A friend just replaced the original pads on his '02 Cooper. We were talking later and I was surprised to hear that he didn't have to replace the wear sensors. According to him the pads were extremely thin, so I would have expected the wear sensors to have needed replacement.

When I questioned it, he didn't even see any sensors. If present, there would have been one on the back and one on the front, right? And they would be inserted in a slot in the pads, right? Is it possible that his car just was not equipped with pad wear sensors?

 

I don't think the sensors were introduced until the 2004 MY.

 

2003 MCS here with sensors

 

Both front and back?

What was the build date on your MINI?

 

This is correct. An 02 MINI wouldn't have brake pad sensors. The brake pad sensors weren't put on until almost mid 2003. A car that has them would have one on the left front and one on the right rear. Hope this clears it up for you.

 

Can the sensors be retrofit to a 2002 model?

 

I am going to say no. The only way to do it would be to add all the wiring for the sensors and then the computer would have to be changed either coded or replaced to use the sensors. Also if the Instrument cluster didn't have the light it would have to be added, or new cluster installed. Other words it would cost a fortune.

 

Thanks all for the info. I'll pass this along to my friend. He'll be especially happy, since I scared him a bit by suggesting he may have missed something in his brake work.