How many miles do you get from your brakes and what is the cost of repairing them? How much would the cost be to have Mini do the same repair?

While at it, what maintenance have you had under the 3/36 or 6/100 maintenance coverage?

 

Me? I get 3, 4 days tops before I have to change pads. But that's on the track.

Otherwise, on the street, it really varies from driver to driver. But brakes are so easy to maintain yourself, I wouldn't bother with the dealer--you can do the job for a fraction of what they'll charge you. Or go to a good independent shop; they'll be substantially cheaper.

 

Brake wear varies depending on driving style and were you are driving. Some people get 20,000 miles others 80,000. If you do a lot of stop start city driving expect more wear and if you drive a lot of highway expect less wear. If you track expect extreme wear. The mini dealer wanted 1200.00 to do the front and rear brakes on my dads 07 base cooper. He wanted to use oem parts so he bought the parts and i did the work. I think the parts were about 400.00 and took about 3 hours to do. Learning to do brake maintenance can save you a lot of money over a lifetime.

 

That is an impossible question. 100,000 miles of highway back and forth would have significantly less wear than 40,000 miles of inner city traffic.

 

2 track days on stock pads (idiot, I know)

takes about 45-60 min to do a simple brake job on these cars.

 

I replaced front & rear at around 40K miles. My independent mechanic charged $170 for the front (ceramic pads + sensors), and about the same for the rear (ceramic pads as well).

 

Original poster here.... I realize that there is a range and I understand that prob the average street life is about 30 to 40k in miles. Yet curious on the extreme what individuals are seeing. I heard some get only 15k. Some surely past 50k. And some pay some $1,400 at dealer. Some don't even replace rotors.

Like to see what the experience has been out there.

 

I have a 38-mile commute that is mostly interstate. The vehicle I use to commute in.... the pads will easily go 90,000 miles. I only have to touch my brakes three times each way, barring any unexpected braking for idiots or bumper to bumper traffic due to traffic which happens about once every two weeks.

Other MINIs I've owned, I replaced stock pads wth Hawk ceramics shortly after taking possession of them and get around 45,000 miles on those pads doing a mix of interstate and in-city driving.

But yeah, you could ask 100 people that question and get about 75 different answers.

 

I replaced my OE pads on my 07S with EBC greens soon after purchase and got about 42,000 with mostly local driving but some highway - no track - I'm pretty easy on brakes. Replaced recently with EBC reds and kept the rotors, they show even wear and have plenty of meat left. I got similar wear out of my 02S on EBC greens for over 90,000 miles (two sets of pads . . .)

I do the work myself. Disk brakes are pretty easy after some one walks you thru the first time. Takes me about 20 to 30 a wheel now . . . there's nothing special about MINI brakes so you just need a mechanic you trust and do not need to get violated by a dealer. I do 'em for friends in my garage - they buy the parts and I hang 'em .... they buy lunch.

For reference on wear, I drove a Miata for 12 years including some time in north Bay San Fran - GREAT driving out there - at 100,000 miles I changed the pads cuz I could not believe they were still good - which they were! 30% meat still there . . . rotors looked brand new.

 

I replaced my stock pads at 63k miles. Put on sime Centric rotors and Hawk pads. Now at 67k on those and plenty of pad left.

Dealership wanted $880 to do all four corners. I did it myself for about $600, but that included a bunch of tools and a Dremel I had to buy to cut a rotor bolt out. Now that I have a better stocked tool chest compared to back then, I should be able to replace the next set for the cost of parts that I want to invest in.

 

My new to me car seemed to have the original rotors with newer pads at 108k. I replaced all rotors and pads for less than $200 (centric rotors and Mintex pads). Other than the frozen rotor retainer screws, it was a pretty simple job.

 

Don't know yet, I'm at 104k on the original pads and sensors.

 

After buying my '08 MCS with 18K miles on the clock, I took it in for warranty oil change at 24K miles and was shocked when they returned the car with new pads and rotors on all four corners. At the time I figured the dealer was scamming MINI USA.

At 44K miles this spring, after 2 autoX seasons and daily driving, I checked the pads and they already started wearing through the wear sensors - the OE pads are done! And this is despite swapping them for HP Plus pads for the duration of the last autoX season - Wow!
Front rotors are below MIN spec as well (19.8 vs 20.4mm). Rears rotors are only 1/2 worn, but pads are done as well.

