BassicC7

My 2012 A6 started doing this at about 5,000 miles. I first noticed a squeal coming from the passenger side. Then a few days later I noticed a rough grinding noise and feel any time I applied the brakes and the car was cold (mornings, after work). Just took it in to my dealer this week to complain. I got the same response as most have given here...namely that this is "normal" for high performance brakes. I say hogwash. I made the problem "go away" by applying the brakes a little more aggressively at stop lights. Of course, I'm going through the brake pad's life faster.

The dealer told me that if it is really bothering me, they would sand the rotors and pads down a bit to remove the glazing. It would only last for a short time, he said.

My $18k Accord never did this.

NVThs1

I am glad I am not the only one with this complaint. It is driving me nuts. In the area where I drive, I have one of the nicest cars, yet mine sounds like the POS that I often pass. My tech has heard that Hawk brand brake pads help eliminate this issue. I personally have not researched it enough or tried them out. Does anyone watching this thread have any knowledge of Hawk pads? I think down the road I will be upgrading my brakes in general to Stassis or something comparable, but for the time being maybe some pads will make me happy.

It is funny that they say high performance brakes do this, but when I get the loaner Q7 S-line 3.0T, I don't get the brake issue.

NVThs1

I am glad I am not the only one with this complaint. It is driving me nuts. In the area where I drive, I have one of the nicest cars, yet mine sounds like the POS that I often pass. My tech has heard that Hawk brand brake pads help eliminate this issue. I personally have not researched it enough or tried them out. Does anyone watching this thread have any knowledge of Hawk pads? I think down the road I will be upgrading my brakes in general to Stassis or something comparable, but for the time being maybe some pads will make me happy.

It is funny that they say high performance brakes do this, but when I get the loaner Q7 S-line 3.0T, I don't get the brake issue.

Taktix1

I also complained about brake noise to my advisor. He stated that it is "normal" for the sport brakes and that upon inspecting my brakes everything is in spec. They did say that they cleaned the brakes/rotors and that seems to have helped a lot. I havent heard the squeal for a few days now.

Brooklyn

this problem plagued the b8 S4 community and was most prominent during cold weather. Audi's answer initially was "high performance brakes yo!" and at one point they even had brochures informing you that this was normal. Eventually a TSB came out for the B8 S4 that I believe instructed the dealer to change the pads and/or rotors, or something to that effect. Not sure if this would apply to the A6 as well. It ultimately didn't stop on my B8 S4 until I changed pads/rotors. So far it's been pretty damn cold here in the DC area and no noise detected. So far.

Taktix1

yeah I'm in the DC area too, it's def been cold. After they cleaned up my brakes/rotors I haven't heard it come back...yet. I had this issue in my G37c also, with the same response, "high performance brakes yo!" lol. I'm hoping there's some kind of fix for this as it's pretty annoying pulling up to a light making all the noise in a brand new car.