Short Story: If you're having brake issues, start small then work your way up. I ended up paying close to $1000 in repairs/labor when all that was wrong was the pads being installed improperly by JUST BRAKES. Don't go straight to replacing the master cylinder like we did.


Full Story: So, had my R50 for a month now.


Took it for here and there services right after I got it, one of them being a brake service. I went to my local Just Brakes and ended up just needing service on the rear, new rotors and pads. Well, $470 later I walked out. Brakes seemed a little spongy, but I've never had a Mini before and didn't have anything to compare too.


Took the Mini to a local Mini specialist for other services, it's got 160k miles, I'm gonna get it checked out. Well, one of the things they said was my brakes were bad. I told them I just had the rear done, they ran tests and determined it was a Master Cylinder. Had that replaced, didn't fix the problem. Well, now the shop was pissed at themselves. After bleeding the system 6 times, running multiple tests, and trying everything they finally decided to check what they really shouldn't have, were the brakes actually installed correctly? Well, they weren't! Just Brakes didn't clip the rear pads into the piston! WOW!!!!


So, ended up having to pay for a new master cylinder, which I'm not too upset about because it probably doesn't hurt to have a new one anyway after 160k miles. But, the shop was great and took 2 extra days labor and parts charge FREE (6 brake full flushes and new rear pads at their cost) to make sure everything was right, for a problem they didn't even cause! Now that's service!


Now I'm waiting for my refund for the labor cost ($200) from Just Brakes since they apparently can't do brakes? I let them go on the parts cost because I needed rotors, pads, and a flush anyway.

 

I remember having issues with my brakes, thinking it was a brake master cylinder, but actually resulted in something that wasn't the brakes. I too had the fluid flushed 3-4 times and replaced the cylinder, but with high mileage on mine I didn't mind as we just replaced old parts with new ones that I'd eventually need at some point. Glad you got it all sorted out.

 

I once had an independent BMW shop install the rear pads the same (wrong) way on my R53. Thought they would know better...

 

The second shop's mistake was just as bad as the first, and twice as expensive.

 

Yes we preach to our customers there is so much value in having MINI shop work on your car. We have seen this issue several times as these shops do this mistake all the time. But it's sad that a dealer sold you a master cylinder as they never fail so that would be the last thing you would think would be the issue. We just had this car in a couple weeks ago.

 

Our local Mini dealer would have done that job for $270, probably correctly. Sometimes the dealer can be a bargain, rarely but worth a call.

Those places that claim to specialize in one aspect of auto repair for all makes usually perform subpar on the job. Hard to get good mechanics and keep a proper inventory. Hey why did the pads come with these metal clips, don't know so I'll just toss them out.