I was doing a visual inspection of the condition of my brake pad wear on my 06 R53 the other day and I found that even though I still have about half of the material left on my brake pads (front and rear) my rotors are already worn beyond the service limit. Has anyone else encountered this. My brake system is still the factory original equipment, with about 83,000 Klms. on the car.
Dave

 

I don't think that is unusual. It sounds like you are the original owner. If not then the pads were probably changed but not the rotors. I don't think it's a big deal. Replace both when you do a brake job this time.

 

I bought the car used with only 26,000 Klms on it, and I have the service history since new. It had 1 previous owner, and was purchased new at the same dealer that I purchased it from in 2009. There is no record of the brakes being worked on at all. I've owned a lot of cars over the years and have never seen the rotors worn out before the pads. Also I have never worn out a set of brake pads on any standard transmission car that I have ever owned. I will be replacing the whole assembly (pads, rotors) this summer with a set of drilled and slotted rotors. I'm not sure what brand I will purchase yet and I have been investigating the pros and cons of drilled and slotted rotors for street use. I have read both positive and negative opinions about them.
I must say that it is probably one of the most fun cars to drive that I have even owner.
Dave

 

No reason to use drilled rotors unless you think it looks cool. I can't see the rotors wearing faster than the pads. Just because there is no service history does not mean that the pads were not changed by someone else.

 

Wear limits are such that YOU CAN PUT NEW PADS ON A MINIMUM THICKNESS ROTOR......minimum thickness is just minimum allowable limit at a brake job....not an IN SERVICE LIMIT.....
That having been said, if you are aggressive, thicker is better, so new pads = new rotors for me most of the time....they are dirt cheap...cheaper than good pads actually....so why risk wrecking a set of pads reusing rotors that may cause issues.....

 

Dave,
How can you tell your rotors are worn with just a visual inspection?
Unless you took out the calipers, measured rotor thickness (front and back), all you could observe is a wear lip forming on the outside of the rotor. Which is normal.

How thick is the remaining surface of the rotors?

You have 83K km on the car (52K miles) - it is virtually guaranteed that the previous owner had replaced the pads at least once, and evidently, left the rotors in place. My front pads last about ~35K miles in stop-go city traffic.

YMMV,
a

 

afadeev,
I did check the rotor thickness with my calipers. Although they are no bad enough to replace right away they are still below the minimum thickness stamped on the rotors. The rears are still within the allowable tolerances (1/2 mm above minimum) the fronts are 1/4 mm below the minimum. I will probably run them like this for this year and replace the pads and rotors over the winter.
As I stated earlier the car only had 26,000 klms. on it when I purchased it, so if the pads were replaced before I bought it, the previous owner must have been pretty aggressive on the brakes. The dealer told me that the previous owner was a woman, and she must have had some young children. I removed the back seat on the weekend and found gum, small toys, candy wrappers and kids playing cards under the seat bottom.
Dave

 

I would replace pads and rotors. If you are doing the work yourself it is extremely cost effective. You will then be assured that everything is working well.

I purchased my Mini used and it had drilled and slotted brake rotors. I use it as a daily driver and decided to replace the rotors with standard non drilled and non slotted items. I don't autocross or track day the car.

It doesn't look as aggressive but the brakes are quieter and work very well.

 

Dave - congrats - you now have all the information you need to make informed decisions!

w.r.t. pad wear - MINI's crunch through pads faster than tires!
That is very unusual vs. all other cars I've ever owned, but that's how it is. If you allow for the fact that the pads are relatively tiny, and the short frame + jumpy suspension gives traction control plenty of reasons to exercises the brakes to keep car going straight == quick pad wear. Especially if the car is put to the daily city commuter duties, like mine.

In my case, I was shocked that the PO had the pads replaced under warranty at 24K miles, right before I bought it. Then I got another set of free (pre-paid maintenance covered) pads at 47K miles! At first I thought the dealer was scamming MINI USA with unwarranted repair work, by they showed me the pads and there were little less than the backing plates.

I'm still on the 2nd set of OEM rotors, nearing MIN thickness at 56K miles. Already have a set of replacements (four Centric plane rotors) waiting to go in at the right time. No rush on installing them, since I swap winter/summer-AutoX pads twice a year and have plenty of opportunities to inspect the state of brake components when I swap the wheels before autoX.

a

 

When you are buying rotors, just be aware that some are not plated, which means that they will rust on the non-friction surfaces. I don't know if you are sensitive to this or not, just wanted to let you know.

there are also plenty of opinions on what pads to use, I'm happy with EBC red on my daily driver, they work fine in the winter as well.

Have fun,
Mike