Curious what you guys got out of your original front brakes. Dealer is telling me they have about 2K left on them and when they go the rotors are under the mins so they need to be replaced as well. So something to the tune of $550is for the front brakes.

And the car has 23,500 miles on it (2010 Clubman S) and is driven by a a little old lady on Sundays (Ok, she's in her late 40s ).

This seem right? The rears just went and that's only $150 or so.

 

I got about 25k from my fronts and almost 35k from the rears. I had the extended maintenance plan so both were covered so I'm not sure what they would have charged.

 

Totally driver dependant....
You can have the brakes done anywhere, or diy's them...nothing truely special that needs a dealer...
Just use good quality parts, and enjoy!!

And having the rears go first on a MINI is fairly common....

 

I'm at 40k miles on my 08 on the original brakes and I'd say I'm about 50% left.

 

As said above, totally driver depended and also road/traffic/terrain depended. If most mileage was done in stop and go traffic then the pads/rotors will wear out prematurely as opposed to let's say primarily highway driving. Also in my experience automatic transmission cars require constant use of brakes, not as much for manuals.

 

i'm almost to 30k and my fronts have about 1k left. been watching amazon prices on akebono pads and replacement rotors. 2012 S auto, mostly city driving.

 

check 'em yourself

easy to do, for a quick check you don't even need to pull a wheel in many cases

you can look at the caliper and see the pad. The seat of the pants rule is when the pad material is thinner than the backing plate it is time to start thinking about new pads.

Here is an almost new front pad from a GEN2 MINI, I've put some white paint on the backing plate



Here's a worn pad ...



Also note that on the 'new' pad you can see the bevel on the edges of the pad. Note, that where the level of the material is about the thickness of the backing plate, the bevel is gone ... another seat of the pants guide.

Service folks know "you need new brakes" is almost always gonna yield $$ ... it is wise to know what to look for. I had a MINI dealer tell me I needed brakes, when I'd put on pads myself just weeks prior . . . "oh, sorry"

WHEN you do need pads, MINI has typically recommended new rotors. MINI has traditionally not recommended "turning" or resurfacing rotors which was common not too many years ago. I attribute this to two things: MINI rotors (and pads) are SOFT, this gives the good bite MINI folks tend to want BUT means they wear fast and, the rotors just are not as thick to start with, to save weight. If you "skim" the rotors to resurface, you can quickly end up with a rotor too thin to be used.

I typically go 2 sets of pads to a set of MINI rotors if the rotor has no serious grooves ..... with no resurfacing .... all street driving.

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In general, it is my observation that MINI goes thru OE brake pads and rotors MUCH FASTER than many other cars. I drove my Miata for over 75,000 miles b4 replacing the pads and then did it cuz I could not BELIEVE there was so little wear! Of several Hondas I've never replaced pads b4 90,000 miles . . . just the nature of the beast.

 

One of the easier jobs to do yourself. No specialty tools needed either. Plenty of suppliers on the forums that have just what you need.