Wagner OEX 918 Brake Pad Issue - When Wet

[SharpAndCunning]

Hey All,

A while back I put Wagner OEX brand front pads on the front of the X1 a while back. Wagner didn't make the rear, so I bought Centric Ceremics for the rear, part number 105.11700.

I've noticed if it's raining hard and I'm on the highway, if I hit the brakes, it seems like they don't work for a split second . Almost like the old days with drum brakes, when you would drive through a big puddle and you'd have to dry them out. I will admit, It happened once or twice last winter when it was cold and snowing, but there was a couple of inches on the ground, and it felt more like I was sliding than the brakes weren't working. Today made it pretty obvious that wasn't the case.

It's not every time, but If I hit the brakes hard it actually seems to pull to the right a little and then the brakes grab.

I've had autozone ceramics and Akembo's before and never had anything like this. The Wagner and Centric seems to be a good middle of the road brand.

This only happens when it rains! On any other day it's fine. And It only seems to happen at speeds above 65mph. I tried to recreate this situation at 40mph a couple of times and never did it happen.

I feel dumb, but I've looked, and it's not like anything is missing or anything. All 4 rotors are smooth, theres not ridges or anything, and the brakes work really well dry. Certainly equal to or better than the OEM pads.

I did a coupe searches on review for both of them, and I didn't find anyone else with a similar problem.

[0w40X1]

I put same centrics on rear with stock not changed, yet, and brakes were less grabby.

Then, I put Akebono Euro918A on fronts, and they seem perfect.

Less dust, not grabby, but nice modulating braking.

I was in driving rain on hwy, and no troubles.

I don't think the Wagners you have are ceramic.

[SharpAndCunning]

Originally Posted by 0w40X1

I put same centrics on rear with stock not changed, yet, and brakes were less grabby.

Then, I put Akebono Euro918A on fronts, and they seem perfect.

Less dust, not grabby, but nice modulating braking.

I was in driving rain on hwy, and no troubles.

I don't think the Wagners you have are ceramic.

I checked and double checked, even the Wager site lists them as Ceramic. I posted the link.

I got a little scared, and I've been researching this a lot, and some other high end (Porche, BMW etc) that come factory installed with Ceramic Brakes the BMW CCB's have a feature that gently applies the brakes every few minutes on the highway while the wipers are on because this is a known problem.

Now, I know the CCB is like an 8-$10,000 brake upgrade and they can stand temperatures and conditions far far greater than my $75 pads.

https://www.wagnerbrake.com/find-my-...es=2014~BMW~X1


Is there anything I should check? Everything on the brakes is tight.

When I did the front brakes, I remembered the rotor screw didn't seem to tighten the rotors snug, but after some research it seems like those screws are really only used for assembly line installation.

[0w40X1]

Yeah, Wagner says ceramic without copper. The reviews on amazon are iffy at best, and say they squeal when cold.

Maybe stop hard a few times to get em hot and bed in.

The OEM BMW front pads I took off at 33k miles had about a 2 inch circle of tiny crystalized pad material falling off.

I had heard them once when driving after being laid up for a few months.

Rotors were in great condition, but I had seen a few lines from those crystals scratching and got the Akebonos on.

Surely those brakes will work or just get some other pad.

My Akebonos have copper. Is copper some new boogey man problem?

[SharpAndCunning]

Originally Posted by 0w40X1

Yeah, Wagner says ceramic without copper. The reviews on amazon are iffy at best, and say they squeal when cold.

Maybe stop hard a few times to get em hot and bed in.

The OEM BMW front pads I took off at 33k miles had about a 2 inch circle of tiny crystalized pad material falling off.

I had heard them once when driving after being laid up for a few months.

Rotors were in great condition, but I had seen a few lines from those crystals scratching and got the Akebonos on.

Surely those brakes will work or just get some other pad.

My Akebonos have copper. Is copper some new boogey man problem?

I should have mentioned, a couple of weeks ago I was getting a mild pulsation when breaking, so I went out and I tried to rebed in the brakes. If that was the issue, it should have fixed it. They work great when it's not pouring, and not at 65mph+ on the highway. Again, even in heavy rain, at speeds below 60 they work as expected. It's just on the highway.


I'm thinking they are trying to eliminate copper from brakes for some environmental reason. There are new laws in the US that are requiring manufacturers to reduce copper from brakes. I had to look it up.

[SharpAndCunning]

I wanted to post an update for everyone. Recently, i discovered that the X1 has an auto brake drying feature, which brings the rotors closer to the pads when the wipers are continuously on to remove water from the calipers.

It was sleeting the other day on the way home, and I noticed my brakes didn't seem to have this weird phenomenon.


It hit me. The wipers. The last couple of times it's snowed, I've found myself turning the wipers on and off (I find the auto is too fast for my liking, I wish it was 1/2 the speed it is on the lowest setting). But it was sleeting enough the other day that I didn't have to turn them off.


I did some searching and it turns out the X1 has brake drying. I tried it yesterday in the storm, I didn't use the wipers for 4/5 miles except for a quick click and the brakes too a second to grab.

So here's a public service announcement, don't ever not use your wipers, or turn off the automatic wipers because they streak or make noise, it deactivates, or really never activates the brake drying "feature".

I say feature, because I very much think this feature is in response to a poor design. I've never had a disk brake car in my life that had this problem, and I've had plenty of cars without delay wipers.