Hi everyone,

I've been searching the forums but haven't found something close enough to the answer I'm looking for, so I decided to go ahead and post.

I have an '07 Cooper, with about 28k (kms... about 17k miles) on it. About a month ago I took it in for the current servicing and was told that the front brakes would need doing soon. I can't remember if they said the pads or not, but I had it stuck in my head that it was replacing the pads. However, I've since learned that, at least in this model, it's always rotors+pads, and never just pads (this was confirmed by the service centre on the phone).

Is it just me, or does my mileage seem low for needing this? I'm not a hard braker at all. It's entirely possible I'm just being hopeful that it doesn't need doing (this is my first car that I've owned-- I need it for my long commute nowadays).

It's going to cost me $600CDN, and I have an appointment tomorrow.

TIA.


Cheers.

 

seems too soon to me, unless you ride the brake pedal. Did the brake pad light on the dash come on? You might want to get a 2nd look at another shop.

 

Do Canadian cars NOT come with 3 yrs / 36K miles of maintenance? Because down here, this would be covered under your maintenance...

And, if not, it's an easy DIY and you can save HUNDREDS of dollars.... find your local club and buy somebody a six pack to help you do it... that's what we do down here...

 

Thanks for the replies, guys...

I thought it was too soon (the brake warning light isn't on) AND I thought it was covered under maintenance... I'm going to have to do some talking to people and clear this up. I think I will take it in tomorrow and talk to them (it's the service centre linked with where I bought it). I have to have it looked at anyway, since the seat-belt alarm keeps sticking on.

I like the idea of DIY... I'm in Vancouver, so I'm sure there's a local club.

 

Seems to be way too soon for pads, I just did my rear pads at 76,000 kms. (the light came on) and the fronts are original.
While the dealer will want to sell you pads + rotors, it is usually not necessary to replace the rotors, especially with your low miles. My rotors were within spec. thickness, so I followed the great DIY on this forum, and replaced the OEM pads with Hawk HPS from Tire Rack. Cost was about $90, quite a bit less than to buy the OEM pads from dealer, and labour was my time, and a few cuss words.
Had never replaced pads on any car before, was easy, cheap, less brake dust, will definitely go DIY for the fronts.
Oh, BTW, not covered by Canadian warranty...

 

Cool-- this is great, everyone, thanks!

(And yeah, talk about brake dust... yeesh! Still, I madly heart my MINI.)

 

you can do an eyeball quick check depending on your wheels.

If you can see the pad, compare its thickness to that of the backing plate. A pad is considered 'worn' when it gets thinner than the backing plate.

here's a nearly new pad with some white paint on the backing plate to make it easy to see. (A GEN2 front...)

and here's a worn one (GEN1 rear)


the sensor should go off with 3 to 4mm of pad material remaining, so even when it does go off, you have some time left....

You can easily eye-ball the outer pad but really should check both in case they aren't wearing evenly (which would indicate a problem)

Sad to say that brakes are one of those places it is so easy for a mechanic to get you to buy .... it is really tugging at your safety brain to say "your brakes are about to fail" .... I know I was suckered many times b4 I learned what to look for. Since then I've been told more than once I needed when I KNEW I did not. Once when I'd replaced pads literally WEEKS b4.....

And a said - a GREAT DIY - get the DIY guide from OCTANEGUY here... The MINI is one of the easier brake jobs I've tackled and will help build confidence to try other things.