[dirtyfreebooter]

does anyone know if the cobalt brakes (front and rear) have the cut out for the BMW brake sensor?

https://www.cobaltbrakes.com/shop/p/...gl-6wd2r-r3x5h

https://www.cobaltbrakes.com/shop/p/...2r-r3x5h-99ptx

[dirtyfreebooter]

so it appears they don't have the wear sensor cut out. does anyone know what are the implications of not having the wear sensor? is there a check engine light at all times? or do you just don't get wear notifications?

edit

guess you just zip tie them to the side or cut the sensor wires and fuse them together 😀

[Boomer 2019]

Cobalt pads are race pads, and as such do not have attachment points for wear sensors. I have my sensors tied up out of the way and will reattach them when I swap out the race pads for street pads prior to trade in / sale. No CEL - no wear notifications. These pads will probably only be used by people who regularly track their cars as they would be rather expensive overkill for non track drivers. Track drivers have no need for wear sensors as we keep track of pad wear, and the status of many other components on an almost daily basis.

[beachBmmr]

Originally Posted by dirtyfreebooter

so it appears they don't have the wear sensor cut out. does anyone know what are the implications of not having the wear sensor? is there a check engine light at all times? or do you just don't get wear notifications?

edit

guess you just zip tie them to the side or cut the sensor wires and fuse them together 😀

Dont cut the wires, it will trip brake warnings

[moproblems]

Originally Posted by dirtyfreebooter

so it appears they don't have the wear sensor cut out. does anyone know what are the implications of not having the wear sensor? is there a check engine light at all times? or do you just don't get wear notifications?

edit

guess you just zip tie them to the side or cut the sensor wires and fuse them together 😀

I broke the rear sensor swapping pads. The good old fashioned Crip connector the wires worked a treat.

[jmg]

Just zip tie them somewhere safe. Don't cut them. No CEL no codes, no problems!

[dirtyfreebooter]

so looking at the stock setup, it appears you have to remove the caliper to swap the pads? it appears unlike the f8x, the g8x caliper, part of the housing itself goes over the middle, so you can't just remove the pins and slide the pads out the back?

the stock pads also seem to have some round silver weights on them.. do i need to transfer those over to the track pads (cobalts)?

[moproblems]

Originally Posted by dirtyfreebooter

so looking at the stock setup, it appears you have to remove the caliper to swap the pads? it appears unlike the f8x, the g8x caliper, part of the housing itself goes over the middle, so you can't just remove the pins and slide the pads out the back?

the stock pads also seem to have some round silver weights on them.. do i need to transfer those over to the track pads (cobalts)?

Correct. Caliper nuts are 80ftlbs knock the pins out first and fight the caliper off. And no those weights are for vibration and are riveted to the brake pad.

[beachBmmr]

Originally Posted by dirtyfreebooter

so looking at the stock setup, it appears you have to remove the caliper to swap the pads? it appears unlike the f8x, the g8x caliper, part of the housing itself goes over the middle, so you can't just remove the pins and slide the pads out the back?

the stock pads also seem to have some round silver weights on them.. do i need to transfer those over to the track pads (cobalts)?

Get a brake hanger bracket, makes it much easier to hang your caliper off the strut.

Tap the pins out with a punch.
Remove the two caliper bolts.
shimmy the caliper off the bolts. (I sometimes need to use a rubber mallet to convince it to move, but if you keep it level it should slide off.
use a piston retractor to push all the pistons in at the same time. The cobalts new need the pistons ALL THE WAY back to fit over the rotor.

BE CAREFUL PUSHING PISTONS IN BY HAND. I popped one out accidentally, and it drained the caliper of brake fluid...They pop back in, but then you need to bleed, and reset the computer.

Use a non corrosive brake lube and put the new pads in.Slide the pads in, and slide the caliper back over the rotor

Use a punch, or screwdriver to line up the pads with the guide pin holes. Push the pins back in all the way, and tap with a hammer from the back.

Tighten the caliper nuts.

Then do the other side.

ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL - pump the brakes BEFORE YOU START THE CAR, if you dont, it will throw brake malfunction that will disable brake assist. You will need to clear that code with bimmerlink.

Rears are easy, use bimmerlink to retract the parking brake motor.

[moproblems]

Originally Posted by beachBmmr

Get a brake hanger bracket, makes it much easier to hang your caliper off the strut.

