Its it Just ‘Me’😉 My 2019 Cooper seems to really like rear brake pads? Car has 17K. Last pads were not rea special (Auto Zone - Middle of the line) lasted 15 months, about 4K

anyone else seeing this??

easy fix

 

I read somewhere that Mini uses the rear brake pads to control the speed of the vehicle when using cruise control, If you're like me and use cruise control all the time your rear brake pads are going to wear out a lot faster. Hope this helps.

 

Interesting, I rearLy use Cruise

 

I would like to challenge this explanation. Makes zero amount of sense to me. Please find a reference?

I would say if your rear brake pads are wearing significantly faster than the fronts, something is sticking in the caliper and its dragging.

 

Here's the only thing I found online, there's plenty of information explaining how it works but I couldn't find an official PDF or document from MINI explaining it.

 

OK, I've done some searching on the function, and the brakes only activate going down hill IF the speed of the car cannot be controlled otherwise. I would expect the brakes to rarely come into the control unless you're coming down a long mountain hill with cruise control on. In normal cruise control operation the brakes are not used.

 

My 2019 F57 Cooper has about 37,000 miles on it, and the front brakes were replaced around 30,000 miles. Just this morning I got a message about the rear brakes, due in 1,300 miles. I use cruise control all the time and live in a generally hilly area, for what it’s worth. (The cruise control does use the rear brakes to keep the vehicle at the set speed, if engine braking alone isn’t sufficient.) A good chunk of my driving is rallies with our local MINI club, and so I’m not easy on the brakes with this car. I suspect a lot of stop and go driving, a lot of low speed driving and light braking, use the rear brakes more.

 

Data point: bought my 2017 F56S in June 2021, and I have changed neither front nor rear pads since purchasing the car.

But while nosing around in BimmerLink I got a look at the Front and Rear brake service counts (meaning how often each set has been replaced), all of which would be attributable to the car's first owner (I am the second owner of the vehicle).

Front pad replacement count: 2
Rear pad replacement count: 9

The original owner was decidedly non-technical, mostly babied the car, and left service to professional shops (usually the original MINI dealer). And I have personally inspected the brakes all around, right down to measuring rotor thickness with digital calipers. The brakes are in great condition, pad and rotor wear are even, blah blah.

So my takeaway is the car eats rear pads due to some inherent design+functionality business. And as for the involvement of cruise control, this car loves to rocket down even the slightest grade if I don't have my foot in the brake, so I can't see how cruise control (if used) does *not* have impact on pad wear unless driving in spaces that are flat as a pancake. Granted mine is an S and therefore heavier than the base Cooper, but you get the idea.

FWIW

 

This doesn't make sense at all. I replaced all four at 48K (could have gone longer, but had trips coming up). Front/rear wear was almost even. The idea that cruise control is an issue is questionable as well since I use cruise extensively. Mine's a JCW, which is even heavier than the S. That said, my driving is normally on open roads ... very little stop and go.

 

Interesting. The area I'm in would have a bunch of stop and go, so that's a variable, but how much of a variable would be tough to define (especially since the pad replacements in the computer were under the prior owner -- I have no idea how that person drove other than that they and I shared the same MINI dealership, so they were local).

I don't have a ton of explanation but did just make me think of one thing -- when I change those rear pads (which, given the amount of pad life left, will likely be within the next 3-6 months), I should make a specific point of lubricating the slide pins and anything else that moves around. It's best practice to do that anyway, but it isn't always done unless something is "in obvious disrepair" -- which would leave room for slow degradation showing up as fast pad wear.

Question for you, are the caliper/pad sizes on the JCW the same as on the S? On my S the fronts are respectable but the rears are just plain tiny.

 

My 2021 JCW's brakes were squealing like crazy at 9K miles and were replaced by the dealer at a reported 7mm.

 

FWIW, my 2018 JCW brake wear light came on at around 16K miles. A rear brake pad -- on the driver's side -- had worn down. All rear pads were worn but all it takes is one worn enough.

