My 2014 F56 is just over 34k miles. It will be going in for the last free service visit pretty soon.

How long do brake pads and rotors last? Should I expect these parts to be replaced at 34k? Or will they last for a while yet?

 

Depends on driving habits but if your not getting the dash light for it then its not time

 

+1 on driving habits comment and dash light. Just make sure you ask them what the measurements of your pads are at to get an idea of how much life is left on them.

-Luccia

 

To follow up on my own question:

I had the 36K miles checkup done today with 34.5K miles on the car. The front brakes had 10 mm on them and the rears 8 mm. 10 mm is 0% wear (!) and 8 mm is 20% wear, so I'm good for a long time. I must be gentle on brakes.

The service guy said brakes will last from 30k to 80k, depending upon driving habits as mentioned above.

So far, I've only had oil changes, wiper blades replaced, and a fog lamp bulb replaced. This car has been amazingly reliable. I'm about to leave for an around the country 6-week trip (hence the early checkup) and will be over 40k miles in the first year of ownership.

 

Driving style is by far the biggest factor. I have some customers that ride the brakes and only get 15k on a set, and others that get over 80k a set. Use em and enjoy, and if it's a stick use em more as they are cheaper than replacing a clutch.

 

I got about 85K on my last car. I'm a lift and coaster though.
I get quite obsessive with it. On my way home I go thru the harbor tunnel in Baltimore. The car in front, on average brakes about 10-15 times whereas I generally don't brake at all.

If you want your brakes to last, leave a gap to the car ahead. Saves your brakes, uses less gas and causes less traffic. Win win

 

Finally - an ally. Drives me nuts. A long line of cars and the 'crowder' up front hits his brakes and the chain reaction starts bringing the last few cars in the line to a complete stop. If everyone left 3 or 4 car lengths in heavy traffic things would move a lot smoother. Another thing is the idiot that sees the space in front of me and just has to get a little bit ahead and dashes forward to take it often threatening a colision in the process. I wish people could be re educated that operating a motor vehicle is a process and not a means to an end. Ends don't always turn out as expected.
Rant over, thank you for your time. Carry on - nothng more to see here...

 

Glad there are more of us

My other pet peeve is people who don't get up to highway speed when merging. If you drive onto the highway from an exit ramp and you're going 45 when the people driving in the right lane are doing 60 then YOU CAUSE A TRAFFIC JAM!!!
Rant over
Anyway, I'll report back in a few years when my brakes need replacing.

I will say this though - After a month of driving my brand new car, when I press the pedal for the first time I still get that scraping/rubbing noise on them when I set off in the morning. Takes a few presses of the pedal and it goes away. It's there the next morning though. I know new breaks need bedding in, but you'd think they'd have done that after a month.

 

All depends on the driver....
Some get 70-80,000 miles....some 40,000
Folks who get a "free" brake job before the "free" service is up usually are very aggressive drivers who get low mpg or do lots of city driving....
Brake life 100% depends on driver habits and use....
In my experience, folks who get the epa rated mpg or better have long brake life, and generally trouble free car due to their driving style...
Folks who to through lots of gas, and burn up brakes, often have other issues with their cars due to "running them hard and putting them away wet" as the saying goes....but the price of fun.

 

Got 90,000 on my r53...and generally a trouble free ownership experience for 10 years...
Still used them...just did not get on and off them 20 times a minute like some...

 

not a fan of the oem stoppers so far
The jcw factory fit are a class above just on the road

 

Any upgrades available yet ?

 

As I posted above, I had my brakes checked at 34.5K miles and they had little wear.

I just returned from an 11K trip around the country and Canada. About half way into the trip I had to make a hard stop when some furniture fell off a truck. It wasn't a panic stop and not hard enough to engage the ABS. Right after the stop the "Brake" light and brake pad sensor light came on telling me I need to replace the brake pads.

I was surprised as ~6K miles before the brakes were in good shape. I didn't do anything different in my driving to cause them to wear quicker than before.

Is it possible the brake pad lights came on as a result of a hard stop and they don't really need to be replaced?

I'll be bringing the car into the dealer. Note I'm now past the bumper to bumper maintenance and would have to pay for new brakes if they are needed.

 

Do they still have a squealer?

 

My guess is that the dealership gave you bad information on the measurements the first time around. It makes no sense that they would wear that quickly. (Personally it made no sense to me that there was so little wear when they measured.) It could be a false reading but I'm leaning toward a bad measure the first time around. I hate to be a negative nelly but maybe the dealer didn't want to have the discussion of whether or not they should be replaced with you if they were close to the end of life.

I would hope that the latter is not the case and the dealer just measured incorrectly.

 

To complete this thread...

I had the brakes checked by the dealer after the warning light came on. Turns out the front left brake caliper locked up and caused the warning light to come on. The brake pad wore thru. The dealership replaced the brake caliper and brake pads under warranty. I picked up the car tonight and am now a happy camper.

 

Thanks for the update the driving style depends , but I have seen most 30,000- 60K + miles dependent on driving so it can very.

Funny to hear an F56 locked up. Its you have a manual the rears can tend to wear faster due to the rear e-brake being used all the time and on older MINIs it would stick and burn up the rear pads first.

 

Conrad - Don't know why I just thought of this, but when the dealer replaced the brake caliper did he replace the pads in BOTH front calipers? I assume the warranty work would include both sides even though the right side didn't exactly need replacement yet.

 

I hope they did both sides.

 

I always try to leave space between me and the car in front, if not for brake wear, then just because I don't want to end up in his backseat if he slams on his brakes. The problem is, in the DC Metro Area, anything over two feet between cars is considered open space for someone to force their way in.

Mythbusters needs to do another traffic special and it should be made mandatory viewing for all drivers in the United States.

 

DC beltway is pretty crazy.

 

Yes, both front pads were replaced. They also replaced a sensor, though I don't know what that is.

 

Just the one front brake pad sensor.

 

Sounds like you came out ahead....fresh brake job!! Still going to the dealer was I pain I bet, but they threw $500+ in parts at it that will save you $$ in the future!!
Brake life carries sooooo much...all dependant on the driver...
Some MINI drivers trash pads in 25,000 miles, some go 80,000+....
Usually folks that get good mpg get good pad life....mostly as a result of more highway miles/less city/stop and go driving...

 

On my 2007 MCS I needed the front brakes done at about 55k. I traded it in at 75k the rears were still good but close to worn. The front job was about $500, not cheap.