Just got my order in from Rock Auto.....sent me a kit for a 2013 so I have the car in pieces without parts. All I can get locally are the pads and senor so are rotors a must? Have about 50k on the car and no grinding on the rotors yet.


And for future planning, Rock Auto returns and customer service sucks beyond any other business I've ever used. No phone CS and their return process is the most frustrating. I:d rather eat the $200 for the kit than to navigate their site.

 

I've typically gone two sets of pads to a set of rotors on my 3 MINI with no issues

folks who track will slap pads between sessions

do not 'turn' or resurface the rotors ... they are made thin to begin with & a skim job can leave them TOO thin. Note minimum thickness should be cast in .. look around the lug holes

 

Never ordered from Rock Auto, the website is a complete turn off. If you are using the same pads as previously used on the car then OK assuming rotors are in good shape. I upgraded pad types on my last two MINIs and choose to make life easy and replace rotors.

 

I think the only reason to replace rotors is if they are too thin. If you're getting pulsing in the brake pedal, they are warped or have uneven pad deposits, and you'd want to turn them. I think there's a sign at my local O'Reiley "we turn rotors", so I'd start there. If after turning they are too thin... well the turning was probably $10-20, so you're not too much poorer. Get the rotors if needed from that shop, or in 2 days from Amazon Prime.

BTW. I always check parts for 2017 on my 2014. Nothing has really changed between years, but the look-up systems are more accurate.