One of the great features of the MCS are the brakes. Almost hops to a stop.

Dealer said at 17K the front rotors/brakes needed to be replaced. Under warranty we got it done. Good as new. Then after the warranty ended we were told it needed it again. $1800.

Went to a Mini Service place that's been doing Mini's since they were re-introduced. Half the price. Cool. Got the car back and the brakes were horrible. He suggested waiting for a couple hundred miles. Nothing. The car brakes were like a Jeep brakes. He said he used all the best after market rotors/brake pads. Asked him to change the pads with dealer pads. He did that and the brakes were a touch better. Not fixed. It felt like there was air in the lines as the brakes didn't 'grab' properly but faded in. Took it back and asked for a bleed which he did and claimed to use better fluid than the dealer. No change. He threw his hands up and said he didn't want to work on the car.

Went back to the dealer who agreed while the brakes looked new they were acting funny. They bled the system and replaced the fluid with factory fluid. 30% better but not correct. The dealer wanted to replace everything and mentioned it all looked new even though there was 1000 miles on the system. We were moving so we figured we would deal with it later.

Then I spoke to a friend who is a airline mechanic. He claimed that pad to rotor was developed by the factory as proper compounds to proper metals. I never thought there was such a serious performance drop with aftermarket parts. Can this be true? Should I get rotors from the dealership? My wife relies on the brakes and this is really a pain.

Anyone heard of anything like this? '07 MCS

 

Your friend is correct maybe for airplane, but incorrect for cars. You don't mention what pads and rotors you used, so it is hard to guess. Sounds like you could of glazed the pads.

Proper break-in of your new rotors or pads ensures the maximum performance and durability of the products. The break-in procedure allows the rotors and pads to be brought up to temperature slowly, ensuring even heat distribution throughout the rotors and pads, preventing the brake pads from glazing.


Proper break in is by lightly applying the brake a few times from 30 to 35 MPH apply moderate pedal pressure slowing to 10 MPH (do not come to full stop). Repeat 6 to 8 times. Allow brakes to cool for minimum of 20 to 30 minuets. Run the new discs and pads avoiding excessive or high speed braking for approximately 200 to 400 miles

Maybe there is still air in the lines also, but all this is just a guess.

 

I couldn't wait to dump the factory rotors/pads. They performed OK but the dust was unbearable. The cost of the factory rotors would give you a nose bleed!

I went with the NM slotted/drilled rotors with the EBC Redstuff pads...and had the brake fluid changed. The brakes absolutely have a great first bite and zero fade even when pushed hard....and near zer dust....and saved big $ over factory.

 

Sounds like your pads/rotors are glazed....
The oem.pads are generly NOT liked by many due to the on/off/grabbyness...refered to as lack of modulation....and high dust levels. Aftermarket pads can feel very different..
But if they feel so bad, they are likly glazed. To go through pads every 20,000 miles...wow....and in general oem pads eat the soft oem rotors, but you can UAUALLY get 2 sets of pads from a set of aftermarket rotors with "rotor friendly" pads.

 

Practically all brake rotors (barring the stupendously expensive carbon-ceramic ones) are "gray" cast iron. It has great wear and thermal characteristics, and is pretty much what everyone uses. I don't buy the "pad and rotor materials matched to each other" theory.

I think the pads got glazed. It's possible that some of the pad material transferred to the rotors as well, and that may be causing problems. But turning the rotors lightly (taking a very very little amount off of the friction surfaces) should clear that up.

 

+4

 

I've read, though never done, that you can basically sand off the glazed portion of the pads and even a little of the rotor, then re-bed them. So you might not need to buy new pads (again.) You can do better than the OEM pads, by the way, in just about every parameter (stopping power, longevity and dust output.) Search the forums. Many, many recommendations.

 

Thanks for all the information. This makes sense. My wife mainly drives the car and she brakes hard all the time. Maybe glazing is the issue. Although when the dealer did it there was no issue and I would imagine the non dealer service center bedded in the pads/rotors. I remember him mentioning 200-300 miles no hard braking which we did to no different feel.

I have taken emery cloth to rotors before and broken glaze on older cars. I didn't know pads could get glazed. Its been making me crazy that the car won't perform and I figured with the amount of threads and varying opinions on after market and since after market started all this maybe I should stick to factory.

I'll search again through the threads and see if I can get a consensus on the best replacement. Would love to lower the dust if that's possible.