My wife took our 08 clubman in for an oil change today. We have about 45000 miles on the car. FYI it is a manual transmission and this is our first mini. Before we took it in for an oil change the service indicator came on as well as the ebrake light stays on. I am pretty sure it is telling us the brakes need attention. I had a look at the outside pads on the front brakes and they looked pretty good still probably about 20000 miles left. So, today Mini says the front brakes/rotors need to be replaced for about 610. Outrageous in my opinion. Has anyone else experienced this type of service with mini dealerships? Any help here would be great. I guess I am used to cars having a brake feeler that tells me the brakes need to be changed. On a final note my wife and I have not noticed any difference in braking either to warrant repair.

 

Not sure what you mean by a "brake feeler" but if it is what it sounds like, the service indicator and brake light are performing that function. They are telling you the brakes need to be changed (as you suspect). You have gotten into the sensor and tripped it.

Not sure how you are figuring you have 20k miles left on the pads, but if you know from visual inspection that the pads and rotors have life left in them, then you are probably ok to keep driving (if you can put up with the dash lights).

 

You could try taking it to either another Mini dealer or a 3rd party brake place to have another opinion on the matter if you are concerned enough to do so.