[Sasquartch]

My 2012 328i has recently developed a brake judder.

This only happens under some circumstances and if gently braking from around 60mph the steering wheel shakes quite strongly and a vibration is felt through the car. Once the speed has dropped to around 35mph the vibration goes away. Heavy braking seems to induce much less judder

Not sure if it's related but around 4000 miles the brake pads were changed. I don't remember any judder at the time they were changed and I drove 1400 miles across Europe since the pads were changed so I'm not convinced it's the pads. The discs were not changed

Its possible of course that changing the pads and disks might cure it but I'm not convinced

It's almost as though there's a resonance rather than something not running true - I don't believe it's 'warped' discs if even such a thing exists as I would expect the fault to be present at all speeds. At low speed around town you wouldn't know there's a problem

I had thought it might be thrust arm bushes (I had a similar issue on my old E39) but cant find any particular reference to these failing on an F30. I did find one site (US) that implied they were solid rather than fluid filled like the E39 ones were so perhaps they don't fail

Car has only done 45k but the roads are pretty potholed round my way and 18" wheels obviously mean a lot of road imperfections are passed straight through to the suspension components.

Has anyone had any similar issues and what was the cure ?

I'm going to have the wheels off tomorrow and have a look, also I'm going to replace the front tyres next week.

[Mr NSB]

Could it be wheels out of balance now the tyres are wearing.

[djcowlin]

You're right to say that brake disk 'warping' is an urban myth. Disks can (and do) corrode, however, and imperfections on the face of the disk can produce the symptoms you describe. This is typically noticeable initially on long decelerations, e.g. on motorway slip roads, and generally indicates that a new set of front disks is needed. I had exactly this on my 330d after as little as 16K miles.

[Watsey]

Faces of the pads can corrode onto the disks if the car is parked in wet conditions. This leaves pad deposits which can cause judder.

I'd recommend you bed your brakes, properly, to clean the faces of the disks and to get even pad transference.

[Craig-SM]

Pad deposits as above. A serious of harder stops will bring the heat up enough to remove it.

[teaston]

Follow this bedding in procedure:

https://ebcbrakes.com/articles/bedding-in/

[HighlandPete]

If there is corrosion on the discs, that can cause judder at specific speeds and brake loadings. Hard to get rid of judder if the corrosion becomes patchy around the disc faces.

[Watsey]

I was getting some judder from my StopTech front disks. An EVO track session, with multiple hard braking from 120mph, sorted them out a treat.