Brake Discs
 

Hi everyone,

Appear to have some extreme warp on my front discs on my 2004 xc90 d5

Any recommendations on discs? Seen a pair of Mintex on eBay for £80 which looks a deal compared to £150 for genuine ?

Thanks
Rob

TBH buy genuine Volvo disks, they don't get much better IMO ... plenty of deals from genuine Volvo dealers on eBay, or just visit and ask for a discount, most will oblige.

Having been down the route of cheaper than genuine ones before the longer lasting and the fact that no of the genuine ones have warped.
I’m on my third XC90 and with the second it needed new discs when we bought it and the dealer fitted non genuine, they showed signs of warping and had a very noticeable lip by 25k miles at that point I swapped them for genuine and they went on till we sold the car covering at least 50k miles. I have also just replaced the ones on our current XC90 with genuine ones and I got them via a dealer on eBay with pads for a dry good price of £175 all in.

+1 for genuine from an eBay listing from a pukka Volvo dealer. (Caffyns Eastbourne)

They had a special deal on at the time and I bought front discs and pads, (£167.40 + £11.50 p & p) and, while I was at it, rear discs, pads and shoes and adjusters (£198.32 + £9.99 p & p)

Fronts were changed at the time (2 years ago) rears are still OK but, when needed, I'm ready.

Cheers

Dave

Volvo still cast their own discs for the XC90, if you buy genuine you will notice they are made in Sweden. There are so many poor quality pattern parts around made from melted down washing machines and Fiat Panda's (including Mintex of which I have personal experience). Genuine discs are the only way you know they will be okay. Your XC90 weighs 2.3 tons and is very hard on brakes.

Every couple of months we get new members on here with brake problems which are eventually cured by fitting new, genuine parts.

As others have said, I agree to sticking with genuine.

I fitted Pagid to my car, as I’ve used them in the past on other vehicles. They’re warped already… wish I spent the extra & went genuine the first time around. Lesson learned.

+1 for genuine. The non-Volvo ones just warp. You'll have to take them off again, like I did.

Regards
Lucien

Funnily enough, I mentioned that my front discs had warped to my local independent. He asked what brand I used & I said Pagid… His response was they were junk & just aren’t up to the job. Its a heavy car, use the proper discs (genuine) that were designed to be used on the car & they won’t warp like the aftermarket ones do in a short period of time.

alfred teves ATE a branch of continental group make the discs . volvo.do not make brake components they are all bought in even at the factory where cars are assembled

Volvo do have a foundry in Sweden and in the past month I’ve unpacked and fitted Volvo discs to XC60 and XC90 labelled made in Sweden and Skovde... Continental do not have a brake manufacturing plant in Sweden.

I know Volvo don’t manufacture brake components (they did for the XC90 I believe).

Buying “genuine”, although made by ATE are still better quality than the likes of Pagid for example.

The same goes for oil filters. Volvo don’t manufacture them, Mann do. Mann is probably the best filter you can get, so buying “genuine” makes sense.

I believe that Teves (ATE) have a foundry that is situated in the Torsland plant or very close by that only supplies Volvo cars with brake parts, not to be confused with the Volvo Trucks foundry at Skövde about 100 miles to the north.

My genuine volvo brake shoes are stamped made in China.

Just buy genuine. From Eastbourne Volvo.

Fitted genuine discs and pads today.

For what it's worth, I bought genuine from caffyns last time (129k miles, now on 173k) and the discs were really badly warped, i've had discs last 80k miles on other cars...

I spoke to a volvo specialist near me and he recommended to put on genuine shoes for the handbrake and non genuine good branded discs and pads all around that genuine wasn't needed or worth the extra money.
Nice to hear feedback that the genuine is warping too.
I put blueprint on mine.

Genuine on the wife's, but Lockheed-Delphi on mypine with no problems. Theyre Geomet coated so don't corrode half as fast as the OE discs.

Assuming nothing is binding on, warping is usually a function of driving style.

So if genuine warp as well, what aftermarket brands do people recommend?

I don’t know why mine warped (Pagid), as I don’t do any hard braking. In fact, the car wasn’t used much at all because of lockdowns.

For what it's worth and please excuse if I am saying what everyone already knows but sitting with your foot on the brake after breaking hard can warp the discs as the heat cannot dissipate. My new XC60 has a brilliant automatic hand brake which comes on automatically when you stop so you can release the foot brake. BTW - we love the XC90 so it is staying with us as is a definite keeper - I find it stately so you do not rush which helps my driving style! Whereas the T5 XC60 - OMG, different beast. I did not realise until I bought it having only test driven a demonstrator with the wife on board so did not plant the pedal or put it into performance mode!! Mind you around town the fuel economy is 22mpg - which makes me laugh as my 4.0 XJS is about the same so I do not feel so bad when I am driving it!!

