Well a few days ago my mini told me it wanted service. Today i brought her in and apparently it was time for new brakes. When i picked her up this afternoon they replaced the pads and rotors all under warranty. Very cool.

Then during my ride home my cars braking didn't feel right. It was talking much more pressure to stop now. Before i would lightly touch the brake my my car would be in a major hurry to stop, now its taking 2 or 3 times the force. Also at a stop when i pumped the petal i could hear a whooshing noise (hydrolic fluid?) Is this something i should alert the dealer to or do the pads and rotors need to "break" in?

-Will

 

Two issues that I can think of.

1. The pads may not be bed to the rotors well enough yet to proper get a good interface between the pad and rotor surface. If they did not put at least 5mi on the car they didn't try very hard to help you out. Go out and make some runs from 40-10, 50-10 and 60-10mph in a nice open area. You should in due time smell some brake smoke. After 3 or 4 runs drive around with little or no brake use to cool them down. This is a MUST. From then on I suspect you'll be fine.

2. Any noises sounding like fluid moving or a soft pedal in the above bedding would have me wondering if they bled the calipers. I'd say this clearly should have been part of the job from the dealer. If you have a soft pedal go back and ask that the fully bleed/flush the front calipers to purge them of air. Or find a lock enthusiast to help for a pizza or beer.

 

Alright, off to go do some driving

 

Feeling much better now! Thanks

 

I had the same problem when I first installed my JCW brakes. Initially they almost wouldn't stop the car at all. Within a few days they had seated themselves and were stopping the car with half the effort of the stock brakes.