however it's 99% the rotors causing issues from what you are listing off.

Cheers,

[Arantor]

If it is just while braking, then the discs are down. Got the same "problem" on my last trackday, they don't really last long if ure driving them hard. We can with 2 sets of pads and then we need to replace the discs.

if ure lucky and the discs are still thick enough you can skim them and use them again.

[M3R8]

They have a lot of life left in them. I'm just wondering why they are so crappy...

[thebishman]

Until proved otherwise this is excess brake pad deposits. Take the car out to a long deserted road; drive at 50 mph and then hit the brakes hard to slow down to 5 mph as quickly as possible without engaging the ABS. Drive 5 minutes to cool everything down, then stop from 60 mph to 5 mph as above. Then from 70 mph and then 80 mph. Don't go to jail! lol
If it is just uneven pad deposits, this should take care of it. One last thing, make sure you still have plenty of pad material left on the pads.
Bish

[M3R8]

Thanks guys. I'll give the pad deposit procedure a try and if that fails I'm replacing the brakes for ceramics. No point spending money on crappy discs and pads.

[SebringSilver]

Hang on....what kind of vibration are we talking about? Have you also checked your tire pressure?

[M3R8]

Steering wheel vibration only. Pressure checked on all fours.

[Europrice]

I highly suspect you'll see issues with front discs considering it started after spirited driving. You can try to rid yourself of deposits, but in some cases attempting that can make it worse. Look for discoloration on the front rotors, some blue, some shiny metallic, even some actual black marks were a pad may have sat and cooked on the rotor face stationary.

Larger front discs or ceramics are the way to avoid these issues definitely.

Cheers,

[mngolfer]

Just so you know...Kfab put on ceramics himself. If I remember correctly he spent ~$32K for the entire assembly.