JCW F54 JCW Brake Wear - Front pads gone in 11k?
#1
F54 JCW Brake Wear - Front pads gone in 11k?
Picked up my '18 F54 JCW in September of last year. It was an executive demo that I bought from my local MINI dealer with about 7k miles. I've truly enjoyed driving it, especially up in the canyon roads around Los Angeles. Took it in for an alignment and rotation last week at 11k miles, found out it was close enough on time/miles for the oil change service. Alignment done, oil changed, and clean report card from the dealer and I took her home. Two days later, the brake pad warning is on for the front pads...
I've had 20+ cars in as many years, including 3 other MINIs (F56 Cooper, R56 Cooper, R53 GP). I've worked in the auto industry for just as long, and I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable about how things work (sold Porsches and exotics for years, was in service at Tesla for the last 5 years). So at just over 11k miles my small car with overkill brakes has worn out the front pads, and I'm a little irritated. How many miles are you folks getting out of your pads? This seems like excessive wear. Granted, the brakes have performed incredibly well and are the single most impressive performance feature of the JCW vs. the standard MCS, but I've never witnessed brake wear this bad, even on other performance cars. I've not taken it to the track, and I don't drive aggressively on the road. I've taken it out on Angeles Crest a grand total of four times, and I don't do a lot of stop+go city driving.
What gives? And what are your experiences with non-OEM options for pads and / or rotors?
I've had 20+ cars in as many years, including 3 other MINIs (F56 Cooper, R56 Cooper, R53 GP). I've worked in the auto industry for just as long, and I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable about how things work (sold Porsches and exotics for years, was in service at Tesla for the last 5 years). So at just over 11k miles my small car with overkill brakes has worn out the front pads, and I'm a little irritated. How many miles are you folks getting out of your pads? This seems like excessive wear. Granted, the brakes have performed incredibly well and are the single most impressive performance feature of the JCW vs. the standard MCS, but I've never witnessed brake wear this bad, even on other performance cars. I've not taken it to the track, and I don't drive aggressively on the road. I've taken it out on Angeles Crest a grand total of four times, and I don't do a lot of stop+go city driving.
What gives? And what are your experiences with non-OEM options for pads and / or rotors?
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I don't necessarily expect to get 40-50k out of high-performance brakes, but I would like to see a little better wear characteristics on my daily driver. As great as my JCW is, it's not a track car or an exotic. If this were a GT3 or even a GP, I'd be OK with this kind of wear. But even my GP got almost 50K on the original pads/rotors...
#5
My R53 GP lasted until almost 50k and I probably could have gotten more out of the rears. The brakes on the F-series cars definitely seem to be setup a little more aggressively than on the R-series cars like yours.
#6
You bought an executive car that may have been driven by some who cared little about the car or its' longevity. On race tracks, some have to replace the pads every race. I would just get the brakes fixed and called it a day. The brakes on the JCW in the hands of an oldfart like me could last 70,000 miles +.
#7
You bought an executive car that may have been driven by some who cared little about the car or its' longevity. On race tracks, some have to replace the pads every race. I would just get the brakes fixed and called it a day. The brakes on the JCW in the hands of an oldfart like me could last 70,000 miles +.
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My guess is that the pads were mostly gone when you got the car...I am guessing you didn't inspect/measure what was there then?? I would toss on a new set of pads and see where it takes you and by the sound of it, should be more than 12.5K miles. With that development, I would likely take a closer look at the rears and the suspension overall, as your car may have seen some 'heavy' use prior to your ownership.
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I'll admit to 4-5 hard drives on the canyon roads around LA, but nothing approaching a track day as far as brake use. I bought the car from the MINI dealer, and they did an inspection on it prior to sale. Based on the overall condition of the car and especially the tires, I find it unlikely that it was used aggressively or abused prior to my purchase. The tires, even after my occasionally aggressive use, are still in good condition, probably just a little less than 50% tread remaining and they were by no means in "new" condition when I got the car.
I'm looking into iSweep or EBC pads and planning to go ahead and replace the front pads next week. The current pads are squealing SO loudly right now I can't stand it.
I'm looking into iSweep or EBC pads and planning to go ahead and replace the front pads next week. The current pads are squealing SO loudly right now I can't stand it.
#13
I'll admit to 4-5 hard drives on the canyon roads around LA, but nothing approaching a track day as far as brake use. I bought the car from the MINI dealer, and they did an inspection on it prior to sale. Based on the overall condition of the car and especially the tires, I find it unlikely that it was used aggressively or abused prior to my purchase. The tires, even after my occasionally aggressive use, are still in good condition, probably just a little less than 50% tread remaining and they were by no means in "new" condition when I got the car.
