This weekend I changed the front discs and pads on my 2007 A3 Sportsback  2.0tdi which has covered approx 145k miles.

I bought a new set of Mintex discs and pads on eBay for around £50 and I was really pleased with the quality when they arrived.

I swapped the discs and pads on the front near side first and it was only when I did the offside that I realised I had made an error.

My mistake was that I failed to see that the inner pads have spring clips to hold them in the caliper piston whilst the outer set don't. When I assembled the near side pads I correctly inserted the inner pad to the piston using the spring clip, however when I fitted the outer pad I used the inner pad with the spring clip intended for the off side.

This means the off side caliper is using an inner pad without the spring clip to hold it in the caliper piston.

My question is therefore does this matter and why does the inner pad need to be clipped in the piston?

I have driven the car and all seems fine but should I disassemble and swap the pads over?

All info welcome.

Hello Adrian,

Yes, you should take this apart and reassemble it correctly. 

Mintex ??  Were once a well respected make, but regrettably now just a bought out brand name to add some supposed credence to their manufacture.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

I have not changed the pads on mine, nevertheless I agree with Gareth. The clips exist for a reason; if they were unnecessary they wouldn't be fitted and pads would be cheaper.