I'm at just over 38k miles and my rear brakes pads are worn. I'm going to replace them soon and wanted to know if I should get EBC Green pads to replace them or not. I know for sure I want EBC Greens on the fronts when the stock ones wear out, but that hasn't happened yet. I only have about 80 extra money this month to spend on parts, so I've gotta get new ones for the rear. I've heard that the green pads brake better than stock. I'm wondering if having EBC's on the rear, with stock ones in front, is going to throw the car "out-of-balance"?

 

Cool! Thanks Alex! Just got my answer from another source (telephone), yeah, I know...that's so old-fashioned of me. But anywho, I've been told since the EBC green is not extremely different from the stock ones, I won't have much of a problem. Now I just have to save up to do the front pads.

 

The greens can be pretty noisy...

 

Usually since most of the stopping is done with the front brakes the fronts should wear out faster than the rears. Yours is opposite which some MINI owners report so I am suspicious why this is so. If you have stock pads and rotors on your MINI now I would ask the dealer to check your pads and rotors for premature wear of the rear pads. At 38,000 miles I would have expected your fronts to be worn and your rears to be OK.

If you have to replace the rear pads now then you should always check the condition of the rotors and the condition of the front pads and rotors. If very worn and close to changing then have a plan for doing the changes even if your budget doesn't allow all of the installation yet.

Having EBC green or Mintex redbox pads on the rear and stock pads on the front should not be a problem with braking performance as long as the rotors are in good shape and every pad has some life in it (not too worn out).

EBC greens are fine for the street, give off much less brake dust than stock pads, and work for autocross or light track use. Some owners report squeaking but if you have clean rotors with a smooth surface and the brake calipers and parts are cleaned well you should be OK. Some owners use the anti squeak stuff but my brake shop doesn't really think it works for very long. Don't be surprised if you hear some squeaking.

 

Any other maintenace items I should think about doing while I'm replacing the rear pads? Do the caliper pistons need cleaned? Does the rotor need cleaned? I know I should be truing the rotors, but cannot afford to do so, plus they're not too worn at all. The front rotors will need to be replaced to turned when the front pads wear out.

Two other people here in PHX have had the same issue with their MCS's with higher wear on the rear pads than on the fronts. One is an 02 and the other two are 03s. ?maybe? it has to do with the heat or dryness here in AZ that is causing our rears to wear out first...

 

turning rotors is bad you are better of replacing than turning.
because turning is not done on same axis as current wear patterns, chucking in lathe does not have same runout as your hub bearings; worse patterns can be induced to your new pads.

 

Dom,

I would really consider getting your rotors turned. The surface condition is critical to helping the new pads bed in. I think Autozone and or Checker can turn them @$10 each.

Also I don't like the fact your rears are wearing out first. Something doesn't seem right. Could the hand brake be out of adjustment?

 

Hey Todd, I've heard minicoop78 and hafid has the same issue as me. I've had the handbrake adjusted, but nothing was dragging. Exactly the opposite...I had to pull up the handle very high to get it to engage the brakes. :smile: I'll check with Checker for exact pricing and time needed to do the process.

 

My rear pads went first as well (40,000 +/-). Service manager said something about rears engaging first. [Note: I'm not a "stand on the brakes driver]

 

My rear brakes went first as well. It was only at 24K miles. I had MINI replace them with OEM parts, Pads and Rotors, under the maint. plan. I then had the same thing on the Fronts at about 30K. I never wore out a set of pads F or R on my previous cars. No track or AutoX either. I think it may be a soft compound from the factory that just wears more easily. I also don't like the fact that the rears went first. The only thought there is the EBD, but no one can really give me a definitive answer. Somthing like "the rears engage first when doing light braking" would go a long way toward explaining this. I'm not sure the the SA's know the answer either.

 

What's very wierd here is the time for brakes to go out. I've had my car on the track a couple of times and I am also a VERY agressive braker (high gee forces make me smile!) so I am very curious why some people are getting theirs worn faster than others. Maybe it's the amount of freeway travel I do compared to someone else who does a lot of stop and go.

So, anywho, back to a related question...is there any maintenance to do while I have the pads out, other than turning the rotors? Lube, cleaning, etc?

 

I encountered this on my Avalanche. The truck also had a dynamic brake proportioning system. In my case, the rear pads were gone and the fronts were barely worn. I pointed out to the dealer that this indicated either dragging brakes or a problem with the proportioning system, but they declined to resolve the issue. A few months after I sold the truck (about a year later), I discovered they had finally issued a TSB.

Coincidentally, I replaced the worn rear pads with EBC greenstuffs. The softer pad on the rear won't hurt your braking, but it will compound the wear issue. FWIW, I didn't care for the EBC's. They were *extremely* noisy for the first several thousand miles, and they dusted like crazy. I'd accept this on a autox or track car, but not a daily driver. Pad life was also poor, but I believe this to be a result of the defective proportioning.

Turn the rotors only if they need it. Otherwise, you're just taking life off a good part. This is not required to bed new pads. And remember not to let the caliper hang by the brake line.

Brock