Alright, I've read a number of posts, and I've gotten some good info on changing brakes/ sensors. My question is, when you change your pads, can you have the MINI rotors turned like most vehicles, or do you HAVE to buy new ones?

 

You have to buy new ones.

 

As long as you're above the min thickness after turning, sure.
MINI, as a practice, replaces rotors with pads.

 

Its worth replacing the rotors-- better stopping power, less chance of an incident and the fact that you wont need to replace them for another 50K miles should be reason enough. I saw a post a few days ago of a guy that bought duralast pads at Autozone but didn't replace the rotors and after he had some problems of a vibrating and pulsating pedal, he took it to the dealer who then voided his warranty. Im assuming it was because he didn't follow protocol by purchasing new rotors at the time of pad replacement. Its worth the extra $100...

 

Uh actually that is a complete fabrication if you're talking about this thread

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=129764

First off, his car was out of warranty.

Secondly, EVEN if it WAS in warranty, they could not VOID the warranty for the use of aftermarket pads.

What they DID do, and frankly he got screwed, was tell him that they couldn't diagnose the pulsation problem with the aftermarket pads and rotors on - which it total BS - and charged him for another set of pads and rotors.

Now personally, I PREFER OEM rotors and pads for simplicity and quality sake.

I got tired of doing brake jobs on my Jeep every year because of the cheap Autozone parts I was using.

So much so that I bought OEM rotors when it came time to replace them on the Mini - though this was after replacing 2 full sets of brake pads before the rotors mic'd low enough that I felt they needed to be replaced.

Anyway, any kind of warranty issue would be fully covered by Mangusun-Moss and the dealer would have to demonstrate HOW aftermarket pads caused a problem before voiding THAT PART of the warranty.

I'd still not use aftermarket crap.

Oh, we're currently running some EBC "dustless" (HA that's a laugh) brake pads on the Cooper S - they work great (as break pads), but dustless is a joke. THEY WERE PRICEY TOO, I shoulda just bought OEM pads.

 

With the DuraLast pads, he did encounter some issues-- albeit, maybe it was a pre-existing condition but in the end, he had to replace rotors and pads with OEM parts anyways so if you're gonna take your car to a MINI dealer, play by the book or you'll be subject to scrutiny. As far as resurfacing the rotors, again, just spring for new ones and you'll be rewarded.

 

I'm just nit picking at the use of the term "had to"

Don't get me wrong, I'm in agreement with the final advice, just go ahead and use the OEM parts and replace the rotors if they're warped or mic'ing too low.

(FYI, we used our first set of rotors UP, I mean USED them until they mic'd too small).... that was about 65k miles.

 

I meant 'had to' in the sense that if he wanted help and diagnosis from MINI, it seemed like he was 'forced' to buy their OEM scented perfume even though he technically could've left. I'm glad we can agree that he should bite the bullet on this one and keep moving forward (and stopping when necessary).

 

Well, with one caveot - I'd at least mic the rotors first and nut just blindly replace them because the pads are worn.

As I said, I got two sets of brake pads out of our first set of rotors... but I USED EM UP...

 

If it's still under warranty, they are covered if worn out...

 

You have been lucky if you got the rotors to last as long as you did. The majority of the time the rotors will have enough left to go thru about half a pad before needing to be replaced. That's why it is suggested that you change out both.

No I went with a high quality Powerslot rotor and Hawk pads and the performance and dust issues are much better than stock for roughly the same amount of money.