So ur saying that the e-brake is not fuly releasing and dragging?

 

Just did the rear brakes by using this DIY. It took me 20 mins per side and that is not using the brake tool to push the piston in. Otherwise all is good. Thanks for the write up

 

Instead of buying a new sensor just to tie it off and not use in order to get rid of the warning light, you could just snip the spent sensor off the end and connect the two little wires that that are concealed inside. Then tuck that away somewhere.

I have no idea what I'm doing and I just did it, worked great.

 

Great article and Photos!Found this (untested) Schwaben tool that would seem to work too:http://tinyurl.com/4m7szg9

 

[QUOTE=OctaneGuy;550345]*******
CAUTION: PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK


MINI REAR Brake Pad Installation
Changing your brake pads is a very rewarding DIY project. This tutorial focuses specifically on giving you the complete picture on how to replace your OEM pads and Brake Pad sensor for the front axle. After you've done this yourself, changing the rotors or upgrading to aftermarket pads is a breeze!

This story really helped me and my dad change our brakes. We are so grateful. We had no clue on the back brakes, but DAMN. You saved the day! Thank you Thank you Thank you.

 

Awesome! Glad it helped!!

Richard

 

could you tell me the length between two points? see picture.

 

Mine measures 25 mm outer, 13 mm inner, 6 mm diameter posts.

 

Octane guy....I did the rotor and pad replacement on my 2005 MCS cabrio this weekend @ 26k, the front ones were worn the back pads could have gone 3 times longer. Your articles were priceless! Thanks. One question came up on the rear pads. There are wire things on the piston side of the inside pad that dont' attached to anything I could see, but the old pads had the image of the piston (round disc w/ 4 holes) on them and it looked as if the pads where slid on to the groove of the piston. When I replaced them with the piston pushed back in it seemed as if the rubber boots could become damaged by placing the pad wire around the groove in the piston, so I put them on the outside of the piston. Did I miss something?, because I went over your article acouple of times and there was no mention of a procedure to put the pad on w/ the wires around the piston groove. I haven't had any problems or noise...yet! I installed Zimmerman rotors and EBC green pads FYI

 

It's been awhile since I've done a brake pad change, but as I recall you'll want to slide that wire over the piston lips..you just need to extend the piston a bit..when they are compressed, it looks like the wire will damage the boots. There is a photo and a conversation buried deep in this thread about this...if you don't clip the wires on, you will get premature pad wear as the pad will rub against the rotors instead of pulling away when the pistons are compressed.

Check this post out

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...96-post61.html

Richard

 

Well, I fixed the inside rear pads this morning so the pads wire thingys are set inside the groove of the piston. It usually takes me 3 times to get anything right, so now that the thrid time is over the install is correct.
Thanks to all for a great "how to do" list.

My automotive mantra is "Happiness is the feeling you have before you know all the facts"

 

Thanks, OctaneGuy for the write up.
The second geeration MINIs have a silightly different look to them, though.

*REAR BRAKE*

Instead of a 7 mm hex opening to take the caliper off, it is a hex bolt that has to come out. Plus a nut has to be held with another wrench while you're turning the hex bolt. It's obvious once you get down there and look at it.

Also, there is no wire clip to undo and no wire clip to secure behind the piston.

Other than that, it's all the same and very easy. I was afraid to pull too hard on the caliper to get it off the rotor, so it took a little longer than I thought. But you can pry it off with a straight edge screwdriver and not damage anything. 90 minutes for passenger side and 10 minutes for driver side!

 

Did the rears on my 05 mcs today after bookmarking this thread some time ago. The light came on yesterday, so I checked and sure enough my right rear brakes looked almost completely gone. Fyi, my brakes still had the wire clip and I still needed the 7mm allen/hex thingy. I did it just like the write up, and most of it from memory, great job OP!


It was $25 for the sensor wire from Mini, $2.50 for that grease, $24 for the rear pads. I went to harbor freight to buy the brake disc tool (called, said they had 7 of them) but there were none to be found. The guy looked in the back, but he didn't really want to help me anyways. Used the tool from auto-zone ($60 charged to my cc for the next 3 days or so) and found the pin was broken/missing so I had to stuff a nail in so it would stop spinning. Figuring that part out took the longest of the whole ordeal. I'm not a mechanically inclined guy, but this was a piece of cake. I hope the S/C pulley is this simple.

