I am in need of replacement pads for the front wheels. I did the rears earlier in the year without any trouble, thanks to the input from this group. There were no wear sensors that I recall. However, looking for front pads I'm finding them listed with the sensors and I'm getting confused. I haven't looked underneath the car yet (the information was from the dealer yesterday when I was in for some warranty work and an inspection.) I also can't remember who I bought the rears from but I know they weren't anything hi-performance. Given that should I avoid anything with ceramics for the fronts? I'd hate to throw off the braking balance. Should have bought a full set when I got the rears, but that's water under the driveshaft now.

 

The sensors are not big deal, but yes you do need the pads with sensors. You just unplug the old ones and plug the new ones into the harness.

I put ceramics on the front of my wife's 3.0. Didn't notice any real difference except that the front wheels jsut don't get dirty anymore. Braking performance was not changed in any noticable way, even in slick winter conditions.

The rears are due soon so I'll likely be putting ceramics on the back too.

 

Funny, but on our A4 the rears have always been the dust generators instead of the fronts. We got the car with 12K on the clock so I doubt that they had ever been changed and the rears made it to around 30K IIRC.

I've got to get my head under the wheels this weekend and see what we have. Thanks for the info on the ceramics.