Front Brake Pads

[djnas]

Hi All.

Just wanted a bit of guidance/advice.

My R56 which is a year old on Jan 19th is showing I need the front brakes looked at only 12,000. Does this sound normal, I mainly do country roads and motorways (very rarely do town driving)?

What’s bothering me more is someone I work with that lives 2 miles from me does practically the same journey in their 53 reg cooper s works and has done 17k on there front pads so far!

Also is it only likely to be the pads, or the discs too? Does any one know how much a pad change should cost as ive called round 3 dealers and they vary quite a bit.

Should I take this up with mini customer services?

Any help is appreciated.

[adam_Randell]

ive done over 20k in my R56 MC, showing i will need new pads in 7k. Doesnt sound normal however i dont think brakes are coverd under warrenty as the way you drive the car determines weither they wear quickly or not. But worth a go

[Jumbomini]

new pads booked in at 24k which is good for an auto R56. it's a softer compound apparently so will wear faster than R53 - at 25k miles they were only 70% worn.

[Lawrothegreat]

Maybe one of the front pads has been rubbing causing premature wear and activating the warning early. I have heard of brake pads requring replacement at lower mileages but I would be concerned if you needed to replace the discs after just 12,000 miles. Has the car been inspected yet following the warning? A dealer should be happy to inspect for free. Although if you instruct them to carry the work out, ask for them to give you the old pads / discs. They'll be dirty but then the dealer won't run the risk of charging you for pads / discs that don't need replacing.

Brake pads and discs will normally be considered wear and tear items and won't be covered under warranty. However I once managed to get a BMW dealer to pay for a set of rear pads under the warranty on the basis another component (seized calliper) had caused premature failure. This took some argument.

Figures I have been quoted in past are about £120 for two pads fitted parts and labour. It's mostly labour since dealers charge £100+ per hour, and the sensors need to be replaced etc.

Good luck. I'd like to think the R56 pads normally last longer than this!

[djnas]

Thanks for the advice/opinions, I had a quick chat with mini customer services and the chap (not very helpful) just said basically said as there are so many safety features on the R56 such as hill start assist (which I dont have) DSC (which I dont have) which will use the brakes when i dont think they will be on. When I said i only had ASC+T he said that was the same as DSC ????

He later went on and said that Its wear and tear and that I should just take it in when I actually hit the 12K and get the dealer to have a look (even 2 of the dealers I spoke to for prices said it didn't seem right). The chap at mini customer services went on and said it might be something like a seized calipers on both wheels that could cause the brakes to wear quicker but that wouldn't be covered under warranty anyway.

Looks like ill have to wait till i cover the next 1000 miles to find out

[Lawrothegreat]

Quote: Originally Posted by djnas (original)

The chap at mini customer services went on and said it might be something like a seized calipers on both wheels that could cause the brakes to wear quicker but that wouldn't be covered under warranty anyway.

As in my earlier post I managed to get a UK dealer to replace a seized calliper and two brake pads under warranty. They agreed that given the circumstances and the lower mileage a calliper should not have seized. They agreed that this fault caused premature wear of the pads too. Again it took some persuading!

Good luck when you take it in.

[picard]

just posted a similar thread miles looking at 15k change, very rarely do motorways so that must be it

[scottish_girly]

this happened to my friend. she has the r56 and has just had the discs and pads replaced all round on her car and its only done around 16k. I have an 04 cooper and have done 43k and havnen't had mine replaced yet. dunno if something must be different on the newer cars!!!

[caesar]

Since I got my MCS in July 07, I have noticed that the front brakes are very sensitive to how hard you press the pedal. This could be the cause of premature brake pad wear if you apply too much pressure.

[Lawrothegreat]

I didn't have to put new discs on my R50 until above 40k miles. If they go soon on my R56 it's gonna be jcw drilled discs all the way................