Hey all,

So, a few days ago I had the radio down and noticed a squeaking sound when I brake the Mini. It's not the "change your brakes" squeak but more of a something you'd throw WD-40 on squeak. Here are the details!

• It only happens when I press the brakes.
• It doesn't occur during acceleration or deceleration without brakes (just taking my foot off the gas).
• It happens when I 'ease' into braking i.e. normal braking. If I wait a little bit to brake and press into it a littler harder, I don't hear the noise.
• The car doesn't pull to any one side or brake with any less stopping power than before I noticed this. It literally drives and brakes the same as it always has, it just makes an insanely annoying and uncomfortable noise.
• I have never seen any leaks while parked - not saying that if something broke it didn't just break and leak something all over the freeway.

The other day my buddy and I were outside trying to figure it out and we noticed that it sounded creaky, like a noise a frame would make or something like that. When we leaned onto the car (front passenger wheel btw) and pressed down on it repeatedly, it made the squeaky noise. (Think the cliché squeaky sex bed noise) That makes us think it's not the brakes but a shock? Spring? Whatever?

Thanks to the awesomeness of my iPhone, I was able to record some video of this sound in action. It's 'rotational' in sound which, well, I don't know what it means. Here's the link to the video - it should just let you view it in the browser. If it doesn't, let me know and I'll figure it out.

Anyway, does anyone have any idea what this could mean? I searched the forum and didn't find much in the way of people experiencing the same thing. So, any hints or actual answers would be very helpful. Thanks!

 

Have you taken the wheel off to take a look at the components behind it, ie... brake pads, rotor, strut, strut mount top, etc... It could be any number of these things that are getting pressure applied once braking. My guess is brake dust build up. Give them a good cleaning and see if the problem goes away.

 

Hey there. I've not yet taken the wheel off as I was hoping that maybe the video and description in the post would give people an idea of what it was and I'd know exactly what I was looking for. A couple months ago, I did replace the rotors and brakes but there was never any noise immediately afterward, it all started last week or weekend. I don't see much dust on the rims from the brakes (they were effing filthy from the old pads each time I washed it) and since they're new, do you think the dust could be the issue? I've got not problem checking it out but that's not one I'd thought of. I guess I'll just try getting to this some time this week and then go from there.

I'm leaning towards the struts (or shocks, not sure which MINIs have yet) but I'll definitely keep you posted here!

 

Hey man, so get this: when I washed the car on Thursday, I made it a point to spray the rims and all that with the cleaner from the car wash and the squeak went away! So, you mentioned that it could be brake dust or something like that and it seems like maybe the brakes were just dirty or something! It's raining today so I can't take the wheel off but I'll be keeping an eye on all of this going forward. I'm glad that it doesn't appear to actually be a major issue but it was very disconcerting when it was happening. I'll update once more if I find anything definitive out!

 

Yeah thats good that it might just be brake dust. Brake dust can make a lot of people worry over nothing. Usually you don't need cleaner, just spray the wheel and behind the wheel with water usually does the trick.

 

Yeah, I've never had that happen before either. Perhaps because they're new brakes (a couple months old now) that it happened but holy hell that was frightening! Thanks again!

 

So, after months of dealing with this creaking and squeaking I finally took the front brakes apart again this past Friday night. After researching things here and there, I narrowed this all down to either shitty quality parts or just defective ones. Our first test was to pull the pads out and swap them from right to left. No cleaning, nothing, just a straight swap. We figured that if the pads were screwed, the noise would start coming from the driver's side. Well, get this: it's been complete and utter silence all around since then. Now, I'm not yet prepared to say that this is magically finished up - I want to drive on the freeways and do some driving for a week or so but this is encouraging. Perhaps the pads just weren't set right or something but so far it looks like the swap has handled the issue. Crazy crazy stuff.

Sidenote: I'm now awesome at doing Mini brakes and may just open up a Mini brake business in Silver Lake haha Charge less than the shops, by appointment only, and a fraction of the price. Sounds awesome to me! 😊 Anyway, thanks for your earlier suggestions, it kept me focused on the pads and stuff more than anything else.

 

Sounds like re-seating was all it needed.

Funny, now I need to do my brakes. Mine are squeaking now. I have not touched them since I bought my clubman so I know they need it.

Can anyone suggest a spot other then a dealership(due to price) in the Denver area, as that is now where I am relocated to?

 

Actually, it wasn't that - it was an incredible lesson in getting what you paid for haha I didn't realize there was such a massive difference between ceramic and non-ceramic brakes. When got the parts initially, I didn't get ceramics. The squeak/creak came back and I just bought the better quality stuff. Swapped it out and felt the difference immediately. Completely quiet so far as well. In short, I'm an idiot and this was all my fault.