What are your Cooper Brakes like?

[Spoon_BMW]

Hi,

I'm just interested to know what people think of the cooper brakes...

I think mine are poor. I think the brakes are very soft. I have to push my foot half way down to the floor from the brake pedal start position in order for the cooper to begin to start braking. Is this normal or is there something wrong with my brakes?

The pads and discs are 100% fine, very little wear!

I drive a BMW 5 series aswell and I only have to touch the brakes for it to start braking.

[Marysmin1]

Unsure if you maybe have a problem there, I think the brakes in my Cooper are fine, probably just right, I tend to brake quite hard and it seems responsive. Maybe another few posts from others on the forum will give you more clues.

Mary

[Martin L]

Are your brakes "spongy" to the feel?
Have you checked the brake fluid level?

[dmholmes]

They are the best brakes I have ever experienced in my Cooper. Definitely not spongy and they require little effort for phenomenal stopping ability.

[Spoon_BMW]

Quote: Originally Posted by Martin L

Are your brakes "spongy" to the feel?
Have you checked the brake fluid level?

They are spongy yes and take a good bit of foot motion to start stoping!!

I haven't checked the Brake Fluid Level, perhaps this could be the problem. If the brake fluid is low should I use any brake fluid from Halfords or a specific mini recommended product?

Thanks for all the responses so far btw!

[Eelke]

Spongy would mean you might have some air in the system, and just adding fluid wouldn't help in that case; the system would have to be bled. For which you would probably be best off going to your dealer (unless someone has some instructions on doing it yourself).

[snuffy]

I'm sure you get one brake fluid change under the TLC pack.

There is also a timer on the car, put the key in the igntion, and turn it so that the service miles is displayed, then quickly push the reset button to display a clock and a number. This is the time the car estimates remaining to change the brake fluid. Mine says 31 days! Eeek - wondered why my brakes feel more and more spongy...

[russs99]

Quote: Originally Posted by Spoon_BMW

Hi,

I'm just interested to know what people think of the cooper brakes...

I think mine are poor. I think the brakes are very soft. I have to push my foot half way down to the floor from the brake pedal start position in order for the cooper to begin to start braking. Is this normal or is there something wrong with my brakes?

The pads and discs are 100% fine, very little wear!

I drive a BMW 5 series aswell and I only have to touch the brakes for it to start braking.

I have the same issue with my Cooper - it's an 05 an I have never been 100% happy with the brakes. There seems to be a lot of pedal travel for not a lot of braking! I feel like I have to push the pedal harder than one would expect to get a decent bite on the brakes.

The demo cars I drove had what I would call 'sharp' brakes which came on, and you could feel so, within very short pedal travel. Think I will be returning to the dealers at some point to have it looked at..!

[Spoon_BMW]

Hmmm right well I have checked my brake fluid level and it is Full!! I checked on the computer at startup and it said I have 124 days to change the fluid

So I went up to my local halfords who then told me the brake cable needed to be tightened so there would be less pedal travel.......

I think I am going to have to go to my dealer, will this be covered under TLC?

[TonyM]

I think we can safely ignore the advice of the expert at Halfords

If your MINI is still under warranty it will certainly be covered by that.

If not then I think the TLC package only covers routine maintenance but maybe you can negotiate.

Either way I think a trip to the dealers is advisable.

Let us know how you get on.

[madnikos]

Well gays I am not very happy with my brakes (mcs2005)(Cooper & Cooper S have the same breaks!).Many times they where just not enough.....I am seriusly thinking about AP racing disks,ferodos and high pressure tubes you know for the breaking fluid.Any recommentations?

[phil_vasey]

I've got an 05 Mini One, and although the brakes used to be impressively sharp, they recently have seemed increasingly dull, and there is a great deal more travel in the pedal. I've so far put it down to the brakes 'wearing in', as the car has only done 2,500 miles, but maybe its a more serious problem. I don't know whether i should go to my dealers, because i don't know if its an actual problem, or a mini design characteristic. I just hope the problem doesn't get worse.

[bimini]

brake travel can be air in the pipes...or it can be because the fluid is very hydroscopic (it attracts water)...even getting a little in the system can cause pedal transfer as the water can seperate and form vapour bubbles when it gets hot.

A proper bleed should sort it...its always worth checking for bulging brake hoses (this is an MOT failure...and dangerous) as well.

Braided hoses help the feel of a system over the rubber jobs.

The brakes on my loan MCS aren't a patch on my JCW ones, took a bit to get used to...but i wouldnt say they are that bad...they do seem to lose bite and travel a bit further when they get hot though.

[phil_wkl]

3000 miles, and still razor sharp...caught me by surprise when we first got the mini but then we only ever had second hand cars before.

Sounds like you've got a problem which should be covered under warranty. Get it to your dealer. Can't believe you would take advice from Halfrauds over Mini2
It sounds like there is air trapped in the fluid. Also, if there's only 124 days to go for fluid change, it could be that..it needs changing. Over time brake fluid can deteriote due to moisture collecting or if you've had continuous heavy braking in the past (hills and stuff), it overheats and boils.