A couple of weeks ago I purchased a 2015 JCW 2 door hardtop in Thunder Grey with a red top and 18' wheels and only 18,500 miles. I really love this car. I have several questions that I'll ask at a later date but the one important question I have concerns the brakes. I have 2 months or 700 miles left to upgrade the maintenance package which would cover the brakes. I took the car to a MINI dealer and paid for a complete check before I purchased it, ( I purchased from a non MINI dealer ) All checked out really well and they took a measurement of the brakes which measured : Front pads at 7 mm. Rotors at 29.2. Rear brakes: pads at 8 mm, rotors at 8.8.8.
The MINI dealer said the brakes were in great cond. , they also said they had changed them about 6 weeks earlier at that same dealer. Does that sound like a lot of wear in 6 weeks time? Not exactly sure new measurements but when I called yesterday the dealer said he thought it would be about 10 mm. He also said there are 2 ways to measure brakes from the front or back which didn't make sense.
I called several dealers to get a quote on an extended maintenance package with the average 1 year extension at around $1500. ( I just had the filters and oil changed under this ). I called on a front brake job for a worse case scenario, and with new pads and rotors for front, around $1000.
I don't know much about brake pad and rotor wear or measurements but (A) with these measurements would they last 1 year or 10,000 miles, and (B) would it be worth it to spend $1500 on 1 year package or just pay out of pocket. (C) How much mileage do you get on these JCW brakes? Thanks for any info you can give me!

 

Wackit, don't worry about your brakes.

Recently, I made the decision to replace the front end at 44K for the 1st time and it was a waste of money. They were still good at 5mm for at least 10-15K. Spec is 3mm.

Rotors and pads are about $250 from vendors here and it takes 1.37Hr according to the dealer.

This is not rocket science when you have tools and space to do it which I don't have anymore. I have been quoted by different shops from as low as low as $150 up $400 for the same thing. I ended up having a buddy's friend doing it for $50 and some beer in a 2 hours time frame.

I will wait for the rear because they are still at 7mm no matter I already have the parts.

On the other side, my driving is mostly freeway and mountain roads with very limited city driving.

 

Longevity of pads is dependent on your driving habits so hard to say how long they will last.

I was just at the dealers the other day. Measured 10mm front & 5mm rear. Warning me to do the rears soon.

When I had my tires replaced at another shop in Dec 17, they measured 6mm front & rear. These measurements seem more realistic.

I don't trust anything the dealer tells me without confirmation. When the brake warning lights come on, I'll measure them myself.

It used to be routine that MINI would sell you on pads/rotors/sensor, now they just want to do pads at about $285 for the rears. I guess they figured it was harder for people to swallow a $500 number so probably will tell you $285 and then call you while the car is in the shop and tell you to do the rotors or you will die.

For routine maintenance items, find a quality shop and pay for the services as needed, forget prepayment for overpriced items.

 

This. My front pads were replaced at 24k mies (after 2 years)

Dealer was like

Hey, it's a fun daily driver

 

Thanks everyone for your input. It helps

 

On my R56 I did fronts (pads/rotors) at 55k. Light had not come on yet. Price was $500, dealer said the same price. Traded car in at 70k, original rears still had maybe 8k left to go. About 1/3 highway 2/3 city driving.

 

I had my pads changed twice on my F56 JCW in a little over a year.

Track days do a number on them!

 

Right? I replaced the front pads on my F56 JCW at 10,000 miles, per the car's request, then the rears at 14,000.

 

Fronts for me needed to be replaced at 4500 miles (3 mm), and the front and rears at about 10k, along with resurfacting the rotors.


I'll probably need more around 15000.