Hi, my wife's 2006 Mini R50 has had soft brakes lately -- pedal travels very far before any resistance and stopping power comes in.

Mechanic said the ABS pump leaks and needs replacing, and that they can't do it, but it will need to be done by Mini because of the coding, and that it would probably be in the $1200-1500 range.

Does this sound right and is there any alternative, especially DIY? We'll get a second opinion before concluding the ABS pump needs to be replaced, of course.

 

Have you bleed the brakes and more importantly the ABS pump? If air gets into the pump, you need something like the Schwaben code reader/tool to activate the individual ABS valves to remove any air.

Where is it leaking from?

 

You probably would save money if you bought the code reader as mentioned above and loaned it to the shop that could do the work if needed. MINI dealer prices on older out of warranty repairs are normally astronomical.

Look at newtis.info for diy info

 

Definitely get a second opinion from a Mini specialist.

A leak that is bad enough to cause a low brake pedal should be pretty obvious. Can you see it to confirm for yourself?

 

I totally agree with the above posts. I have a 2009 Clubby (non-turbo) with 92K on it. This is my third Mini. I'm lucky, I have my brother who when time permits, has been willing to work on it. For Christmas last year he gifted me two sets of brake pads, rotors, a head gasket, spark plugs and serpentine belt. Because of a job change had been too busy to work on the car - was going to do so first week of November.

Mid October, the brake light came on; because I knew that the front brakes were due for replacement so I thought that this was why light was staying on. Intermittently, the check engine light would appear randomly for a day or two and then disappeared. The ABS light would come on (again intermittently). The brake pedal was a bit softer than it had been, but car still stopped without issue. I'd noticed that the car had been shifting a bit roughly between 2 & 3rd gears. When the check engine light didn't go away, I went to Auto Zone to see if I could get the code read. The guy scanned it, the only code that appeared was P0977. He said I could still drive it, but warned me that it could get "stuck" in a gear at any time. He also said that their scanner didn't pick up all the codes on BMW and Mini's. He recommended that I purchase a scanner for BMW/Mini from Pelican or Amazon that were more accurate.

I called the local garage and dropped my car off. I trust them and have used since my warranty expired. They felt a transmission flush might resolve the issue. Since the Mini dealer where I live always treated Mini owners like black sheep and are ridiculously expensive when it comes to out of warranty repairs, I've avoided using them The shop called me the next day, unfortunately the flush hadn't helped (and they didn't charge me for that!) the code was correct and shift solenoid B needed to be replaced. Additionally they discovered that the brake booster vacuum pump and ABS pump wasn't working. They quoted me $4000 to do the work. I'm retired and while I have some savings at this point I don't have that kind of $$$.
I called my brother for advice - he told me to have them repair the transmission; he'd work on the brakes issues, replace the serpentine belt, head gasket/spark plugs and would change the oil, air filter and cabin filter.

The car hasn't had any major issues until it reached 90K. I have religiously changed the oil and followed recommended maintenance schedule. I just replaced 4 tires in Spring 2019 - drive about 150 miles, back and forth to work. The AC quit working in August, the compressor has failed, I am going to have the stripes replaced on the hood and will be removing the faded roof flag that are worn.

At this point, as much as I love Mini, I probably won't be buying another. The car is in decent shape, I know I won't get much for it if I go to a dealer and trade it in; think selling it either thru NAMI where someone won't be put off by AC issue or try selling it through Craigslist.