DIY brake squeal fix (maybe)

[jclaffee]

This is an already known documented problem with countless other threads. Someone advising to go get brand new parts for free with free labor and a loaner is not being a keyboard hero, its advising a person who may not know what is available. You seem offended by my response to the OP to offer him advice on the “known” free fix to the problem many 550 owners have had to resolve already. Is your advice to give him a thumbs up to repeatedly slam on his brakes until he smells burning for a “maybe” fix?

You may have never bedded in new brakes on a street car, race car, motorcylcle, mountain bike etc. What was described is how it's done properly. These or similar instructions come with high performance brake pads in all sorts of applications.

 

[jfalabrino]

Just turned 3,000 miles a haven't had any brake squeal at all. Maybe mine came update.

 

[RickBullotta]

I may have found at least a temporary fix for the squeaky brake problem. I did a brake bedding in procedure and the squeak has not come back for the last five days. For those that aren't familiar, bedding in brakes is a process that's normally used in performance or track cars. It "is a process where you heat up the brakes to transfer an even layer of brake pad material to the rotors, optimizing braking performance and preventing issues like brake judder" (from google). Here's what I did:
Find an empty road where you can safely drive fast and come to a stop several times.
Accelerate to 20 MPH, and brake as hard as possible without activating ABS to ~5/10 MPH. Don't lock your brakes, and don't stop completely.
Do the same as above but to 30 MPH.
Again to 40, then 50, then 60. I did the 60 MPH cycle a couple more times just to be sure. You might start to smell your brakes cooking a bit. This is ok.
Since then I've had a tiny squeak only one time in the last 5 days, and that was the day after I did this. I don't know if this is a long-term fix, but at least for now my luxury SUV doesn't sound like a clunker.

Side note... something neat I noticed while doing this: when I was standing on the brakes from 60 to 10 MPH and the GX's nose was pointed down, the headlights automatically aimed up, the re-aimed once it leveled out. I always wondered about the up/down thing the headlights do at startup.

That's actually recommended practice for my Macan GTS - periodically do a run up to 70 then brake hard to clean crud off the rotors and pads.