Hi,

My rear pads are about gone. I've been told by two different mechanics that I should automatically replace the rear rotors. Is this really necessary if the rotors meet the minimum requirement (what is that?) and the surface looks okay?

-Eric

 

search and you'll find many threads on this . .

I've consistently gone two sets of pads to a set or rotors front and rear on my MINIs and those that I work on for others. BUT none of us track or autocross

if the surface has no significant grooves the conditional requirement is thickness and on most MINI rotors that's cast into the rotor around the hub hole.

oe rotor minimum are front 20.4mm and rear 8.4mm

in general resurfacing (aka turning) oe rotors is not recommend

in the beginning MINI always changed rotors with pads under pre-paid maintenance but in recent years they've been changing just pads when the rotors are not close to minimums .. as reported here anyway

 

I'm with Capt_bj, no need to replace rotors within spec.
I changed pads at 30k and kept the rotors. The rotors are still within spec at 75K. It was unnecessary in my case.
Just have someone measure the thickness of your rotors. If they are close to min or under then replace.

 

+1. I changed the rears after the original and one set of replacement pads had worn. Super easy to do, though, since you can remove/replace the rotors without removing the caliper carrier.

 

Just grab the edge of the rotor and feel the lip - if it is evident then I'd suggest that it is rotor time, otherwise not.

I too have gone two sets of pads to one set of rotors on the rear.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Many shops suggest changing rotors as a safety margin on customer satisfaction. Rotors that are close to min spec warp easier and then you have the dreaded brake pulsation and a customer that thinks your an idiot for not changing them to start with.

I too have changed just pads on my own car but if I have a rotor warp I'm not coming back to yell at myself.

 

+1 on all above. Common sense - replace if required. BTW I chamfer my new discs so I can change pads easily. 3min job on the car with a grinder. Cover the car with a cloth though (found out the hard way how far sparks bounce).