I don't know much about this car mechanically, but I do know that I brake WAY too hard. That's how I learned to drive and I've always done it. On my last car that I drove for 6 years (it was 3 years old when I purchased it), I had the entire brake system completely replaced twice, because I had worn down the pads and rotors so badly. I don't want this to happen to my MINI!

I took her to the track once, and I looked at my tires and brakes afterwards. The pads looked more worn, as did my tire tread. However, being that I'm no expert, I want to know when an appropriate time would be to replace brake equipment (and which pieces would most likely need replacing)? What should I look for to indicate abnormal wear? I have put over 8,000 miles on my car, and when I say that I brake hard, I mean that if I have a passenger riding with me they often complain of whiplash. To me it's normal, I only notice when others point it out.

My brakes still seem to be performing great. When I drive another person's car (even another person's MINI!) I notice how much more force is required to slow down, especially when I'm trying to brake as quickly as I'm used to. I just want to be preemptive about this and not run them down too far, requiring the replacement of all those expensive parts.

Would the red stuff/green stuff brake system help me? When I replace the pads, etc I need a reliable replacement that will withstand my harsh braking habits. thanks!

 

Brakes (pads) usually last around 20k miles. Rotors will go alot longer, say 60k miles or more, unless you wear the pads down too far and grind the hell out of the rotors. Most people drive about 15k miles a year.

If you are an average driver, you should be replacing your pads at least every two years. In your 6 years, if you didn't replace the pads when they should have been replaced, it is conceivable that you would have had to have two major brake services.

There is the possibility that your problems would be solved by replacing your brake pads more often.

To check for abnormal wear I would look for worn or unevenly worn brake pads or scored brake rotors. I doubt you'll find any of that at 8k miles unless you like to ride your brakes, or you are really beating the hell out of them.

 

thanks early, those are some good landmarks for me to go by. I will check the pads and rotors tomorrow, or rather have my boyfriend check them since I don't know what I'll be looking for! Also, I have my 10k service coming up and I'll ask the dealership to do a thorough inspection of my brakes while I'm there.

one thing I can say for sure that I DON'T do is ride the brakes. I wait til the last second, and then hit em hard!

So when I'm ready to replace my pads and/or rotors, what is the best brand to go with? What will last the longest and show the least wear with all of my hard braking?

 

>>I don't know much about this car mechanically, but I do know that I brake WAY too hard. That's how I learned to drive and I've always done it. On my last car that I drove for 6 years (it was 3 years old when I purchased it), I had the entire brake system completely replaced twice, because I had worn down the pads and rotors so badly. I don't want this to happen to my MINI!

I think it is possible you are hard on your brakes, not you brake too hard. If you need to brake then you need to brake. If you plan ahead in street traffic you will hardly need to brake. If you drive fast all the time then you would do well to squeeze the brake. One good exercise is to drive and brake with a cup of water on your dash and not spill any water out. This encourages smoothness which is much better for the balanced operation of your MINI.

>>I took her to the track once, and I looked at my tires and brakes afterwards. The pads looked more worn, as did my tire tread. However, being that I'm no expert, I want to know when an appropriate time would be to replace brake equipment (and which pieces would most likely need replacing)? What should I look for to indicate abnormal wear? I have put over 8,000 miles on my car, and when I say that I brake hard, I mean that if I have a passenger riding with me they often complain of whiplash. To me it's normal, I only notice when others point it out.

Sometimes brake wear is related to overheating. Once you get things really hot they don't work at all which leads to more wear. The remedy is to not overheat the brakes by using brake parts that tolerate higher heat use.

>>My brakes still seem to be performing great. When I drive another person's car (even another person's MINI!) I notice how much more force is required to slow down, especially when I'm trying to brake as quickly as I'm used to. I just want to be preemptive about this and not run them down too far, requiring the replacement of all those expensive parts.

If you use the right brake pads and upgrade your brake fluid to tolerate higher temperatures you should do better.
No reason to replace brake rotors. My Maxima is 10 years old with 110,000 miles on the original rotors and three sets of brake pads later.

>>Would the red stuff/green stuff brake system help me? When I replace the pads, etc I need a reliable replacement that will withstand my harsh braking habits. thanks!

EBC red stuff is for the track (change to them before the track event or while there) and EBC green stuff is for 90% less brake dust and can be used for street/autocross or light track use.

Given your braking habits it might be good for you to use pads that tolerate higher temps. I'd recommend Ferrodo DS2500 both front and rear. They cost more but work well on the track and for street (although they do better once hotter) and they are OK for autocross.

 

Only 20k miles? On my other cars I was doing more like 30k miles and
still had good 60-65% left.

Are the MINI pads much softer? I should get the Green pads next.

