My 05 MINI's brakes were acting up - they would stop the car but as I sat there I kept having to push the pedal all the way to the floor. Checking the brake reservoir, it was low - so I added fluid. Went on a 30 mile errand, and by the time I got back home my BRAKE light came on. When I brought it into the shop, both the BRAKE light and DSC light were on - but my ODBII reader did *not* find any codes related to the braking system. Is this normal? Shouldn't a low reservoir show up as a code somewhere?

Mostly curious - and will report back where it was leaking.

 

Pedal goes to the floor = master cylinder fail?

 

Maybe? I figure it has to be some sort of leak only triggered by pressure - but obviously not sure where. They are pretty backed up with work and I didn’t hear back from them today.

My emergency brake was pretty weak. Can’t recall if the brake cable self-tightens as it is used, or if it needs to be adjusted… thankfully I did not need to use it.

 

The ebrake can be adjusted at the rear brakes and at the lever in cabin. I remember seeing the process in bentley

 

Says you are in Michigan. Check the lines for leaks. They are coated steel lines. My left rear rusted last fall. Messy. I replaced the master, and it made no difference. Use cuprinol / copper nickel. Look at them all, but the rears tend to let go first. The handbrake cables rust thru. You need new cables in that case.

 

Yep, good old salted Michigan roads...

The local auto shop FINALLY had a chance to look at my MINI. One of the front lines burst and is leaking - they could replace just the one but they recommended replacing all the lines, calipers, etc... and they were wondering if I even wanted to have the work done. To do just one was around $450. My MINI only has 92K miles on it so I definitely want to get this repaired, but I decided to hold off and have a MINI-specific place do the work. I'm booked for the week of the 26th at Detroit Tuned. Might end up being more expensive, but would rather have all of that work done at a place that does great work and has done this sort of thing on a MINI before (and probably with some frequency). They've worked on my MINI before, but because of where I'm located, they aren't terribly convenient.

I'd post pictured but they keep hanging at 90%... will try Chrome...

 

And just FYI - right before my 12 year rust warranty wore out, MINI paid for the body shop to replace both my rear quarter panels and I think my doors (can't recall if they replaced my passenger door, but I think so). And prior to that one of my front shock mounts (some sort of mount) wore out and broke due to rust. IMHO, rust has been a major constant on my MINI and one of the disappointing aspects of it. Otherwise, I really do love this car...