I was not hard on the brakes. It was my commuter vehicle mainly used for driving the 60 miles per day to the office and back. Mostly freeway. Hardly even used the brakes.

But the rear pads were worn to the point the warning light was on.

Had the pads and rotors replaced.

After I noticed during one particular sweeping right hand turn -- freeway exit -- I could feel the left rear brake being applied. And I'd catch a glimpse of the stability control light flashing. I was not taking this turn at excessive speed. But I tried at slower and slower speeds. Still could feel the brake being applied.

On a hunch I had the brake fluid flushed and bled. This is normally an every 2 year job but the car was not yet 2 years old. After the brake fluid service the stability control system did not activate the driver side or passenger side rear (or front) brakes unless they really needed activating. Yes, I took the car out to see at what point -- if I could get to that point -- the stability control activated. It took some work but I convinced myself the stability control system was alive and well but no longer activating prematurely.

 

I personally appreciate this. I just did my first fluid flush/change (as in with my own two hands) since buying my F56S used in June 2021 and even though the existing fluid was not bad, I feel the difference post-change. It now feels more like it did the day I test drove the car. Never noticed that it had been getting less snappy under me.

I have never (that I am aware of) run into DSC issues but your experience lets me know that the brake fluid is a variable in a way that it may not be with other cars. I was scratching my head on why this was on a literal timer for replacement, vs. something condition-based. Part of it is the particulars of DOT4 fluid, low viscosity DOT4 in particular being a requirement, yadda yadda. But it sounds like part of it is also the flush itself -- just needs to be done periodically, because this is a dynamic system rather than "hey just mash those pads for a moment ok cool kthxbai."

Heck, maybe even more often than 2 years, or maybe a "2 years or X miles whichever comes first."

Appreciate your post. I learn more about this gomobile every day

 

The fronts on the JCW are much larger; however, I believe the rears are the same.

 

Glad to be of some help.

Two year brake fluid flush/bleed is normally often enough for a car driven solely on the street.

However, there might be some benefit to doing this more often if one lived in a very humid region. The fluid needs to be changed because it absorbs moisture from the air. And the brake fluid reservoir is open (vented) to air. When the car is put away it is hot. Then it cools down. This will pull air into the brake fluid reservoir and that's when the brake fluid gets the moisture. The higher the humidity the more moisture the brake fluid absorbs.

A problem is the brake fluid in the reservoir looks good. But I have seen what the fluid looks like at the caliper bleed screw. Nasty looking stuff.

Might mention I had another car,, a 2002 Porsche Boxster, that while the brakes felt ok the clutch started acting up. And so too did the transmission. The car had some miles on it -- over 200K and maybe closer to 250K -- and I thought well time to replace the clutch and have the transmission rebuilt.

Went to the dealer service department and talked with the service advisor. He called up my car's service records and noted the car was past due for a brake fluid flush/bleed. And because the clutch hydraulic system shared fluid with the brake hydraulic system the clutch hydraulic system would be flushed/bled too. This was not news to me. I had done the brake and clutch flush/bleed before but stopped and instead had it done at the dealer when I just didn't have the time or the place to work on the car.

Anyhow it was 2.5 years since the car's last brake/clutch fluid service. Dealing with my very elderly parents and I just lost track of time. (I let my other car's engine oil go 10K miles before I had it in for service thinking it was 5K miles ago. Fortunately the factory called for 10K mile oil/filter services so thankfully the engine was not worse off from the experience.)

So I agreed to have this done. The results were amazing. The clutch action was once again smooth and the 5-speed -- one of the smoothest fastest shifting transmissions ever I have used -- resumed acting like the transmission I knew. What a transformation. But the "lesson" from the Boxster and its past its change by date brake/clutch hydraulic fluid had faded in my memory.

I still don't have a good explanation why the fluid, and probably contaminated fluid, affected the stability control system.