On the odd few cases where I've seen genuine discs that show symptoms of being warped - they're not warped at all. It's corrosion on the disc surface that causes non-uniform friction across the surface, and with use this leads to small variations in the disc thickness.

https://www.apecbraking.co.uk/Resour...ke-Judder.aspx

There isn’t really much you can do though when this happens. Either replace the discs or resurface them.

That concerns me.

Genuine are quite a bit more expensive than aftermarket brands, yet they warped on your car. I know you don’t account for every car with genuine discs, but I’d like to know why they warped. If genuine warp & aftermarket do, then it doesn’t really matter what brand you put on!

I think discs nowadays are poorly made. They used to last longer in my opinion.

Would agree, plus holding heavy cars, automatics esp, on hot brakes after a heavy stop will never help and IMO defo a contributory factor ... had an Espace IV once ...warped front and rear disks every 6-9 months ..Renault replaced them under warranty every time until we got rid at 4 years old :sad-smiley-047:

I suspect that’s why my fronts have warped (Pagid). Its not from heavy braking, its probably because I use the brake pedal at a stop being automatic (that won’t help). It doesn’t have an automatic handbrake, but can be engaged manually by pressing a button. I do from time to time put it into neutral if I’m parked on a flat surface at lights, but its a habit keeping my foot on the brake pedal at a stop (won’t be doing it from now on).

Question is, buy genuine or aftermarket? It seems genuine can warp the same as the aftermarket ones, yet they cost much more!

I can get a set of Brembo discs & pads (front) for £130 with the 45% Euro Car Parts discount.

Genuine Volvo (front) are £185.

Hi, I fitted mintex to mine nearly six years ago when I first purchased my03. I was not aware of this forum and knew no better after having company cars all my working life.

At that time (120k) I fitted myself and absolutely no issues after 60k.

I know I stand for criticism, but really don't care, when a car is now 18 years old and passed it's mot last week and drives absolutely fine, I bet I am quids in...

Maybe I am just lucky... But will do it again!

I have to say my rear handbreak shoes are genuine Volvo, (as are the non standard Volvo adjusters), but all work fine. Even more criticism I guess..

John l

Your right you will be criticised when the genuine gang see this. Mine is exactly like yours. I agree with everything you just said.
The volvo specialist near me said to do exactly what you done.
Its good to hear sensible knowledge beyond your xc90 will fall apart if you don't use genuine.

So would Brembo be a good alternative to genuine?

Yes brembo would be a good alternative.
Like any brand of disc its important they are fitted properly and were they mate the hub is really clean and flat and not sitting on rust.

Thanks. Yes, I always give the hub a good clean to make sure the disc sits flush.

I suspect I have a noisy wheel bearing too, but I’m going to let a garage diagnose/fit that because I haven’t got a press. I’d rather do the brakes myself.

Is the £130 the price after discount?

If so, that would put the Brembo kit at over £235 without discount - can that be right??

I just looked on line - https://www.eurocarparts.com/volvo-parts.html and found Brembo discs and pads for XC90 - £188

This is interesting too https://www.brembo.com/en/company/ne...ognizing-fakes

Cheers

Dave

I’ve taken a punt on some eBay XC front discs and pads for £175 delivered from a Volvo parts supplier

Worth hunting around

try car parts for less its the same co as ecp but cheaper all same parts similar web page have a look .

Are disks and pads a pretty straight forward job. I'm competent with spanners lol but not keen on bleeding brake fluid or electrics.

£130 is the price with the discount applied.

Yeah, its a straight forward job really. You only need to bleed the brakes if the pedal feels spongy or you plan on replacing the brake fluid because its not the colour its supposed to be. If I was replacing discs & pads all around, I'd bleed the brakes. As I'm only doing the front, I don't need to because I've already done the bleeding in the past & the brake fluid is still very clean.

I had my car jacked up earlier to see if I could find the noise. Its definitely the passenger side front wheel bearing. I held my hand on the spring whilst the front wheels were turning & I could feel excessive vibration. Also, as I accelerated more, it started making a howling/whining noise.

As I can’t do the bearing myself (no press), I’m bringing it to a garage. They’re also going to replace the existing brake discs with genuine Volvo ones (existing are warped/juddering when braking from high speed). The existing pads have loads of meat left on them, so they can be used on the new discs instead of buying a new set.

It made sense for them to do the brakes & wheel bearing at the same time, plus labour rates are reasonable.