When I bought my max I replaced the Pads with non-ceramic ones and usually got a little bit of squeal especially when the the car was cold.

So, I painted my calipers the other day with the pads still on
and the result? no more squeal! I don't know why, but I just thought I'd share.

The squeal was probably the pad vibrating/rubbing against the caliper... when you painted the caliper - you probably got paint on the pad too essentially have bound the pad and caliper together with paint... so the pad doesn't rub against the caliper anymore... Not sure if you really want to bind the pad to the caliper... should really be able to move to adjust to the rotor... and brake pedal pressure...

That's why you use the synthetic grease they give you whenver you buy pads to put between moving parts, hence, behind the pad, where it meets the rotor. . .

Normally you DO NOT put any grease between the pad and rotor - you apply the anti-squeal stuff (not grease) on the shims/pad surface where the caliper grabs the pad.. I believe this is what you (NmexMAX) meant right?

As I stated earlier, the pads should NOT be bound in any way to the caliper itself - other than the retaining clips...

Anti-squeal stuff, usually = some sort of lubricant, but yea, "anti-squeal stuff" works too.

i tried semi-metallic, and 2 sets of ceramic pads to get rid of my brake squeal... switched to organic pads and they're quiet now

WOW!!! You're absolutely right. Talk about misinformation, lubricating the rotors to eliminate squealing defies logic and safety.

Usually a shim eilminates the noise, and all that does is dampen any vibration between the piston and back of the pad. It's about as think as foil. I've never needed to replace them with OEM though.