I understand your situation. They were scary thin.

For everyones information though, thinner pads will provide better high performance braking than thick ones. The reason is that they can dissipate heat more readily, and when you think about it, that's what brakes do, dissipate heat. They basically convert the kinetic energy of motion to heat and dissipate it.

That is not to say that you should run pads that are almost metal to metal, but as long as they are NOT metal to metal, thin pads will offer better braking than thick pads, providing that all other factors are equal.

In addition to superior braking performance of thin pads, with thinner pads, the wear rate is slower for the same reason. Since the pad material can more readily dissipate heat, less wear will occur with thinner pads. When thicker, the pad wears away at a faster rate than when the same pad is thinner. In other words 1/16" will wear off of a near new pad much faster than 1/16" will wear off of a more worn out pad.

 

HAHA My wallet's too thick? Yep. That's why I didn't drop a grand at the MINI dealership... also why I work 2 jobs. Oh, and I'm 19. And it's my car to pay for. But I digress...

Anyways:

Decided to do Mintex pads and considering Duralast rotors from AZ. I think this should do the trick!

I had my brake fluid changed about a year ago. Would you still recommend doing it again?

 

Generally you should change your fluid every year, but it isnt super critical, it can wait a little without causing trouble if money is tight. The main reason you change your brake fluid is because as the fluid gets water in it the boiling point lowers increasing the risk of brake fade.

 

For what brake fluid is worth, I'd say do it anyways. Brake fluid is cheap and it's about 15 minutes extra to do it. Better peace of mind for less than $20 bucks.

 

Fluid changes every other year are fine, unless you do any track days.