I have a 2018 Clubman JCW and after 16 months and 16,500 miles, my car is telling me that I need to replace my brakes. I scheduled an appointment at my local dealer figuring it was a faulty sensor since I thought brakes would be good for at least 20K-25K minimum up to 40K+. My dealership told me that the front brakes do need to be changed, but wouldn't ya know, for $600 I can add brakes, rotors, and belts to my maintenance through 3-yr/36K. Since the replacement brakes are about $350, I'd already get more than half the value out of it. I took it to an independent mechanic whom I had been using for years with my previous (out of warranty) 08 Mini Cooper. I called to confirm that the brakes should be replaced, but that he is not able to get them - the Brembos can only be delivered to the dealership.

I tend to drive aggressively, do a fair amount of town driving up and down rolling hills, but am by no means racing from stop light to stop light. Does this sound typical of the JCW brakes or is 16K absurdly early? My fear is that I purchase the $600 Mini Maintenance Plus, and my next set of Brake pads last for 25K which takes me out of the 36K they'd be covered.

Has anyone else had issues like this in the past? Does anyone recommend the MMP (or even the extended warranty to say 75K or even 100K miles for a few thousand dollars)? If it means anything, I fully intend to have and drive my car for the better part of a decade if not longer.

 

pads and rotors used to be included in pre-paid maintenance ...... things just continue to go downhill!

got this in my e-mail this week:Dear Valued Customer,Effective January 30, 2019, Fields Auto Group will terminate its MINI sales and service operations at 1220 North Tomoka Farms Road, Daytona Beach, Florida.For your ongoing service needs, you can service your MINI at our Orlando MINI location at 350 South Lake Destiny Drive in Orlando. The number is (407) 835-2727.For those of you residing closer to Daytona Beach, you will be able to drop off your MINI at Fields BMW Daytona Beach and we will transport your vehicle to Orlando MINI for warranty repairs. ...

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p.s. if I were you I'd be looking for different pads .. obviously the OE ones are too soft for your driving style. I usually get around 24k out of OE and more when I use EBC.

 

Ya, that's way quick. I didn't have to replace the brakes until about 40k miles.

 

The extended warranty might not be so bad if in another 16 months you wear out your brakes again.

Do you live on a steep hill or drive on hills regularly, if so that can be harder on brakes and increase wear by 100%. Otherwise you can try for different brake pads with better wear or try to use the brakes as little as possible.

If your driving style is hard on throttle and lots of late and hard braking then it's going to wear out soft pads quickly.

My pads will last 40K miles or 5 years.

 

I never recommend extended warranty or maintenance plans. They are priced to give the dealer nice profits and only in rare cases does the buyer make out. You should be able to order brake parts on line from one of many supporting vendors on this site. Local shops and mechanics are often limited in what they can get into the shop without hassle.