Hello,

I bought my 05 Mini Convertible about 6 months ago and I'm loving it! Aside from the latch/pulley mechanisms keeping my top closed for now, it's in fairly perfect condition at under 85,000 miles!
Now that it's warm outside, I'm getting to some basic maintenance.

Just changed the oil to Castrol 5w-40 since the manual gave the thumbs up if it's being driven hard. Slightly slower start, but nice and smooth to drive. (Feels like getting lightning bolts on my shoes as a kid.) I had the fun of stripping the drain plug and having my life saved by an extractor for the first time. The filter on top threw me through a loop too! Bought the new tool for that and the cap was on so tight I had to use my long torque wrench squinting my eyes like watching a horror because it took around 35lbs to loosen...

So next is the brake pads.
Brakes are currently giving the squeak and looking about 3-4mm thick, but I do not have a dash alert. I haven't taken the tires off yet, but so far rotors, calipers, and hoses look good so I shouldn't have to replace those. I also see the brake sensors present, but have never worked with them before and am not sure how they perform. Should I have an alert by this point? Can the system be disabled? Do I need to replace these with every brake pad change?
I haven't been able to find much on the problem of brake pads being low, but receiving no alerts. I can only find the other way around so any help is appreciated.

If there are any other tips for brakes, or thoughts of must do / watch out for maintenance at this milage, I will be grateful.

Thanks!

 

If you change brake pads before the sensors are worn to the point of activation, you can just extract them from the old pads and tie them up out of the way. I just fold them up and tuck them in under the fold-over rubber bleed nipple boots....Or you can re-insert them in the new pads. Keep in mind that the rear caliper's pistons must be retracted with a special tool so the the new pads will have adequate space to be installed over the rotor. You'll also need to push the front pistons back into the calipers. Before you do this, be sure to remove the brake fluid cap and extract some fluid with a turkey baster or large syringe or you risk having the brake fluid back up and overflow. You should "mike" the thickness of your rotors to determine if there is sufficient life left to last until the next pad change. If not, it's best to change them as well as the pads. There are many on-line help tutorials like Pelican Parts and YouTube videos that describe just about every possible maintenance operation on our MINI's. BTW, this will be an excellent time to bleed the brakes with new DOT4 brake fluid. Start at the right rear, then left rear, right front and left front last.

 

i wouldn't just replace pads and leave the rotors untouched. you can take them to a parts store and have the turn them for you, at minimum. but the prices are high these days and accounting for the wait as well as the price of a cheap rotor, i quit turning rotors and just replace them now. i've found that economy quality rotors work fine. the key, in my experience, is to get a good pad.

@NC TRACKRAT that's interesting about the wear sensors. you don't get any errors or codes if you just don't connect them to the pads? you can just zip tie them out of the way?

 

Correct, @ phone cover. Just tie them off out of the way and they won't trip the warning.. I agree on plain, solid rotors. No drilled, no slotted, no cryo. That's what I use on my track car. They're all designed to ISO/SAE specification. Just bed them in properly and you're good to go. Turning the old rotors usually winds up costing more than it's worth and you wind up wasting a lot of metal in the process. Cheaper to buy new rotors.

 

FYI. Brake sensors are a wear item. They're designed to trip the code only once they wear sufficiently to require replacement. That only happens when your pads go beyond usable function.

 

I too tuck my wear sensor the same way as above. Solid rotors, EBC yellow pads. Has been a great daily driven / weekend setup for me for years. SS lines and good brake fluid help as well.