Are spongy brakes normal?
 

All,
New member, first post, so go easy on me ;)
15 MC BR/W - have had it a little over a year (bought used). Currently about 59k. Just had the front brakes done (pads, rotors, sensors) and the shop replaced the brake fluid as part of the recommended service.
Prior to the work, the brakes were stiff - you could feel a good, solid resistance from the moment you tapped them and you didn't have to push far.
After the work, there's a little resistance when you tap them, but then it mushes for what feels like a few inches until it firms up again as you approach the floor. I've hit the brakes hard (in the driveway) just to see how they respond, and the anti-lock does kick in.
Prior experience tells me that there may be air in the lines, so I took the car back to the shop to have them bleed the lines again, but nothing had changed when I got the car back.
Since I bought the car used, I don't know what defines a "normal" brake feel for a Mini. Was it the original state, or the current state?
If the original state was normal, is there something the shop or I am missing? Is there a trick to bleeding the lines, or something that needs to be reset?
~Brent

Shouldn't be spongy. What pads & rotors did they use? Has the fluid ever been flushed as opposed to just bled? Is the shop a quality shop that has done good work for you in the past? Brakes are pretty straight forward, nothing special on the MINI that I know of.

Not sure of the make of the pads and rotors, but the former are ceramic. It was a flush with BG Super DOT 4.
Not a dealer, but yes, a quality shop. Never had a problem before with their work.

Interesting... Amongst the "Related Topics" I found this https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ds-rotors.html
It's noted that ceramic pads feel different from the OEMs, and after changing pads, "The first few brake applications will give you a long brake peddle."
Another person notes about a particular brand of ceramic pad, "They don't have the initial bite of oem..." THIS really seems to describe what I'm feeling - there's no bite.
Is there really a difference between pad types?

they got air in the lines, take it back or bleed it yourself

If they accidentally bled air into the system, they can sometimes accidentally get air into the ABS pump. I did this by accident on the first F56 we had. It was a nightmare, had to get it to the dealer to have them cycle the pump to get the air out. You could bleed till the cows come home conventionally, but with air in the pump, the brakes were always spongy. On our most recent F56, we were extremely careful to cycle the MoTul RBF600 in a little at a time keeping the level up the whole time. Awesome pedal and far less fade at the track with carbotech pads.