hmm..im an owner of 2006 August born Mini s.....it's been about 1 year and 8months which i had this lovely car...I was just wondering if rotor and brake has significant impact on driving and comfort....i've noticed squeaking sound whenever driving on the local....I think it might be that my brake and rotor might be worn out or rusted...is that possibble? i changed my tires 2 months (Big O Tires)ago and they said i might have to get my brakes checked... how long has your minis lasted with this matter? thanks.

 

brake wear varies widely. some eat pads in a year....some get 30,000 miles or more.

You can do a quick check. First of all, your car has wear sensors and presumably the lite hasn't come on so ... and for a car still under paid maintenance this is a covered item so you could go to the dealer.

For most, the fronts wear much faster then the rears....the front does most of the braking...that's why the fronts are bigger. Take off a front wheel and look at the outside pad...you can see it in there. A rule of thumb is a pad is 'worn' when the pad material is thinner then the pad backing plate. A new pad's material will be at least twice as thick as the backing plate.

This is a shot of a nearly new front pad from an 07S, I added a little paint on the backing plate so it can stand out (I replaced with a low dust pad at under 1000 miles)


This shot is a worn rear pad from an 02S...this pad had 80,000 miles on it.


if your pads are 'thick' then the noise maybe something else. Look at the surface of the rotors. Are there any grooves? They should wear fairly evenly. Slight grooves are common, a deep groove would imply something stuck in a pad.

I had a set of pads that squeeked every morning, especially in reverse. But only in the morning. I replaced the pads and nothing looked wrong but the squeek went away. I suspect that they either didn't like the morning humidity or the light coat of rust that typically forms on a rotor. Note that surface rust on a rotor is common. As soon as you apply the brakes that rust is gone....

hope it helps...