The first weekend of March, my brother and I installed Centric 120 Series rotors and StopTech pads on my 2008 BMW 528xi. The stuff was purchased from RockAuto. Rotors were $69/each, pads were $70, and shipping was $29.
The job went fine and everything seemed good initially, but a shudder developed and got to the point where I was concerned and took it in to the dealer where the technician(s) concluded that the rotors were badly warped and had to be replaced.
I contacted RockAuto and they won't do squat. Their response was as follows:
After explaining the situation to technician at Centric I was informed that "warping" is not covered under warranty. The following information was given to me by the technician at Centric:
Rotors do not "warp," they develop "thickness variations" because of things going on with the pad friction material and the rotors. The pad does not distribute an even layer on the rotor. He said mentioned many reasons, one of which was installation issues. If the rotor is installed with excessive run out, it will create vibration in the pedal. He said that run out on a rotor should not exceed 0.0002 of an inch. Measuring run out is done by using a dial indicator that spins around the rotor to give the measurement.
Because any credit for warranty returns would need to be issued directly from the manufacturer, we will not be able to issue you any credit in any form. If you have any further questions about Centric's policy, you can find out more information on their website. If you would like to contact them, they have a link on the contact us page of their website (
http://www.centricparts.com/index.ph...id=2&Itemid=60) where you can email them or call. Unfortunately there is nothing further we can do on our end about this issue, as Centric's warranty covers material and workmanship flaws and states that unless there was a casting flaw in the rotors which is not the case in your situation, they are not covered under warranty.
In other words they're telling me to [censored] off. It seems like Centric's so-called warranty doesn't cover squat.
This was my first RockAuto purchase and first purchase of Centric products. I doubt I'll ever use either one again.
Anyone have similar issues with installing aftermarket rotors and pads? I guess lesson learned, just bit the bullet and stick with OEM replacements.