I have been researching the heck out of what ceramic brake pads to buy for my 05 s4. I actually had a little bit of difficulty finding a place that had ceramic front and rear pad set that came with sensors.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what kind of brake pads to buy?

The brake dust I get is freaking insane, does anyone know what brand is the best at reducing brake dust?

Also, while on the subject, has anyone tried to paint their brake calipers? How did that go?

 

Well, apparently everyone uses stock brake pads, and has no preference. I will just jot some notes down in case some hapless shep such as myself wanders around on the web trying to find out about aftermarket brake pads.

I decided to go with EBC "redstuff". I'm installing them this weekend, and will update this a little later with how they do.

Couple questions I have going into the job:
1.) What type of bolt head is on the caliper bolt (regular, allen, etc)?
2.) Do I need a special tool to push the piston back into place (more specifically, the rear piston)?

 

hawk is a good brand for brake pads but a little pricey. i used the duplicolor caliper kit on my bmw and really liked the results. i went with red and i plan to do the same thing to my car when i get some new wheels. as for the caliper bolt its a regular head, i want to say 17mm but 22mm is lingering in the back of my head. its the larger bolt back there. as for the pistons i've only delt with the front brakes and was able to push the piston back just using 2 clamps and a piece of wood.

 

For what it's worth, whenever I've done brake jobs I use the existing pad instead of a piece of wood to push the pistons back into the caliper. I've never done an Audi brake job, so I may just be full of @#$%!.

I'm interested to hear how the brake job goes. I was reading on another forum how Audi quoted some guy $600 to replace pads and rotors. I suppose with the rotors tacked on that figure makes sense but holy crap. $600. Ugh.

 

Ok, so I got some definitive answers to my lingering questions, and found some cool websites.

I found a website that had a pic by pic DIY for changing the front pads on the B6 S4. It was at http://www.audiworld.com/tech/ You have to navigate throught the site to find what you need, but is the best DIY website I have found so far.

I also found a website that was focused on A6, but it basically applied to the B6 s4. http://www.audiworld.com/tech/wheel24.shtml

Here are the answers to my questions:
1.) What type of bolt head is on the caliper bolt (regular, allen, etc)? ALLEN, 7mm
2.) Do I need a special tool to push the piston back into place (more specifically, the rear piston)? I found this info at http://www.audiworld.com/tech/wheel24.shtml Yes, I had to buy a tool from harbor freight, HarborFreight.com for about $30 (item # 40732) it is designed to help push the rear piston in, since it is threaded. I got mine on sale for $20!!! Well worth it.....
If the EBC redstuff pads end up sucking junk, I will be sure to post something.

 

na.. for the threaded rear caliper just use a c clamp and some medium sized channel locks.. apply a small amount of pressure (when the c clamp can get no tighter) and then turn the piston with the channel locks.. it works perfect.. and for the front calipers just compress them slowly and evenly and dont have any of the other calipers off the slides as they may come loose and pop out the piston .. then you have to reinsert the piston and make sure that there is no leaks...