Hey All,

I remember the finance guy telling me that at approximately 40k, the mini would need to have the brake rotors replaced. No big deal I was thinking, until he indicated the the replacement would cost 1k. Then he mentioned that his ext. warranty (costing 500.00) would cover it. Do any of you know anything further regarding the brake rotor replacements and how factual the 1k price to be?

Thanks, Jim

 

Maybe at THAT dealer, it would cost $1000.

 

I had my front rotors and pads replaced under warranty at ~28,000 miles. I was told by the dealer that they would charge $500 for the fronts if it hadn't been under warranty. I was also told that next time I had to replace rotors it would be front and rear.

Mental Note: get slotted rotors when that happens, it will be cheaper.

 

FWIW - I had slotted rotors put on the front, new pads put on the front and rears and stainless lines installed for under $500, including labor. Not sure how much my dealer would charge, but I know it would be quite a bit more than that.

 

>>I had my front rotors and pads replaced under warranty at ~28,000 miles. I was told by the dealer that they would charge $500 for the fronts if it hadn't been under warranty. I was also told that next time I had to replace rotors it would be front and rear.<<

Dave, this seems awfully early in the car's life to be doing rotors and pads. Was there a problem with them other than wear? I would think that the dealer would draw the line somewere with how often they'll replace rotors and pads. If you autocross or just drive the car extremely hard, and your brakes are toast after 5k miles, what then? I'm just curious; I will not have kind words for BMW if I have to do rotors and pads at 28k, even if it is under warranty.

 

My dad has a small BMW commute car. his brakes were like this too. when they were warn he was hit with the 500 charge as both rotors and pads need replacement. the reason is that to increase the stopping power the are using an abrasive pad to wear don the rotor as well as the pad. this makes excelent braking but hits us in the pocket. His solution was to buy new rotors from auto parts shop along with new pads. but he did need to buy the sensor from the dealer. I think his total cost in parts was 150 to 200 and an afternoon of his labor. When my mini goes. I hope it does under warrenty I will definitly be replacing with aftermarket slotted rotors as they use a less abrasive pad and will last alot longer than stock parts.

 

1) the dealership (Schomp MINI / Schomp BMW here in Denver) said that they normally replace the front pads and rotors on the BMW's before the warranty is up. They did not seem to be surprised to be doing it on my MINI or make any comments that would have lead me to believe they thought this was premature and anything other than normal wear.

2) Autocross should not change your rotor life much. A handful of 60 second runs where you are trying to go as fast as possible through the entire course really doesn't have a lot of brake wear. Now if you track drove the car a lot then I'd see how that could influence things, but I don't buy that autocross significantly changes brake rotor wear. I would bet there were a grand total of about 10-15 miles on my car from autocross. Compare that to the other 28,000 and I think you'll see my point.

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Gotcha. The more I think about it, I don't think I've ever owned a car for more than 30,000 miles before (which amazes me to realize), so maybe brakes at 28,000 are indeed nothing out of the ordinary. I guess I jumped to a conclusion there. Thanks for responding!

I know nothing about autocross; I was just trying to think of some scenario where the brakes would wear down excessively quickly.

This business of the MINI's brake pads wearing down the rotors AND the pads simultaneously (another thread) is disconcerting, though.

 

&gt;&gt;Gotcha. The more I think about it, I don't think I've ever owned a car for more than 30,000 miles before (which amazes me to realize), so maybe brakes at 28,000 are indeed nothing out of the ordinary. I guess I jumped to a conclusion there. Thanks for responding!
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;I know nothing about autocross; I was just trying to think of some scenario where the brakes would wear down excessively quickly.
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;This business of the MINI's brake pads wearing down the rotors AND the pads simultaneously (another thread) is disconcerting, though.

My previous car was a 98 Subaru Legacy Outback. I sold it at just over 60,000 miles and it still had original tires (Michelin), brake pads and rotors, and still had plenty left on the pads to legally sell it here, I think more than 30%. The tires though were probably within 10k miles of needing replacement. Overall, I was very impressed with the Subaru! Just needed something more fun and with a bit better gas mileage.

IMHO having to replace pads at under 30k miles does seem a tad early, even though I would expect an early replacement (compared to an Outback) on a sporty car such as the MINI.

