Brakes What's Normal
 

So our fine little Countryman is making terrible noises. Front driver's side rotor grinds when the brakes are put on.

We took it in for State inspection and had them look at the brakes while it was there. They said "it's normal".

I'm no mechanic but I know enough to be dangerous and I've never seen anything like the wear pattern on these front rotors. The top 3/4 of an inch has groves in it, not smooth like I would expect from even rotor wear.

So what gives? I feel they are playing us because it's my wife's car (you know the she's a girl, what does she know routine) and she has the extended service warranty on it. Get the distinct feeling that if it was on our dime they would be telling us we needed to replace the brakes.

Brakes should be silent or darn close to it. What crappy dealer are you going to? Did you talk to the service mgr, then the general mgr, etc? My CM brakes started to squeal after 30000+ miles, just before needing new ones.

And if it's not the dealer, find a new shop.

A grind makes me think you possibly have some debris or a big rock stuck in there. I had a rock once on the passenger side that was stuck pretty bad. Had to remove and clean the pad, but it left a pretty good groove in the rotor. I'd inspect it and see if you can see anything abnormal and then you could take it to a DIY car wash and spray into the brakes to clean out any possible debris. See if that makes a difference and the noise goes away. Otherwise, I'd take it back and tell them something isn't right. The dealership I worked at, we did brake clean and adjustments for people so maybe they offer something like that if it doesn't appear to be anything else but debris.

Not grime or stones. Not possible but I'll pull the wheel and inspect it. I think it's the caliper and that the brakes are dragging as MPG has dropped. This is A Rochester NY Mini dealership.

I'm pretty pissed to have to take it back as its an hour plus drive and an all day adventure.

Warranty or not, I don't know any tech who would not replace brakes when needed. At the same time, not every tech knows that inner and outer pads can wear at different rates...although they should. I also doubt they would not recommend brakes based on customer gender. It's a safety concern that could lead to a lawsuit.

Some grooving can be attributed to normal road debris getting caught between the pads and rotors. As the pads wear, they will "bed" themselves into these grooves, and will still make contact. Some times just power washing the rotors will do the trick. Deep grooving, or grooves that have little radial ridges in themselves, can cause noise that will not go away until pads and rotors are replaced.

I'd call and ask them for the pad measurements from the last inspection. They should have taken the lowest measurement from each corner, whether it be inner or outer. If there's a noise complaint they should DEFINITELY be looking at inner and outer pads because it poses a possible safety issue. Also ask if they were able to duplicate the noise.

I would have them check the pads and make sure you dont have any uneven pad wear , like from a sticky slider pin. Also I would check on that lip as its shows more on one side then on the other ( passenger side, you might have a sticky caliper ) and it will need replaces or the carrier will that holds the slider pins in the boots.

MINI disk brakes are not unique .... a standard design. Any 'brake place' can check them out and give you a second opinion . . .

Here is what I have at all four corners. This is from the driver's side front:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psinjd4mls.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps2kdau5ir.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psoqldvx9q.jpg

This is what the service department deems "normal" for a Mini. I didn't go any deeper as I don't feel like pulling everything apart. They are bad enough on the outside that it doesn't matter what they look like on the inside.

Note the outer band where the pad isn't coming into contact with the disk.

I know, but I have paid for the extended service agreement and it should be on the dealership's dime, not mine.

All 4 corners?
Yep, something's not right with that wear pattern. Not normal. <<-unplanned pun there
What recourse do you have with the extended warranty if the dealership does not find it is a warranty issue?

I don't know how it will play out but a good friend and fellow Miniack suggested to contact Mini USA with a complaint about the way the brakes were ignored. I've done that via email and am awaiting a response.

My brakes were grinding a little on my 2011 CMS at 25,000 miles. Especially noticeable form the rear axle when braking while backing up (and radio off, A/C off). I didn't worry too much, attributing it to the smaller car and maybe less sound insulation than my prior car.

I recently had all four corners replaced per regular maintenance and brake light, and the grinding is gone now.

After reading this, I wish I had requested that they observe and report the condition of the pads and rotors during the brake service.

I'll be watching for this down the road (so to speak).

Need replaced and or to check the pads are not sticking and caliper sticking, looks like the pad is not bedded on half the rotor.

I received an email from Mini USA. They say if the service department says they are ok there isn't anything they can or will do. Sent photo to dealership and received a response that this is normal.

The only "normal" thing I can think of with your pictures is that the rotors are corroded from salt on the road, which is the nature of salt, hence being "normal".

I would say those rotors are not in "normal wear" condition for a car, and I would replace them. I don't live in a city that has to deal with salted roads, so I'm not sure whether or not a warranty/service plan would cover wear from salt.

where are you that you only have one bmw dealer within an hour drive?

BMW dealer? You mean Mini dealer don't you. Service must be done at the Mini dealer to be covered by our extended service. We are in a suburb of Syracuse. Nearest dealership is Buffalo, Albany, or Rochester. Rochester is the closest.

bmw makes/services mini. Its worth a call to your local bmw dealer to see if they can do your warranty work.

I've previously been told no.

Brakes
 

I would start at the Service Mgr.
It is common for grooves to appear in a disc, especially as you add on the miles. However I know of no good mechanic that would say a brake pad that makes contact with only 50% of the disc is normal. This along with the grinding indicates somthing is going on with the brakes.

How many miles on the brakes?

13K on the car. All four corners look like this.

Brakes
 

At 13,000 miles not right. I would push at the dealer asking them nicely how 50% contact on the pads can be considered "normal", especially when they are noisy...

Just got off the phone with Mini USA. They said the same thing they did in the email. Dealer's call on the repairs.

They said maybe try another dealer but in the past with other makes, your in the system and another dealer won't touch it.

Such a simple thing. So much for extended service agreement.

Sorry to hear that Sho.Even without the extended service agreement the dealer should fix that. It's still under normal factory warranty. I would think a normal dealer would fix it and charge the factory for warranty repair