I apologize if this topic is covered in another thread, I searched but didn't find anything too in the bulls eye

Here's my issue, I just went in for the last of my 3 yeay/ 36,000 mile maitenence services and I recieved a front brake job pads and rotors ect... I was glad that it was covered but I only have 19,000 miles on my car this does not bode well for me in another 20,000 miles I figured brakes would last longer, now 3 things come to mind
1. did i barely hit a threashold that they would be replaced, and they probably had 3-5K more miles on them?

2. are the oem brakes bad?

3. does my driving style hurt things ( this is not my first car I've driven for 20 years, but it is my first 20k brake job)


any insight would be greatly appreciated....

 

if your dealer replaced your pads and rotors b4 the sensor went off then I suggest you thank them and walk away quietly. They done you a favor . . .

If your sensor went off at 19,000 then I'd say you are early but not the earlist I've heard of around here. I replaced my 02's three times in 95,000 miles and I'd say I'm easy on brakes. 25-30k on a MINI was my average while I changed my Miata's brakes at 95,000 and they still had plenty of material and I saw no need to change the rotors yet . . .

just search on brakes and you'll find LOTS of discussion

are the OEM brakes bad?

define bad.... MINI OEM brakes and rotors are very soft which provides great grip while they dust bad and wear out fast. not an issue unique to MINI but common on German designs....see the dust on BMW and Merc' front wheels????? Now look at Honda, Mazda and expensive clones like Lexus. No dust .... different approach to the engineering problem . . .

Hence MANY discussions of replacement pads and rotors for MINI.....

 

My BMW dealer did the same thing for me just before my '02 325 wagon went out of the maintenance waranty. I never had the brake wear light go off, but when I picked up the car I had new front rotors and pads.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth...

 

An outside mechanic told me that they use replacement ceramic pads that last 40 to 50k and are better on the rotors. He said cost of each axle including replacement of rotors is 400.00. Mini quoted me 800.00 on the same job using OEM pads. Guess Mini will not be working on my brakes anytime soon.

 

I've just passed the 36k mark and my brakes are projected to last another 10k each axle.

 

I brake fairly late into corners and I hit the front sensors at 20K. I'm one of those that's hard on the brakes. The OE pads are soft - that's why they stop so well. The rotors are decent, although IMO - a bit undersized.

I pulled them all at 20K and did aftermarket rotors and CarboTech pads all around. The car is at 60K right now and I haven't reached 1/2 life on the CarboTechs. They stop better, fade less and chew the rotors less. It's all good.

To echo the others: New brakes under warranty with no sensor light is a gift to you, the customer. Be happy and brake earlier.

 

Do you think you needed rotors when you had you brakes done? I heard dealers always do rotors with pads but hey, they won't fix a puncture in a runflat tire either.

 

$800 per axle?????? Does that include new axles?

I can't see new OEM pads and rotors costing more than $200-$300 for parts, so that's $500 in labor? If a mechanic spends more than an hour doing a brake job he won't be employed for very long.

A few years ago I replaced my BMW front pads and rotors in about 90 minutes, and I had never done a brake job before in my life!

 

had my pads replaced at 16500 but not rotors. have 37000 now i'll do the brakes next time. i have jac going to replace rotors with s's . just need new carriers & dust covers,and rotors,pads.

 

Thanks for the discussion, I have always noticed lots ob brake dust it obviously comes from somewhere, The dealer told me if I had to pay for the brakes and rotors on the front it was a $600 bill.

 

for grins and giggles I decided to check my fronts yesterday.

I changed out the front pads with EBC green as soon as they came available for the 07 so let's be fat and say I had 3000 miles on the car b4 I changed. I'm a little shy of 22k now so about 19k on the pads is fair?

EBC pads have a beveled edge for about 1/2 their thickness. If you can see the bevel you have over 50% of the pad left. I'm just able to see the bevel ... Checking the rotor I can just begin to feel the development of a ridge at the edge (your pads don't sweep completely to the edge and over time a lip will develop; depth of the lip is a seat of the pants test as to your rotor thickness) I admit this was a quick check and I only checked the outer pad but have no reason to suspect uneven wear.

What's that mean? Well it tells me I should get 15k+ more out of these pads and like my 02 I'd expect I can go two sets of pads to a set of rotors as things stand now.

Food for thought:

the 'computer' tells me the front pads have 8000 miles . . . HAL, open the pod bay doors please . . . (sorry if you don't get it)

No hidden msgs here just food for thought . . . . I expect to get nearly 40,000 out of a set of non-OEM pads and maybe twice that on the rotors. But perchance our driving (braking) styles differ

 

I had significant rotor degradation in the front, not so much in the rear but decided to do the job right and R&R them all. When I pulled the fronts off, the ridge at the edge of the hub center was over 2mm deep on inside and out, both sides. Everything was working right, they just got all used up.

FWIW, I do most everything myself. Wrenching was a prior career for me. Now I actually enjoy doing it again.

 

I'd like to know how the OBC estimates time to replace brake pads. Can it actually measure thickness remaining accurately? I would think that would be the best way. I realize there are little sensors in there but those are more like warnings to replace the pads rather than estimators of remaining life.

 

Wow just do it yourself. This isn't that hard of a DIY job

 

the only sensor is the same design as the GEN1 - a loop of wire encased in plastic held in place in the pad; that eventually contacts the rotor wearing down until the loop of wire is broken.

like the way the computer estimates oil life I suppose there's some strange algorithm in there for the brakes (front and rear compute differently btw). Judging by my observed wear with non OEM pads, there's nothing actually "seeing" the pads (EBC's do have sensor slots, my sensors are in place)

 

There's a sensor on the front wheels that measures the amount of brake dust deposited there between washes I think.

 

From this forum post picture
http://www.bimmerwerkz.com/forum/att...0-sdc10453.jpg

It looks like the sensor is in a constant wear state (not like the BMW system where it was an ON or OFF indication) to go along with the new CBS system.

 

I just replaced my front brakes with rotors from NAPA and pads from Autozone. Total cost was $164. Both stores require special order for all 2nd gen MINI brake parts. Fortunately MINI used the same brakes from the R53 JCW for the R56 MCS and both store usually carry them in stock.The reduction in dust is impressive over OEM.

Part #'s
Rotors: NAPA UP880605
Pads: Duralast Gold DG1204

These fit '07-up R55,R56,R57 MCS