So my service light is on. Tried resetting through normal procedure with no luck. When car was at dealer, I asked them to reset it. The dealer said it was brake service light. My question is if I do a brake job myself will the light go off? I can buy the sensors and install with new pads but I was under the impression that the light turned red when the sensor was broken and that has not happened on my car. So do I need to buy sensors or just put new pads on car. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Nope doesn't work once it comes on you have to replace the sensors. Plus you need to change you brakes. The good thing is that the sensors are about $20 for each and you only need 2(the front left and right rear).

 

If you do find the light doesn't go off after replacing the sensor then following the procedure to reset the CBS system found in a thread on the forums!

 

Sig says you have a 2008 - your brake service should be covered unless you don't want original stuff..... 3 years right?

however - a sensor only needs to be replaced if has become consumed and most of the time you will wear the front brakes faster then the rear and you'd probably only need to replace the front sensor at this time. If you do all the pads anyway, you can re-use a sensor that has not been consumed. I'd do a visual check of the pads and determine if any actually need to be changed out. (p.s. note that MINI says you should replace rotors with every pad change)

the whole brake warning system on the GEN2 is confusing to me and having just gotten my owner's manual out again I'm still a bit unsure of how it works. In a GEN1 there were the sensors {eventually anyway, my 02 did not have sensors} when a sensor was consumed due to thin pads the lite came on and you were pretty confident that you needed pads somewhere. You still needed to investigate to determine front or rear or both.

On the GEN2 we have a two part system and I personally find the documention for this, poor. In the various service displays we have a warning for front and rear pad wear. But it is obvious 2 me that these are simply variations of the oil change counters, estimating pad wear from various inputs of how the car is driven. Is it accurate? I have no idea. (I have pulled the pads and sensors and they are the same type as on the GEN1, a consumable wear sensor; nothing to 'measure' wear; when the pad gets too thin the sensor breaks and the warning comes on; a GO / NO GO system) I BELIEVE you get the yellow warning when this system thinks you need new pads; which you may or may not. What I don't know is will the dealer install new pads and rotors under maint' at this time? I BELIEVE that when the sensor is actually activated you get the RED warning and here the replacement is clearly under the umbrella of maint' but I have not experienced this so it is only a guess.

I offer this only for your consideration as it does not really matter to me. My pad wear counters say I'll need front pads in about 4000 miles - my visual check of my front pads suggests I have 50% of the pad material remaining at 28,000 miles and I think the counter is bubkis - but I'm also running EBC green pads since the car was a few months old. So mine won't get covered by maintenance and by routinely checking my pad wear I change them b4 they'd ever set off a sensor. I'm gonna let my counters run down simply because I'm curious to see what warnings I actually get.

Inquiring minds want to know.....

 

or 36k miles which ever comes first. Like mine was out of maint. after about 21 months. and will be out of warranty 4yr/50K at about 28 months

 

Have 44k so no free brakes, I was thinking about doing them myself but dealer had me thinking that it needed to be done by MINI for the light to be reset. Anyone done their own brakes, did you do pads and sensors only or pads, sensors and rotors?

 

my bad on the miles - I don't drive much anymore - ain't early retirement a great thing?

MINI brakes are VERY straight forward and if you've ever done disk brakes I'm sure you'll figure these out. I did GEN1 MINI first and have subsequently been able to figure out Honda, Mini, Mazda and GEN2 MINI. Just remember thant the rear system needs the caliber to be turned as they are pressed in . . . a common e-brake system requirement that applies to MINI.

As I explained above the whole warning system is a bit confusing to me BUT a GEN1 worn sensor lite was reset by putting the key in and turning the car on, but not starting it for 30 seconds. Then start it and the system read a reset. The 'counters' reset is discussed in a sticky.

replace:

pads as needed - it is unusual to need front and rear at the same time

MINI says do rotors with pads, I have done two sets of pads to a set of rotors for myself and those that I do free work for with no ill effect since 02 IF the pad showed no significant scoring and was for street use only. Do NOT try to resurface MINI rotors IMO ....

a sensor is a consumable IF it has been worn down to the point of breaking the enclosed wire. An unworn sensor can be reused - just be careful you don't break it getting it on and off.

 

http://www.waymotorworks.com/product...cat=379&page=1
Here are the sensors. You will need 2 of these. There is a tool to measure the pads but cost just as much as buying 2 of these.
Pads and rotors are really up to you in what "YOU" want. I would suggest EBC pads. I have good expierence with them even though I got the yellow stuff and that was way too much for street use. Rotors is another thing. It breaks down to price. Semimetallic blends are going to be cheaper but they are going to spit brake dust all over the place where ceramic might be more expensive you will get better stopping power and less to no brake dust. Do you want slotted? Do you want cross drilled? Do you want both? Do you want cryo treated? From personal expierence with Powerslot I am going to go back to them. I had their cryo treated slotted rotors on loved them to death. They no once showed any wear in the 8 months before I got my car. Not even surface rust from getting wet(which in Hawaii was almost a daily basis). And then last but not least a not needed part but a highly suggested part is SS brake lines. These to me make a brake system. Over time the rubber hoses wear out. They start to bulge which causes loss in brake compression. With the SS lines you won't get that but, you have to get a good kit because some can be a little chincy in how they are made and can wear out just as fast. I haven't done mine but I will probably be doing one on an r52 in the next 2 months and then do mine either the same day or when I get back from Cuba. If you are somewhat mechanically saavy you can do this yourself. There is no need to spend any where near what the dealership is going to charge you for do brakes