Just got the call.

Cool, hope that does the trick

Two calipers seizing sounds a bit unlikely to me. Hope it isn't a fault with the ABS.

I'd expect to smell brakes so badly seized they affected the performance. See them in the dark, too. ;-)

When a brake bound on my old BX, I could smell it and see it because the brake disk was close to white hot.

They were, and he did say he rinsed them off before he would let the mechanics anyway near.

I just put it down to Toyota pads. All through the world, Lexus get Akebono ceramic pads. Except europe where Akebonos aren't emarked. So they get standard Toyota pads which I've always found are some of the dustiest arround.

On the GT4 and on the Celsior standard pads made the wheels thick within within days of being washed.

With Akebonos I fitted to the GT4, you barely got any visible dust between monthly washes.

Bloody hell, well done. Esther must have done the trick ;-)

Good stuff. I forget the exact thing with wobbling, but people mentioned it might be propshaft related (or to the coupling, or something) - is that something that could have just been related to sticking brakes, or are they going to investigate that further as well?

If only one was binding but they are replacing both (like shocks, discs and pads) that might cause it. Hope they checked the discs too incase the binding caliper has caused warping. Guess they will find it still wobbles if the there is still a problem.

Ditto on my old 405, but I could smell it in the car, VERY strongly after about the first 2 minutes of the journey even though it was only binding a small amount.

Thirded, my uncle's Renault 25 rear brakes stank in the car. I'd done a massive handbrake turn in it, and they somehow locked on. I drove the car home and they were just so hot...

Well, if you clutched it and coasted in any gear, at any speed, it dropped off rapidly not just normal slowing, and at crawling speed it would stop. With normal commuting, not a nasty ragging track session, about 420miles over 1.5 weeks, the front wheels were absolutley manky black. When I got it the wheels were spotless shiney like new.

My BMW does that in days of town driving. ;-)

Incidentally, front wheel wobble is common on BMWs of a certain mileage - worn balljoints in the track control arms. But it's difficult to check as they're fluid filled and always have some movement. Perhaps it's a 3 series copy in more ways than just looks?

Maybe right. It seems a wobble is common with them. Most common cause is warped front discs (this car has had 2 sets in 8 years). But other causes that have cured it for other drivers on the club forum have been. Front lower ball joints. Warped front hub face (and needs new wheelbearing). Sagging or cracked rear transmission cradle (causes the prop to sag out of line and also trans to move). Sticky calipers Rear suspension arm, front bushes.

All appear to be able to cause the same wobble through the steering, all can either stay at certain speed or go off after as while, and all cure it when the right cause is found. It stays as severe until the right one is done. So it doesn't look like cumulative wear.

There may be a little balljoint wear, but if the rear bushes have a little too much play the front balljoints won't change how much it wobbles.

Has caused a lot of gnashing of teeth on the owners forum. Seems to just about be the only complaint mechanically.

Nothing unusual there with modern pads - BMW discs struggle to last more than two sets. They have the minimum thickness stamped on the hub for easy checking.

BMW forums tend to be full of the same things. Warped discs - bent this or that. Faulty tyres/ wheel balancing. But more often than not comes down to the track control arm bushes. Luckily complete aftermarket arms are a reasonable price and not too difficult to change.

Dunno. Although strut front suspension has always been prone to wheel wobble from early Ford Consul days.

At least that's something.

The biggest other complain is regarding the CD players. They are indash 6 discs. And either they give error1 with burned discs (which means I can feel a disc but I can't read it) or error 3 with any discs, which is a loading fault. For error 3, you need to unplug to clear it, then dismantle to remove the disc, because with the error 3 it won't eject, then once you have cleared it, it won't accept a disc is there, and it won't eject what isn't there.

The replacement unit is £1000. The tricks arround it are buying a breakout box that sits between the HU and the factory amp, this gives access to full iPod control through the "external changer" setting of the headunit and do the same for SD cards, as well as line in for other players. The makers are also working on a version that can do the same for usb sticks/hdds as external changers.

The second option is a bypass cable that takes the factory amp out of the equation and is plug and play amp connector to ISOs, and a nasty plastic dual din adaptor, so you can run a modern bluetooth/mp3/cd/radio/nav headunit it place. Of course that can vary between £300-3000 all in.

I like the sound of the factory unit though, so I would probably add a parrot system for the bluetooth and enjoy what I have.

If the factory CD packs up, I will get one of the breakout boxes for the USB version and fill a laptop HDD with tracks and playlists.

I got used to replacing pads and discs at the same time on the Rover and the Volvo. MB brakes seem more resilient, considering this is the heaviest car I've ever owned the original discs are still on at 108k miles, pads lasted

On the S60 I improved things by fitting softer Ferodo pads and harder Brembo discs, The OE ones were effective but didn't last long - the mild upgrade meant longer disc life and no fade with repeated high speed braking.

Original pads at 80k? That's a helluva lot of motorway mileage.

Or tyre wear/front end damage.