I had my Mini at the dealer not too long ago for some warranty work and they mentioned to me that the brake pads & rotors needed replacing. I'm sure the pads need to be replaced as I can hear them every once in a while. What's the average lifetime of the rotors? The pads & rotors are stock and the car is a 2007 Cooper S Convertible with about 18.5K miles on it.

 

Unless you're doing a lot of heavy braking, you should not need to replace your rotors that early. My Challenger I take to the track (non-drag) so I have a lot of heavy braking. I'm at 25k miles and I am no where near needing to do anything to the rotors. My wife's Mini has 24k miles and I've started doing a lot of heavier braking on it (going to be tracking it when I get my wife's ok), and they are still within specs (not looking to do anything to the rotors for at least another 10k miles). Both pads were replaced at 20k miles (rears had a lot more life). What did they say was wrong with the rotors?

 

they told me that the rotors were really close to the edge and needed to be replaced soon. they told me the pads were pretty worn as well and also needed to be replaced. then they showed me the $800 estimate to replace it all. i'm thinking they told me that because they thought they could get a sale out of me. i can feel a lip on them, but i'm pretty sure that's normal. it doesn't feel very large. i guess i'm just curious as to what the thickness i should get them replaced at?

 

I've read various thicknesses for the rotors, but they should be marked on the inner rim of the rotor.

What I go by is:
Front wear limit: 19mm
Rear wear limit: 7mm

 

Unless you are very hard on brakes, you shouldn't need to replace anything at 17.5K, although doing a visual inspection of pad thickness at this point isn't a bad idea. I wouldn't trust dealers to advise you when this service is due - at best, they'll be extremely conservative and at worst, they'll outright lie to get a high-profit job.

The car has wear sensors that work pretty well, so if you haven't got a warning light, it is likely you have pad left to continue on for awhile. But again, a visual inspection to confirm pad life is a good idea to back up the sensor. BTW, I doubt what you're hearing has much to do with the pads being worn. Probably normal brake noise.

When you do replace pads, its unlikely you need new rotors too, although its possible you might if they're badly scored. I doubt they could possibly wear that quickly. Personally, I typically replace rotors every third set of pads. I get only about 25K miles out of pads, but that typically includes a track day or two per set and I live in hilly terrain. If I didn't do the track days and lived someplace flat, I'm sure I'd get over 50K miles out of a set of pads.

Dealers love $1000 replace-everything brake jobs. It's a easy/short job that they pay $150 for parts and make $850 profit. At $1K every 17.5K miles, you're spending half what you spend on gas for brakes! Does that sound reasonable?

- Mark

 

according to haynes 20.4mm and 8.4mm

and minimum pad thickness 3mm front and rear

for OP

17.5K does seem very low miles for pads so the best thing is to do a visual check on your own. I had a dealer tell me I needed new pads and rotors when I'd changed 'em myself just weeks b4 . . . Seat of the pants rule is pads should be replaced when pad material is less thick then the backing plate. (I've posted a set of pictures many times ... they'll pop up on a search)

MINI dealers will usually tell you that rotors are to be changed with the pads. MINI allegedly does not recommend resurfacing the rotors and there is the old rule that you always have a new smooth surface for new pads. Therefore you need new rotors. I, like many, have run multiple sets of pads to one set of rotors w/out resurfacing but I provide the above as it is the 'word' from the beginning on MINIdom.

Lastly, there is NOTHING special about the brakes on a MINI. You can get the pads and rotors changed at any place you trust to do such work including a reasonably competent home mechanic - there is a decent DIY guide available in the 'how to' threads, or PM me an e-mail address and I'll send it to you.

 

17.5K of stop and go city driving - depending on your driving style - sure, you could wear out pads and rotors that quickly.

On the other hand, I've got over 100K on my pads and rotors - but it's all highway driving. Mintex red box pads and Brembo rotors. And I've just ordered the same parts to replace it all, front and back. There's still some life left, but I dont want to wait until the wear sensor kicks in.

 

Thanks for all the great replies. After my second post, I checked the rotors and also had someone else I trust take a look and he agreed that I shouldn't need new rotors for a while. In addition, the noise when braking is intermittent and the sensor light is not on yet, so I think we're good for a bit longer with the pads as well. Thanks again!

 

$800 for front rotors and pads is outrageous...Check TireRack for the parts, I got Akebono Ceramic pads and new Centric Rotors from TireRack for about $175 + shipping. It really isn't a very difficult job, perhaps you can have your trusted mechanic install them for less than $600....

 

We seem to be pretty hard on the brakes, including expeditions to the track. We've had brakes pads twice in 18.5k miles on the S, but the rotors are nowhere near needing replacement.

The rotors do say 20.4mm on the front and 8.4mm on the rear.

 

Just got front rotors and brakes done for $351. My husband felt like the guy gave us the business. First they said "we don't do rotors here", then after my husband said they charged us $70 for each side he retracted and said "oh all European cars usually need full rotors replaced and pads since they're so soft". Is any of this true? NOne of my warning lights for brakes came on and they said I had about 15% of my pads left.

 

If you wait until the warning light comes on, you'll also have the added expense of changing the wear sensors. It's always better to replace the pads before they get that low.

 

I agree with the soft European rotors. Apparently many of the European car makers use a higher carbon cast iron that is quieter, but wears more quickly (softer). Changing to the EBC redstuff pads on my car accelerated the wear/scoring of my factory rotors. I've been suing these aftermarket rotors which seem to wear better, and are cheaper than the factory rotors. http://www.waymotorworks.com/front-t...5-r56-r57.html

-my 0.02

 

Our 2008 base Mini has 20,650 miles and the brake light just came on. The independent Mini shop is willing to do pads only for just over $200 assuming the rotors are thick enough. The catch is that they will only warrant them to be quiet if we replace the rotors as well which will add nearly $300 to the price. My question is what is the likelihood that replacing the pads alone will result in squealing brakes? Is noisiness a typical or common problem with Minis when just the pads are replaced?

 

We've had plenty of pads repalced without the rotor, no noise. Unless the rotor is warped.

 

Thanks very much. That's reassuring. I'm definitely going to go with just the pads unless there is a thickness or warping issue with the rotors. Will post the results after I get the work done.

 

Brake jobs are one of the biggest profit items for any service center. A total rip off. I had a friend that took his truck to Mineke and they told him they would not do the fronts if they didn't do the backs at the same time. He brought the truck over, the backs were just fine and I had the new fronts on and him on his way in under 40 minutes. Just how big of crooks can these shops be? I do know the answer.

 

I measured my front rotors with a micrometer and I have half a rotor left with 38k on the odometer. The rear rotors are in even better shape, nearly as thick as new.