Just curious -- at what mileage did anyone else have the car say it needs new front brake pads?

My car's at the dealer right now for a few issues, including that. 21K miles seems too little for brake pads. I was so incredulous that I actually went ahead and pulled the RF wheel to check. Sure 'nuff, the outer pad is pretty well worn, although the inner one's not too bad. Didn't check the left side.

All covered by the boot-to-bonnet or whatever it's called, so, no harm no foul. They'll also hopefully replace the clutch this time, since this is the 3rd time I'm complaining about it, and this is the 3rd car they've had in with an issue with the bumper-mounted light housing -- that'll be getting a replacement too since one of the bulbs is perpetually abnormally dim and replacing the bulb doesn't fix it.

Driving around in an '18 Cooper S hardtop with cool blacked-out trim as a loaner. I think the Clubby is all-around a much nicer car. Just little things like how the armrest collides with the (manual) parking brake in the Hardtop is a nice reminder.

 

I checked mine this weekend. I have 35k miles on the car and a lot of meat left on the pads. Here's a photo of the rear. I have about 8 mm left on the rears and about 6 mm left on the fronts.

 

I replaced the fronts on my 2007 MCS at 55k miles. Traded it in at 75k miles and the rears were getting close.

 

I just swapped my front pads out for a track day and the OEM fronts seem to have quite a bit of meat left on them as well @ 18K miles...more than 1/2 left from my estimation. Interesting that your outers are worn more than the inners, since mine are more worn on the inner pad than the outer pads...interesting. 21K miles seems a bit early to me, but do you do a lot of highway driving? I do more slower suburban driving than highway, which is easier on the pads.