Hi!

I've got a 2017 Mini Cooper S / manual. It has 13k on it and I had it on a rack yesterday in search of a buzzing sound, which I think was a heat shield in contact with a plastic liner. HOWEVER, I observed the inside of the front driver's side brake rotor had some rust / corrosion on the outside of the contact area. Looks like the brake pad may be binding up on the top and moving toward the rotor at an angle.

So, I'm going to try to address this before needing new pads (if they are not shot already), and my question is; is it proper to use brake grease on the brake pad slider contact clip? I've read many times that BMW brakes do not call for any grease in the caliper pins, but I don't have a Mini service manual to check for specifics on the pad to caliper frame contact area.

Anyone have some insight or a manual they can check for me? Do I use any specific kind of brake grease or should I just clean and re-assemble dry (like it appears to be now)?

Thanks!

 

Well, I went into the brakes on my Mini and I found 2 pads were virtually seized in the calipers. One was nearly there but still moved a bit. In all, 3 of the inside pads were not working as they should. I pounded them out, cleaned the area, and lubed the guides with synthetic silicone. Pads move freely now. The pins moved freely on all calipers so I left them dry. Reassembled and it seemed to improve the brake feel quite noticeably, which wasn’t bad to start. May have to check those pad guides for issues every now and then. Had I not seen that angled contact I bet they would have continued to angle in and resulted in premature failure. Maybe worth a look if you have the wheels off at some point.