Tap the pins out with a punch.
Remove the two caliper bolts.
shimmy the caliper off the bolts. (I sometimes need to use a rubber mallet to convince it to move, but if you keep it level it should slide off.
use a piston retractor to push all the pistons in at the same time. The cobalts new need the pistons ALL THE WAY back to fit over the rotor.

BE CAREFUL PUSHING PISTONS IN BY HAND. I popped one out accidentally, and it drained the caliper of brake fluid...They pop back in, but then you need to bleed, and reset the computer.

Use a non corrosive brake lube and put the new pads in.Slide the pads in, and slide the caliper back over the rotor

Use a punch, or screwdriver to line up the pads with the guide pin holes. Push the pins back in all the way, and tap with a hammer from the back.

Tighten the caliper nuts.

Then do the other side.

ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL - pump the brakes BEFORE YOU START THE CAR, if you dont, it will throw brake malfunction that will disable brake assist. You will need to clear that code with bimmerlink.

Rears are easy, use bimmerlink to retract the parking brake motor.

I swapped back to my blues today and even with the car off it threw the brake error. I'd just bank on it needing to be reset every time.

Also, the FSM states do not use any brake lube on the pads or calipers up front. Car was bone dry from the factory and I'll leave it that way.

[dirtyfreebooter]

so are the bolts/nuts on the front calipers not "torque to yield" type? where they would need to be replaced each time? i know that sounds stupid, but a lot of cars are that way, as removing the caliper is not common...

[dirtyfreebooter]

Originally Posted by moproblems

Correct. Caliper nuts are 80ftlbs knock the pins out first and fight the caliper off. And no those weights are for vibration and are riveted to the brake pad.

so are you saying the caliber bolts/nuts are 80 ft lbs torque spec? for tightening them back up?

[dirtyfreebooter]

so i called my dealer and asked about the caliper torque to yield situation on the bolt/nut for front caliper, indeed the it says in the repair manual to replace the nuts, x4 of them, BMW wants $11 per M8 nut, lol.

$50 after tax for 4 M8 nuts each time you want to change your pads?

definitely see it in the leaked torque spec PDF as well, says, "replace nuts" and has the nut torque at 95nm (~70 ft lbs)

also cup2s getting mounted tomorrow

[Triton88]

I just installed the cobalt pads on the rears, doing the fronts tomorrow, i wanted to add because it was not obvious to me and i didn't see it mentioned anywhere, there is only a pad sensor on the passenger rear.

I did the driver rear first, spent like 2 hours re-watching every video and going WTF as i couldn't find the sensor.

[Boomer 2019]

Originally Posted by Triton88

I just installed the cobalt pads on the rears, doing the fronts tomorrow, i wanted to add because it was not obvious to me and i didn't see it mentioned anywhere, there is only a pad sensor on the passenger rear.

I did the driver rear first, spent like 2 hours re-watching every video and going WTF as i couldn't find the sensor.

BMW's have only 2 pad sensors...left front & right rear. I am not aware of any "race pads" that have pad sensor attach points. People who track drive frequently need to be aware of the status of their pads and other "bits" and "stuff" on an ongoing basis. Proactive rather than reactive. Buy an inexpensive brake pad measurement tool and use it.

[Triton88]

Yeah i wasn't trying to install the sensor on the pad, i had tripped it previously and needed to replace it. I just didn't realize it wasn't on both sets.

[dirtyfreebooter]

so doing the driver's side front, one of the pads wouldn't fit in, i had to file down the tops by hand. it wasn't the caliper, because the other pad fit fine on both sides.

The rear pads, one of the pads won't seat. The bell shaped tab in the middle of the back is hitting the caliper. It only seems to be 1 of the 4 rear pads doing that. i had to grind that down that tab in the back with a grinder and i still think that one pad sits 98/100 compared to the stock pad.

manufacturing tolerances of the cobalt seems to be a bit questionable.

i hope by the time i am through with these, other pads are available.

[Triton88]

I had one Front Pad that didn't fit very well also, had to file a very little bit.

[beachBmmr]

Ive had to grind down all my front EBCs to fit. Had zero issues with the cobalts front and rear.. Surprising..

[Boomer 2019]

I have installed 2 sets of fronts, and 3 sets of rears so far, and all of them slipped in with no issues. ??

[PLF69]

Also zero issues with the cobalts.

[dirtyfreebooter]

as an update, i got a set of Carbotech XP20 fronts and XP10 rears and they fit perfectly on first try, so i must have gotten a weird/bad batch with the cobalts. going to track june 9th and going to be using the cobalts to start