It was a nice day. I decided to install the Brembo rotors and Hawk pads onto Artoo my 2003 Cooper S. Everything went smooth. All the pieces fit nicely and I pressure bled and flushed the system with new ATE Blue fluid. Cleaned up and went for a test ride.

There is a rotating clank upon braking from the front. It is loud. At first I thought that I left a caliper loose or a bracket. Nope. Then I thought perhaps their was something wrong with the parts so I took it all apart and measured. The Brembo rotors and Hawk pads look exactly like the OEM ones that came off.

Then I thought it was the ABS somehow, so I pulled the fuses in the engine compartment but that didn't so anything but put on the ABS light. I ran a scan and there are no codes. I brought it to a friend to see if there was anything glaring. Nope. Everything is tight and looks good.

So, any wisdom is welcome. Brakes are not rocket science and, like I said, everything went smoothly. It makes no noise accelerating. Only under braking. The pedal is fine.

I am stumped. It's not like I haven't done a 100 brake jobs before.

Please. Someone say they had this problem too and the answer is.....

Rich

 

Let me throw something out. If you drive forward hit the brakes, and then back up and hit the brakes again does it make a clanking sound (only once)? If it does then that is normal, it's just the pads shifting in the calipers ever so slightly.

 

Nope. This was a nasty racket. Actually if I didn't know that everything was tight in there it sounded like the wheels were going to fall off.

After going over and over this in my head last night I was convinced it was a stuck caliper or the ABS needed to be bled. Not having the scanner to cycle the ABS I called Prestige Mini and they said to bring it right over.

The tech took it for a ride and it was his opinion that the rotors and/or pads were bad. These were brand new Brembos (not slotted or drilled) and HAWK HPS pads. There are hundreds of Minis working fine with that combination. And the install was fine and he was sure it was not a stuck caliper or the ABS (as I said in the post I did disable the ABS with no change last night).

So for a bit over $400 they redid the front brakes with OEM parts although we did talk about only changing the pads but they said they wouldn't guarantee that took care of the problem and if they replace both and it didn't work, then I was not on the hook for those parts. And it worked. No grinding clank. Go figure.

Now this is still curious to me as once the caliper clamps on I have no idea what could have been making this racket. But alas it is working perfectly now with a hard pedal and good OEM stopping power.

I guess the moral is that sometimes the best aftermarket parts are not better than OEM. And if someone wants to buy front Brembo rotors and Hawk pads with about 5 miles on them I have a set.

If any of you has any more wisdom I am all ears. But for now, Artoo is back in business although I am still confused and a bit poorer.

Rich

 

Wow....this thread just makes my head hurt.

I dont thank a loud clank (or a little clank) is ever supposed to be NORMAL when it comes to anything mechanical....lol

 

This thread shouldn't make you hurt. If you want hurt, read about radiator fans. Or power steering pumps. Or supercharger repairs. This one was easy if not costly to me. But I learned a lesson and that is, for me, OEM parts seems to make sense.

The noise Planeguy was referring to is more of a click then a clank and if that was all I had I would have paid no attention to it. My noise was loud and if I didn't know everything was tight I would think a wheel would be soon falling off. But OEM pads and rotors made it go away. And I thought Brembo made the Mini rotors. I am betting something was wrong with the Hawk pads but frankly, it all looks good. I am still scratching my head.

Rich