Well, the red brake light indicator came on at 27,700 miles - time to get new front brakes (under warranty YES!). Not sure if it is related - but the same time the brake light came on I got the red Car on Lift emblem as well!??

It looks like the rears have about 2,000 miles until replacement - I guess around 30,000 miles..

I guess this this is normal time frame for brakes?

 

normal based on how you drive....

I've got a little shy of 28,000 and my indicator predicts another 10,000 b4 pads at either end but more importantly when I eyeball the pads I see about 1/3 of the material left so figure that's reasonably accurate.

An eyeball check I use in addition to the 'thicker than the backing plate' rule is the bevel rule ...

this is a picture of an almost new GEN2 front pad. Note the bevel on the edge of the pad material and note that when the bevel is gone the pad is about as thick as the backing plate - highlighted with white here:

If I glance down at the pads and can still see beveled edge then I know I pass the backing plate test.....

The only other than OEM pad I've used is EBC but they also have this bevel on MINI pads....

(btw - ain't it curious that due to the bevel, new pads have less contact area to the rotor then worn pads do . . . .)

{erratta - that's a front pad from an 07S removed at about 2000 when I finally got my hands on some EBC replacements}

 

That is very normal distance until the first front brake job. The dealer should go by the CBS (red light on dash) for the brakes even if they have a bit more than what it says. The Car on the hoist picture comes up automatically when a service is due in the CBS

 

Don't worry about the service light it is cause the brake warning is on. Mileage on brakes will always very depending on how someone drives. I've actually had customers wear out pads in 14k miles before, but also seen them go to 100k before changing.