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I'm not certain about eh '06 but the '07 rear pads are "glued" to the backing plates so there are no rivets that will eat into your rotors (thus, presumably, if monitored, you could take them "close" to the plates w/o damaging the rotors. 3mm is getting there but perhaps it could be stretched to 1.5mm?
A dealer is going to tell you to replace the pads when they think they will wear out before your next oil change. If you are using the 10k interval, then if you monitor the wear you come in to get them replaced when they need it rather than 5 or 10k miles before. Of course, if coming in for service in between oil changes is too much of a hassle then may its not worth the savings.
SAAB policy is to change the rotors with the pads. If you are going to follow their recommendations then you probably don't need to be too worried about damaging the rotors by wearing down the pads (of course, if you hit metal then there are obvious safety issues, though you would still have fronts, and you would need to get the rears done quickly thereafter and do both pads/rotors). I'm no expert but I don't believe there is a strong technical reason to replace the rotors with the pads (I'm sure its "optimal" to do both and ensure even wear but may not be "necessary". Rotors aren't cheap and I would be inclined to try replacing the "pads only" at least the first time perhaps for 2 or 3 times before the rotors are replaced. Rotors at 20k seems a bit extreme. I do think if you get new rotors you should get new pads, so the risk is that if you replace pads only and it doesn't work (squeaks, pulses etc) then to fix you will replace pads+rotors (thereby doubling the pad cost paid out). Of course, if it works fine, then you haven't wasted lots of money on new rotors.
You may also want to pay more attention to how you drive. Perhaps you are doing lots of stop/go or city driving and its not your fault but some folks just tend to wear out brakes faster because of the way they drive (the "give it gas, then brake" cycle rather than a more moderate cruise/coast/downshifting w/ less braking overall and less hard braking). At the extreme some folks are constantly braking and accelerating. That said, you are not the only one to replace pads at 20k mi. Mine rears were at 5mm at 20k but I do lots of hwy commuting. I'm guessing they will need replacing around 30k at the current rate (which is not great but not too bad given the brakes work so well). Pads and rotors lasted much longer on my prior c900, but, then again, they didn't really stop the car too well either.
Good luck.
Pat
'07 2.0T
'87 900T (RIP)
posted by 129.162....
, Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:34:00, Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:37:39
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