Aftermarket swaybar links..?..mine with the helm joint fittings wore out and rattled. Have you checked the tightness of the strut top nuts and the 3 top mounting bolts ?
My only real figure since I swap out pads before there are worn past 50% would be a set of Carbotech's which I wore down to 25% and the "cheap rotors" were just below the minimum thickness mark after about 10,000 miles/16,200 kms of a 95 mile daily commute on a twisty, climbing elevation 2 lane...
Have liked the bite of more aggressive ft. brake pads on my 08 MS3..Carbotech A's, HPS +, for example but hated the squealing..the Hawks were actually worse than the Carbotechs. Had used these pads with the permatex no squeal blue goo and high grade rotors like DBA's. Carbotechs were pretty...
A couple of things I noted after watching the great YouTube instruction video..as mentioned elsewhere you might want to disconnect the battery. I didn't..got a bunch of air circ. motor recycling when I disconnected the harnesses from the fuse panel and then a DTC on start up after...
Brake pads not having hi temp grease on the slide area notches particularly in dry, sandy areas (San Antonio?) will wear down the corresponding area on the aluminum "bridge" mentioned above, particularly since the pad plates are steel. New bridges..not that expensive..or shims (a temp fix as...