I am starting on the Front Brakes now- I have the 4 pads per caliper Brake system on the front. It is the larger one and most of what I have read doesn't address this system.

1) There is a little "nipple" plus bolt (see pictures) blocking what looks to be the first set of hex bolts that I need to remove- Is that the bleeder bolt- and is it normal to need to remove that to access the bolt?

2) Are those hex bolts the correct ones to remove first...

Clearly I am reluctant to start taking off the bleeder as I have heard horror stories of breaking it and such..
Anyone with knowledge (or some pointers..) would be greatly appreciated..

--first two pictures are for a visual- of the braking system- 3rd is top down showing the nipple bolt in front of the hex bolt. 4th is from inside the well- back at me- showing the bolt blocking... and 5th is the lower bolt-not blocked. I can't exactly tell what the bolt or slider is next to the hex- but it did have a cover over it...

That's a lot of questions, here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/57832/Audi/A...2%20Brakes.pdf (i have no idea why the images got inverted).

Are you just trying to take off the rotors and brake pads or are you trying to replace the calipers?

just remove the larger 18mm bolts to remove the caliper.

I am trying to replace the rotors as well as the pads- so the link for the pads helped- now I need to be sure about removing the rotors-

the 18mm bolt... I saw two large bolts on the back but they are larger than 18mm... are those the ones you are talking about... Just below to the left- of the slider...?

those two are 21mm if I remember correctly. Pull those (They can be seriously stuck on there) and the caliper comes right off.

I have a 2004 2.7t S line. How do i know if i have a 2 pad caliper or a 4 pad?

Thanks alot

Spanky

1. Hold up left hand
2. fold a finger down for each pad you see in the left caliper
3. count the number of fingers that are still ectended
4 subtract that number from 5 and you have the number of pads you have in each caliper.
Multiply that number by two and you'll know the nunber of pads needed to do the front of your vehicle.

Spanky, look here for pic of 2 pads / wheel or 4/wheel.
Audi Brake Rotor Options - How To Measure Audi Brake Rotor Size Also, if you are changing rotors be aware there are different sizes, Same link discusses that to.