So the wife's 09 Justa threw the replacement light for the pads and I ordered some EBC Green stuff pads to replace them. Took off the wheels and found the rotors under spec too (lame, since the car only has 71k miles).

Got new rotors from carquest and replaced the pads and rotorss, put everything back on, as per normal. Even replaced the little sensor (havent been able to get the Light to shut off either)

For whatever reason, the drivers side rotor is glazing and the brake smells like burning.

No idea what to do here, since the wheel rotates freely with the pads installed (so the caliper doesn't seem stuck, tested before and after the test drive)

Does anyone have experience to tell me where else I could have gone wrong? The car is staying in the garage for the remainder of the week anyway, since the thermostat housing went and started leaking during the test drive for the brakes (seriously, who designs this crap and still keeps a job!?)

Thank you in advance for any help in tracking this issue down.

 

71K miles on original rotors is pretty good. BMW basically designs the rotors as light as possible for better performance figuring that the pads and rotors wear out at the same time. Unlike domestic cars and their atrocious handling with rotors that can be used as anchors and turned multiple times. MINI/BMW rotors are not designed to be turned, just replaced.

The thermostat housing is another matter. That is just plain poorly designed.

Did you replace pads and rotors on all four corners? Did you replace both of the pad wear sensors? How about seating the pads, did you follow the manufacturers recommendations? It is easy to glaze them if they are not seated correctly.

 

I only replaced the fronts, but now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to have to check the rear pads as well, go figure they would probably be shot too. I changed the front sensor, but didn't think that the rears would go out so quickly, they were done at like 50k (at the dealer, under warranty).

I don't know what the manufacturer recommendations are for seating, I did follow the EBC guide, which said to take it out, drive and slow down very easy for the first few times, then after 50 miles of driving to do a few 60-20MPH controlled (quicker) stops.

Any suggestions on fixing the situation would be appreciated.