 

IMO, changing the pads and rotors is actually a pretty easy DIY job. So long as you don't have to actually remove the caliper from the brake line, it's pretty much a wrench (and pliers) job. When the time comes, I'll probably do them myself, and then maybe pay the dealer to change the brake fluid and bleed the system (changing the fluid is something that I've believed should be done fairly often...and I hate bleeding brakes). At any rate, I'm sure that this will all cost A LOT less than $1000...and I'll likely end up improving the brakes by not using OEM parts.

I guess it doesn't surprise me that the dealers are charging $500 an axle. Once again, the future - beyond warranty - cost of ownership for the MINI is looking pretty grim if you expect to depend on dealer service and OEM parts.

 

Jsun
the beyond warranty maintinance is what bothers me a little. I am a garage mechanic. I repair everything on my cars. I restored my jeep from the ground up and have repaired the motor in my truck and replaced it. it has 250K miles on it. The mini being a bmw probably has not put a self diognostic program in the ECU. I bet it will have to be plugged into a computer with BMW software. That buggs me. now when something goes wrong I have to pay to have them tell me what I need to replace as I refuse to pay 80 per hour shop rates. and buy OEM parts that are overpriced.

 

buy the way 30K miles before first brake job isn't that bad. but on my truck and my SUV I would go 60 to 80K miles before it needed brakes worked on. ant it usually just needed pads and have the rotors turned. The rotors on my truck are origional and have 250K miles on them. When the time comes my mini's brakes will get swapped out with something that stops great and doesn't wear so fast.

 

It's too early to know, but not too early to worry. When I read posts from people like DaveinDenver who have had their cars for a year and have a respectable number of miles on them, I'm heartened by the fact that few have experienced major system failures (and those major failures that have occured seem to happen in the first 10K miles, so they're definitely covered). That's the good news.

But then I also read about $1000 brake jobs, $1500 clutch jobs and the like and I start to freak. Brakes, clutches, radiators, and the like are things that everyone who has a car for 100,000 miles or more (I've had all of my decent cars for about that long) will have to do. And I just don't want to know that my MINI is going to cost me 25% of its original purchase price to keep on the road for the second half of its life with me. If that looks like it's going to be the case, I'll have to get rid of it before that second half rolls around. That would be a shame given how much I'm liking the car right now.

 

Replace the pads and rotors while at or under 40 thousand miles, YIKES!
I certainly understand replacing pads, but the rotors too, that certainly sounds out of wack to me. I have never replaced rotors on any car I've owned, even with a 900SE Saab at 165,000 miles the rotors were still fine, the pads of course are replaced regularly.
Is this just a BMW thing?

 

&gt;&gt;I refuse to pay 80 per hour shop rates. and buy OEM parts that are overpriced.

Wow- wish shop rates around here were 80 per hour...more like $105.00.

 

&gt;&gt;It's too early to know, but not too early to worry. When I read posts from people like DaveinDenver who have had their cars for a year and have a respectable number of miles on them, I'm heartened by the fact that few have experienced major system failures (and those major failures that have occured seem to happen in the first 10K miles, so they're definitely covered). That's the good news.
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;But then I also read about $1000 brake jobs, $1500 clutch jobs and the like and I start to freak. Brakes, clutches, radiators, and the like are things that everyone who has a car for 100,000 miles or more (I've had all of my decent cars for about that long) will have to do. And I just don't want to know that my MINI is going to cost me 25% of its original purchase price to keep on the road for the second half of its life with me. If that looks like it's going to be the case, I'll have to get rid of it before that second half rolls around. That would be a shame given how much I'm liking the car right now.

I read you there jsun, but then you also have to add another $800-1,600 per year for new windshields unless they are covered by your insurance, and the costs will rapidly rack up! I had originally intended to keep my MCS for at least 5-6 years, but I am also thinking baout the possibility of changing at the end of the warranty period, because I AM worried that it will become a very expensive car to maintain!

 

It probably won't take the insurance companies ALL that long to figure out that glass coverage on a MINI is a losing proposition for them.

I too would love to keep this car for 10 years, but it's looking less and less likely, the more I learn about the upkeep $. It's too bad that this ECU crap keeps us dependent on the dealer for diagnostics. I guess most cars are headed that way, but then again, most cars won't die if you drive through a puddle or spill your coffee in the wrong place, either.