Is there anything I can put between my wheels & brake to reduce the brake dust on my wheels?

 

The most common solution to the brake dust problem is to get replacement brake pads-

EBC green pads for about $75 to 80 per axle or
Mintex Redbox for about half that cost per axle.

Next is consider brake covers- see
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t=brake+covers

Applying good durable wheel wax helps a little. See wheel wax at Tirerack.com
and simple green will clean the wheels without much fuss.

 

EBC Green's are the ticket for almost-zero brake dust. Waxing the wheels help too, but my take is to get rid of the problem at the source.

 

Warning! ...Greens will void the brake warranty. Told this by two dealers.

Wish I could put them on

 

What the heck does that mean? How can you void a warranty by replacing brake pads? This makes no sense. Can anyone else confirm this?

 

I know, It sucks... That is what Vista Mini in Pompano told me.

They claim the pads destroy your rotors

 

So, replace your rotors yourself. Brembo make a good replacement at a decent price.

Has anyone had brake dust problems with Mintex? I put some on my rears, and the dust is as bad as original

EBC's are great!

 

I'm no expert, but I'm guessing that's a rather hefty load of BS that they fed you on your visit. My Dealer, MINI of Peabody in MA sold the EBC greens, and they recommended them for reducing the brakedust.

 

I agree. ANY pad can destroy a brake rotor, because they are BOTH wear items that degrade with use. The only issue is how soon it happens. Normally on my street cars I replace rotors after the second or third set of pads. Competition pads (which EBC greens are not) usually degrade rotors much faster. I don't even know if brake rotor wear is covered under the MINI warranty (anyone know?).

 

Quite a while back I remember a thread with the Greenstuff pads warping someone's rotors and the dealer denied warranty.

 

To answer the question about what you can put between the brakes and rims... yes there are dust shields out there (have not checked for the MINI) that some people use to keep the wheels clean. HOWEVER, these are usually NOT RECOMMENED as they do not allow the brakes to cool. I only knew one person that ever used them and he was an idiot.

So while the wheels do get dusty, at least the dust is easy to wash off. Hopefully you did not get white wheels in an intricate pattern!

 

EBC green are a good way to reduce brake dust. If you have a warrenty issue it would be a good time to uprage your rotors anyway As for brake shields they will make it very tough cooling wise . If you drive in any type of sporting manner you may have issues with brake dust shields.

 

Other than EBC what other brands are available for the MINI that will reduce dust and maintain decent braking? Thanks.

 

What do these brake covers, mentioned in the first reply, look like?

 

the short answer-NO. Doing so can prevent heat from escaping, causing excessive fade, and/or possible damage to your braking components.

Greenstuffs seem to be the answer, I would be concerned about excessive rotor wear, though.

 

Hawk Ceramic is what I'd concider!

Alex

 

I've seen black plastic covers that go between the brakes and the wheel... They remind me of Zorro's hat... black round disks with a 1 or 2 inch high indent where the hub (or Zorro's head) would go. Not only do they look ugly as sin, but I've heard that they reduce air-flow to the disks (fairly obvious by design), causing the brakes to overheat more quickly than usual... I would think that this would destroy your warranty faster than new pads!

PS: Doesn't the dealer (stealer) have to PROVE that your modification caused a problem before denying it? I've heard that they can deny warranty work from racing issues (hence denying work on brakes with racing pads, maybe), but I can't see how they can categorically deny work just because they didn't sell you the factory pads or do the brake work themselves.

 

My suggestion:

Pull the wheels off, clean and clay-bar. Apply at least 2 coats of Zaino/Klasse.

 

Alex,

Your website returns nothing available for Cooper S on these. If they are available for the Cooper S what's the price for front/rear pads? How do we order?

Thanks

 

I had the cite updated yesterday. Ceramically speaking, here is the Hawk!

Alex

 

Still don't see any rear hawk pads available for the 05 Cooper S. Would like to hear from any MINI owners running Hawk pads, ceramic or HPS. Please PM me. Thanks.

Randall Morin
Hagerstown, MD
05 MCSC

 

04 and newer cooper have a diffrent brake pad sensor attachment than previous years. Its the same FMSI pad size, so if you dont need sensors, you can use the 02-03 pad. Hawk hasn't provided a date for rear 04+ pads yet.

Alex

 

Has anyone tried ROTEK pads? I used them on a VW Passat and experienced very little dust. They are fabricated using Kevlar.

 

Kleen Wheels will void your warranty per BMWNA. Bad idea anyway.

I have EBC Greens and love them. Put them on the first week I had the car. I run Ferodo 2500 at the track.

 

Rotors are wear items anyway... are they really covered under warranty? In any case, they're cheap, so who cares?

That said... brake dust is often a side-effect of a more effective pad compound. Switching to really hard compound pads that don't dust could leave you with compromised braking.

It's a poor answer, but my solution would be to wash the car more frequently . I've never heard anything positive about EBC products. Their use is fairly widespread, but only because of their distribution and advertising - not because of product quality. Unfortunately, I can't really recommend a "low dusting" compound since my focus has always been on performance, and accepting the dusting as a side-effect.