Heinz, how clean are the discs? Is there any signs of areas where the pads have stayed in contact leaving a pad shaped area visible?
If the car has been idle in the garage for a while then the small pads gap to the disc may lead to this area being affected. Many owners report brakes sticking slightly after a period of non use. This sticking can leave a rough/lightly corroded area where the pad meets the stationary disc, and this then shows up as a shudder, especially at any sort of speed. I had this many years ago on a car after a period of non use. New discs and pads needed!
Sospan, when the last change was made it was to see exactly this area on the disc the way you describe it. And perhaps it is no coincidence that the stronger shudder happens now after she was parked away since late October, only driven two short times until this march.
Anyway I will have to watch again the surface of the brake disc.
Jack the lad, my feel is also that the quality of hardware in general is worse than in the past.
They perhaps find better methods to give a product a better calculated period of working life span than it was possible in earlier times.
...Or the other possibility, a product is just cheap and low quality. I don't know if e.g. the brake discs of the 4/4 are also offered from different manufacturers with same disc size?
Or I must invest in ventilated brake discs and consequently wider brake calipers. It is more expensive but I have learned by three times now how long the standard solution will last (assuming no other reason would cause the issue). On the other hand regarding the brake force any ventilated discs on my little 4/4 are not a need, it would only make sense perhaps to prevent too much heat building up.
