I know there are wear sensors on the R56, but a visual inspection through the wheels reveals that there's plenty of meat left front and rear. The wear sensor was actually counting down mileage before this, and now it's counting negative miles since the warning illuminated. Thing is, I can't seem to get the warning to reset. When I press and hold the turn signal stalk on the brake warning from the Service/Info menu, the "Reset" option never illuminates.

I just moved and haven't gotten my jack/stands into the garage yet, so I'm trying to avoid having to put it up in the air at the moment. Is the brake wear warning mileage based as well as sensor based, or purely sensor based?

 

Furrow your brow and think deep thoughts on this. Miles driven affects brake pad wear?
Brake pad wear is caused entirely by friction with the brake discs and nothing else. The minimum thickness of pads is 1 to 2 MM. THAT is the time to replace them.

 

Condition Based Service will trigger the warning after so many miles. I have been able to clear it, but the warning continues to come up when you start the car. Once you hit the wear sensors, however, you cannot clear the warning. Which is why you have to replace the sensors when you replace the pads.

 

Looks like one more of too many nanny gadgets with no apparent function except to annoy the owner/operator. When will the foolishness end? Just because the engineers can doesn't mean they should.

 

It sounds like you are down to the wear sensors, you can go for a while after the brake wear warning light comes on. There is a sensor on the left front and on the right rear.

I had to change the brake pads and the rotors when I did my brakes, the rotors were worn down to where I didn't want to put new pads on them.

 

Most people have no clue about car maintenance and will drive it until it stops or smashes into something. Count me on the side of brake pad warning sensors as I would rather not be hit by someone without brakes.

 

I don't mind them really, but there's far too much meat left on these pads for it to be going off now IMHO. I guess it gives me time to plan and get the rest of my gear moved to the new house and parts ordered though.

I have couple friends "in the business" either owning or working at private shops. Every once in a while they post pictures of the things people drive in with.

MetalMaster used to be the go-to pad for quiet, low dust, great performance. I think their current iteration is Axxis XBG? I might eventually get back to doing track days, but with 120hp I don't anticipate overworking the brakes much. What's the "go-to" DD pad for R56 owners? Any rotor brands to avoid or prefer?

 

There are two systems at play, mileage based and sensor based. When the sensor is worn down the Circuit inside the sensor is broken and the light comes on. Also the mile based also turns the light on after the clock runs down. The correct solution is replace the pads and rotors if needs and the sensor as well. Once the sensor is replaced the light can be reset. If it doesn't cut the wire of your old sensor and splice the wires and that will turn off the light. Make sure you put back in your new sensor.

 

Condition based service (CBS) is the system MINI created to manage regular service intervals and maintenance items. Service intervals and maintenance items are no longer services solely based on mileage or time, but now a combination of items. CBS utilizes sensors, vehicle driving conditions, and time to determine the service intervals. If you decide to replace the brakes, we have some awesome fairly priced kits here: http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/..._pg1.htm#item0. Otherwise, you can get the sensors here separately: http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/..._pg2.htm#item9. We have a lot of info and detailed images of sensor replacements in our tech article. it's under the "tech info" tab at the top and then click on R56 articles and look under "brakes." That'll help give you a visual, until you can get under your MINI, of the areas that may need attention.

 

My dealer re-calibrated my sensors/computer back when my car was under warranty. Sensors were showing the need for replacement but there was plenty of life left on them...that was two years/30,000 miles ago (rears).

 

The break sensors are a PITA when you can easily look through the wheels. As mentioned, once the sensor is tripped by wearing it down, you cannot reset the brake warning until you either install a new sensor or splice the sensor wires together.

I ended up installing a new sensor along with new brake pads, then zip tie the new sensor out of the way (do not attach the sensor to the pad), and reset the brake warning system.

 

The sensor trick is to install it before the caliper is tight. Once the pads are in and all right it's hard to get the sensor in correctly