just wanted to post this info in case anyone else is searching

i got some recall service done on my A4 last week and the dealer did a nice lil inspection too. so for the brake pads, my fronts were in the yellow and rears were in the green. the yellow area is defined as "6 to 9 mm remaining" and anything under 5mm is in the red. so my assumption is that the wear sensor/warning light would indicate when the pads have 5mm or less on them.

if anyone else knows more specifically, feel free to correct me

 

I wouldn't bet on it. Dealership told me I had 8mm on the front and the warning light started coming on sporadically about a week later. Now, 3 weeks later, it's on most of the time. I haven't taken it in, but I'm assuming it is time to change them and I know I didn't burn off 3mm in a week or two.

 

hmm thats interesting. about a year ago i got my tires rotated at firestone and they showed me some colored sticks that were supposed to show how much brake pad i had left, just to sell some extra ripoff services. of course when i checked my pads myself they were no where near ready to replace. iv tried to search for a specific wear level but i guess i just have to wait for the warning light

 

I found that when the light goes on we had between 200-400 miles left before the pads wore out and would ruin the rotors. Of course it depends on how you use the brakes but that was my prediction. So if you plan to replace the rotors then drive it until you start to hear the grinding and then replace pads and rotors. Looking how the sensor wires are inbedded in the pads I would change the pads as soon as the light comes on full time.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll take care of it as soon as I can. I am half expecting to have to replace the rotors anyway, though. Seems like it's just expected to replace them.

 

If you have OEM rotors you will see the min thickness stamped on the rotor. If they are worn more then half way then consider replacing them . If less then just slap on new pads and off you go.

 

Your brake pads warning will come on when the inner pads hit 3mm. Yellow is 4-6.

 

thanks, audi tek. so i should have quite awhile until the warning goes off? i can see a lot is still there but not sure when the warning will go off

 

Yea when the light comes on you can still get 3,000 to 5,000 miles out of them before you go metal to metal depending on how you drive

 

On my last service visit at the dealer they told me my rear pads were at around 4mm and strongly suggested I should replace them. It has been over 5,000 miles since then and I have not yet seen the warning light. Is this possible? Could I have a failure in the warning sensors? i only do city driving, with lots of stops, and I break hard before a turn when I drive "enthusiastically" if you know what I mean. My breaks haven't felt even slightly off from usual, and break pedal feels solid too. To the naked eye it looks like I should change them soon, but what's the easiest way to check more precisely? Is there a tool for this?