My 5 is parked outdoors and if I don’t drive it for a day or two there is a noticeable sound from the brakes and a little resistance as the car pulls away. It’s worse the longer the car is left standing. Is this normal, and is it a problem?
The brakes work well otherwise, no evidence of seized caliper, doesn’t pull to one side. Pads are about 50% all round.
Just wondering if I have a problem or I need to find something else to worry about.
Thanks
nothing to worry about mate.when you park your five up after a jouney with the handbrake on the rear pads stick to the caliper if left long enough.the clunk when yiu drive off (if having parked for a few days) is the pads freeing themslves from the disc.if your leaving it parked for a day or two standard practice is to leave the handbrake off and chock one or more wheels (not a good idea if its parked on street or on a hilll !) these days my five is my daily driver and this doesnt happen to mine anymore.hope this helps.
Hi Tim
I had a MK2 with the five spoke TSW wheels - dreadful for letting rain get to the discs and pads.
The solution is to drive the car daily when there is wet weather, park under cover or do what I did - put fertilizer bags over the front of the wheel, anchored on the top of each tyre with something heavy and a slab on the front.
The pads sticking is not normally a problem but badly rusted / pitted discs is. Keep an eye on the discs to make sure that the surface rust is clearing.
If a car is parked up for a few days, and not used, the brake discs will attract a certain amount of surface rust, and when used again, the brakes will be noisy for a few minutes until the normal action of pads on revolving discs cleans them up again - nothing to worry about.
Likewise, if the car is parked up for any length of time with the handbrake on, it is possible, almost normal, for the pads to stick to the discs, and upon first moving, the breaking of this binding will cause a bang, which can be quite disconcerting.
Both these things are quite normal for a seldomly-used car I’m afraid. Park up with the car in gear and the handbrake off, and maybe chock the wheels for added safety, especially if the car is stored on a public road, and the handbrake seizing on problem will be cured.
Quite normal. I don’t use handbrake when parked up at home, just leave it in gear, no problems then.