MCS really eats through the pads and rotors, and my wear rate is only marginally faster then that of the previous owner. Wow^2!

As far as the cost goes, check here: http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/resul...odClar=Hardtop

Figure $180 for 4 rotors + whatever pads you want (I am going to try StopTech pads for the street at $126 for pads on both axles) == $306 for parts.

Figure 90 minutes per axles to replace, including bleeding the brakes.
Double that if it's your first time at the rodeo.

Compare vs. the dealer quote, and figure DYI-ing the brake job saves you enough money for a new set of autoX tires every year!

Good luck selling that logic to your better half, though



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Changed mine at 42k miles.

 

I like your 06 MCS.

Nice color .........

 

Thanks much!

Congrats on your new MINI and a fantastic choice of color combos!

 

Great minds think a like I have heard.

 

Like some other, I get very few (track) days on a set of front pads. Rear pads last a few days longer. Somewhere I've got a sheet from the dealer about how much they'd charge for a brake job, I think its around $600. I've never payed for a brake job, either the dealer has done it under the maintainance pkan, or I've done it myself. You can do it yourself for the cost of pads, around $100.

Under the maintainance plan (included and extended), Shawn had 3 front brake jobs, 3 oil changes one inspection and a rear brake job. That's in 4 years/24,000 miles. Tristan had 6 oil changes, 3 front brake jobs, one inspection and one rear brake job. That's in 6 years and 48,000 miles.

 

Our car's brakes were first replaced @27,500 miles by the dealer and was covered by warranty. Don't remember if they replaced them because it was close to the service date or because the light came on. Then I replaced the fronts when they had about 3mm left on them with akebono pads. Btw the brake light came on 8k miles before that. In total we got 30K miles from the second set, which makes me wonder whether the dealer really replaced them in the first place. Like a lot of other members here I will be swapping the rotors as needed, most likely every other brake pad change. The akebono pads are super clean, they don't leave dust like the oem pads. Still haven't replaced the rear pads, but when I do, the rotors will also get replaced. The front pads and rotors were $140.00 so that's a big savings compared to the dealer.

 

Around here, it's 8 to 28 miles between stop signs. I don't wear pads and rotors out before I run into other problems like seized calipers. (But so far, not on this car).

I bought my R50 with 45k miles and still don't need to change the brakes at 110k miles. I don't know how long ago these brakes were replaced-if ever.

 

I realize my commute and traveling put me in the extreme category, but I replaced pads at 75k and the rotors were still in good shape. My dealer told me I probably had more than 10k left on the pads, but as I was about to start a higher frequency of long distance driving (and I already bought pads expecting to replace them around 50k) I went ahead and changed out pads. Now I am sitting at 165k with lots of pad left (~50%), but my rotors are close to needing to be replaced. I was quoted ~$900 for front and rear at my FL dealer, but I am looking at upgrading to either Way's EBC greenstuff kit or Outmotoring's Stage 2 kit, which are between $500 and $650 plus my own labor.

 

I suggest do not have the Mini dealership replace your brakes. They will install the OEM pads which are no good and they will over charge you way too much. I had my brakes replaced by an independent garage with ceramic pads and new rotors for $500.00.

 

My experience was much different.

At 40K miles over 5 yrs ago, dealer installed the JCW Brake Kit upgrade in my 03' R53 with manual transmission. Plenty of braking power with more in reserve = brakes have easier job of performing their task.

At 182K miles dealer recently replaced the rear pads / rotors with the MINI rear brake pad/rotor value line kit ( comes complete with pads/sensor/rotors all in one box ) MINI tech performing the work said there was still enough meat and metal left to go another year....he also did a BG brake flush, and added a set of WMW Stainless Brake lines F/R same time, something I would definitely consider doing. Much firmer/predictable feel to the pedal.



After 140K miles, still not needing to replace the front pads/rotors....

IMO while stock pads may create more dust, they are also taking the brunt of the wear instead of the more costly rotors and at least for me no fading for a DD and wear appears to be equal on both these parts at least for me. I also have no issues of brake chatter/squealing or warped rotors which I have seen on some cheaper rotor/pad set up's from pep-zone stores.

So to some degree, the set up one "needs" just depends on how tight the nut is behind the wheel, if you have an automatic or stick, and your daily driving habits.

 

MINI Dealer Service Shop rates vary throughout the country.

In Florida they are about twice as high as others in the US. I think the one in Miami charges $225 per hr...?