I'm looking into iSweep or EBC pads and planning to go ahead and replace the front pads next week. The current pads are squealing SO loudly right now I can't stand it.
I'm looking into iSweep or EBC pads and planning to go ahead and replace the front pads next week. The current pads are squealing SO loudly right now I can't stand it.
Just keep in mind it is also recommended to replace the rotors in same time for optimal performance.
#14
Update: Ordered StopTech rotors and EBC Red pads from Way Motorworks, got the front pieces installed and realized we had the wrong bits for the rear. Turns out StopTech had yet to produce the rotors for the rear, so I think I will now have the first set!
I'ill have the rears installed this week, but already have some good miles on the front setup. Noticed a big difference in feel driving in the canyons, and aside from a very light squeal at initial application, they're just as quiet as the stock setup. We went with Castrol SRF fluid as well. Very happy with this setup. I also ditched the Pirelli runflats and put on Continental DWS all around. It's like a new car!
I don't anticipate any appreciable difference by upgrading the rear pads/rotors, but I'll update once I have the whole setup installed.
Thanks to Way and his team for getting everything sorted out with the rear setup. They worked directly with StopTech to have everything sent directly to me, and helped to sort out the setup for the rears.
I'ill have the rears installed this week, but already have some good miles on the front setup. Noticed a big difference in feel driving in the canyons, and aside from a very light squeal at initial application, they're just as quiet as the stock setup. We went with Castrol SRF fluid as well. Very happy with this setup. I also ditched the Pirelli runflats and put on Continental DWS all around. It's like a new car!
I don't anticipate any appreciable difference by upgrading the rear pads/rotors, but I'll update once I have the whole setup installed.
Thanks to Way and his team for getting everything sorted out with the rear setup. They worked directly with StopTech to have everything sent directly to me, and helped to sort out the setup for the rears.
#15
F54 JCW stops from 70-0 in 171ft
F30 335xi stops from 70 -0 in 186ft
E90 LCI 335i stops from 70-0 in 168 ft.
335i is a pretty solid benchmark for braking performance.
Sure the f54 jcw is not in the hot hatch 15x ft 70-0 range but it's far from insufficient braking. Frankly compared to other CUV's and wagons it's actually one of the best as far as 70-0 braking.
#16
My only disappointment with the stock setup was the accelerated (pun intended) wear of the pads and rotors. For the type of driving I do, having a slightly more aggressive pad with slotted rotors and a higher-temp fluid just takes the stock system closer to its full potential. I've done two drives since upgrading the brakes and I'm really happy with the performance of the setup so far. I'll be very interested to see if I notice much from upgrading the rears as well.
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#18
If you only to 11k miles before you had to replace both the front AND rear brake pads and rotors something's wrong there. Glad the new ones are good though. But you cannot wear out brake calipers in 11k miles. I got 55k out or the fronts on my 2007 MCS, and traded it in at 70k the rears were still OK. Got 44k on my 2014 JCW and there's 2mm on the fronts still.
#19
If you only to 11k miles before you had to replace both the front AND rear brake pads and rotors something's wrong there. Glad the new ones are good though. But you cannot wear out brake calipers in 11k miles. I got 55k out or the fronts on my 2007 MCS, and traded it in at 70k the rears were still OK. Got 44k on my 2014 JCW and there's 2mm on the fronts still.
#20
The guy who installed my Stage 1 ECU tune said that if you don't disable/turn off the traction control system thingy you'll wear your front brakes down FAST. I guess it keeps them engaged a lot. He said he wore through 1/2 set of brakes in one track day or something like that.
#21
The guy who installed my Stage 1 ECU tune said that if you don't disable/turn off the traction control system thingy you'll wear your front brakes down FAST. I guess it keeps them engaged a lot. He said he wore through 1/2 set of brakes in one track day or something like that.
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If you only to 11k miles before you had to replace both the front AND rear brake pads and rotors something's wrong there. Glad the new ones are good though. But you cannot wear out brake calipers in 11k miles. I got 55k out or the fronts on my 2007 MCS, and traded it in at 70k the rears were still OK. Got 44k on my 2014 JCW and there's 2mm on the fronts still.
The rear rotors finally came in last week (StopTech had to make some for me...) and I get them installed this morning with the EBC pads for the rear. Still loving this setup as far as the performance, not wild about the little squeal I get at low pressure / low speed stops, but that's not an issue on my fun drives :-)
Last edited by wcpfour; 04-23-2019 at 04:25 PM.