When I pulled the driver-side wheel (the easier one to do based on this thread) I found the pads looked like new, plenty of brake on them. As I sprayed down the caliper with brake cleaner I found the boot was torn on the bottom.

I put the brakes back together with the old parts, so now I have to find a replacement boot or rebuild kit or buy a new caliper.

Any ideas for where to get a new boot or how much they cost? What about greasing the rears? Any suggestions for that? I lubed up the 7mm bolts after a quick sanding, but I didn't put it anywhere else... :/

 

Uneven pad wear is not a good thing. It's likely that the caliper piston could be damaged and it is not putting pressure on the pads. You may want to disassemble and ascertain the level of damage. Pretty sure you can get a rebuild kit just about anywhere? NAPA?

Also, the supercharger pulley install is a bit more involved than a brake job. Not only does the engine need to be jacked up, but also it can be a real b*tch to get the pulley off, especially if you've never done it. You can run into problems getting the pulley off, even if you have the correct remover tool. I recommend a reasonable level of confidence before proceeding.

 

Great writeups thanks!!!

 

Pretty new to working on cars, but managed to complete this project this weekend thanks to this thread. Appreciate the detailed write up and great photos. I'm a hobbyist photographer, so I made a quick time lapse of the whole process, maybe it will be helpful or entertaining to some of you here.

http://www.vimeo.com/27696053

You can even see me checking the thread in part of it

 

Nice video. I always crack bleeder when compressing pucks in calipers. Not only makes compressing easier but doesn't push old dirty brake fluid back toward ABS module and master cylinder. You will have to top off fluid after. Actually, it best to bleed/flush all calipers while your at it.

 

You have great detail on depressing the piston but nothing on how to get the spring clip on the new inner pad to attach to the groove on the piston. This was the most difficult part of the job when I followed your instructions.

 

When I first did the writeup, I was told incorrectly from my neighbor who was a BMW mechanic that I didn't need the spring clip. I later found out that my pads weren't being pulled away from the calipers when the piston relaxed...there is a post here that describes that you just slide the spring clips over the the grooved area of the piston. Thanks.

 

I know there was question on the clips on the rear pad. I took some pics to try and help.

This shows where i put the pad directly to the piston and then installed it:



You can actually just remove the wheel to see if the clips are on correctly. You can see here:





If it isn't clipped i would suggest taking it off and doing it. Hope this helps. Also, I "rented" the tool from O'Reilly's

 

If you push the piston back in too far it's not visibly apparent where the clip should go. Usually you can just push on the pad a bit and it will depress the rubber gasket and the clip should slide on to the piston. Next time, don't turn the piston in so far.

Not terribly hard to slide it on.

 

So, I just did this today on my 03 MCS. I didn't purchase the caliper tool, instead I got it on loan from VIP auto. VIP and Autozone both lend out tools free of charge, just leave a deposit and you're good to go.

 

In my experience loaner tools are broken, missing parts, or the deposit costs more than the HF tool and takes days to be refunded. Your milage may vary, but I would tell anyone to just buy the tool.

 

Could be. But, my experience was that the tool was in excellent condition, with all parts present, and I got my $50 back that same day when I returned said tool.

 

Just replaced all the pads on my '04 MCS yesterday, using this write up as a guide. Things went pretty well. I didn't buy the piston compression tool, figuring I'd use a C-clamp. But, the clamp I had wasn't big enough. So instead I used a woodworking clamp to apply pressure, and turned the clamp pad with vise grips. Kind of tedious, but it didn't really take that long.

I had trouble with the wire clip on the outside of the calipers, using the method described in the original write up. Instead I placed the wire ends in the holes, making sure the top side of the clip was in it's 'locked' position. Then I just used my thumbs to shove the other (lower) end into the 'locked' position. Just seemed to work better for me. I did have to make sure both ends of the clip were completely seated in the holes after the clip was in place.

Thanks for the excellent write up, and contributing to my sense of "Oh yes, I can!"