I have been having brake issues for a while now, not sure what is wrong. Brake fluid is max, brake pads are 1 year old, and I checked, plenty of life left. Brand new rotors on back, front rotors are fine, not sure why, but every now and then the brakes will be weak so I will have to use the e-brake.

Its a 2003 mini cooper automatic. I have been holding off on getting this fixed, but I might have a date, and she lost her BF in a bad car accident. I don't want my unsafe car to mess anything up. Her BF died cause of a drunk driver, and she was also in the car. I know she was in the hospital, but released like the next day.

I know brakes are important, but I don't drive much, and not many lights, or stop signs, but plenty of idiot drivers that pull out infront of you just to take another turn less then 20ft away making you slow down 2 times for them. I hate people that do that.

 

You have to use the Ebrake to STOP THE CAR??!

Sounds like air in the lines, and possibly in the ABS unit, which is notoriously difficult to bleed once air gets in it.
Going is expensive. Not stopping is even more expensive, and not just in $$.
Get it fixed.

 

Certainly bleed the brakes first. Brakes are no joke, so if your not familiar of how to do it, take it to a shop to have it performed. If it's still doing that, take the cap off the master cylinder and have someone press the brake, see if the fluid pushes back in, or even squirts back out, would be a sign of a bad master cylinder.

 

What kind of pads....Race pads, and most agressive pads work best HOT.....so they are not suitable for a street car,
Also if the pads/rotors are not BOTH changed, the rotors can sometimes get glazed...results in poor stopping....can roughen the rotors, then bed them in again.
Are the rotors too thin? undersized? how many pads have been swapped since they were changed? Or just measure them.