 

>>thanks early, those are some good landmarks for me to go by. I will check the pads and rotors tomorrow, or rather have my boyfriend check them since I don't know what I'll be looking for! )
i did put "green stuff" pads on the fronts and they are holding up pretty nice
otherwise the dealer would of been replaceing the fronts by now

 

I have 35,000 miles on my 03 MCS, including several track days with hard braking (noticed and commented on by the mechanic during recent Inspection I), but still have plenty left on pads and rotors.
MINI pads have a wear indicator that will let you know when they need to be replaced. It is an electric signal and will light up one of the brake related lights inside. I am not entirely certain if this applies to MINI as well, but BMW apparently has a policy to replace rotors whenever pads are replaced. NE1 know?
Cheers,
M.

 

Thanks for the info everyone. I think my pads are ok for now, I guess I'm just preemptively planning their demise. :smile: Although a better system (such as green stuff) might be a good bet for me considering my history of quick braking, I didn't know that MINI covered brakes under warranty. I will see if they need replacing at my 10k service and let MINI pay for that if they do. I think I'll consider the upgrade once my warranty expires! I'll also try upgrading the fluid as minihune suggested. I would have never thought of that.

I am intrigued by the glass of water test. I am 100% certain that the water (even a cup 1/4 filled) would spill within 30 seconds. Not just slosh.... that cup would be in the boot! I am going to experiment with this and see if I can improve on my terrible habit.

Thanks again everyone!

 

I could be way off on brake pad life. I thought it was close to 20k, but I've been swapping out cars so often that I guess I've lost touch with how often pads wear out.

 

>>.
>>MINI pads have a wear indicator that will let you know when they need to be replaced. It is an electric signal and will light up one of the brake related lights inside. I am not entirely certain if this applies to MINI as well, but BMW apparently has a policy to replace rotors whenever pads are replaced. NE1 know?
>>
>>

i burnt-up the rear pads & rotors and i'm still waiting for the brake related light to come on

_________________

 

MINI replaced my rear brake pads and rotors under warranty at 24k miles. At that point, I had completely lost the lining on one brake pad and had begun grinding the rotor like cheese . . .

I don't know if MINI will replace brakes and pads that are not unusually worn, but your driving style will most likely get you a free set of pads/rotors before your warranty runs out. . .

 

^^^^^ a value
that's why i'm thinking extended warrentee

 

every one is entitlled to drive the way they want to ,but I feel that I MUST point out a very important point about the way you are describing your braking habits:
not only are the passengers going to be complaining about whiplash, but the poor slobs following you are going to be tail ending you (I'm really surprised it hasn't happened already!) Nuff said.

 

It's interesting that several of you have now reported having taken the pads down to the rotors, and grinding the rotors. What's up with that, why did the light not come on? Could it be that only the front pads have the warning light?
My old Citroen had a smart wear indicator: built into the upper part (depper part, closest to the metal carrier) was a metal reed. When the pad was sufficiently worn, this reeed would become exposed and make a very loud screeching sound against the rotor (without causing any damage) letting you definitely know that it was time to change the pads. Do modern pads not have this any longer?
I believe what at least the front pads of the MINI have is some embedded metal such that when the pads are worn down, the metal in teh pads make contact with the rotor, closing a circuit and triggering teh warning light.
NE1 know?

 

I've found that brake wear is primarily due to where you drive, and then how you drive. Living along the coast, in nice flat terrain, I've had brake pads last upwards of 50K miles. Living in the mountains, I've had to replace pads after only 10K miles. These were on the same vehicle and with the approximate same 50% city - 50% highway style of driving. Yes being hard on your brakes will cause them to need replacement more often, but living as you do in Tejas, I'd think that you would be much closer to the coastal rather than the mountainous wear factor.

 

> I have 35,000 miles on my 03 MCS, including several track days with hard braking (noticed and commented on by the mechanic during recent Inspection I)

They actually check brake pad wear at Inspection I?

I thought was only a oil change. Im going to tell my dealer not to
touch my wheels or lugs. I just want oil changed and nothing else. :smile:

 

The MINI has sensors on the left front and right rear, however the sensor is only on a single pad. So only 1/4 of your brake pads are being monitored for wear. If all of the pads wear evenly, then the sensor will indicate correctly.

The destroyed rear pad that I grinded into the rotor was on the right rear, but was not the pad that is monitored. . . . . so remember to inspect all pads for unusual wear and consier the idiot light to be nothing but an idiot light since it is only monitoring 25% of the brake system. . . .

 

Yucca, did Mini replace that caliper? Wearing down one pad faster than the one next to it is usually an indication there is a problem with the caliper.

 

>>> I have 35,000 miles on my 03 MCS, including several track days with hard braking (noticed and commented on by the mechanic during recent Inspection I)
>>
>>They actually check brake pad wear at Inspection I?
>>
>>I thought was only a oil change. Im going to tell my dealer not to
>>touch my wheels or lugs. I just want oil changed and nothing else. :smile:
>>
>>

The oil change only is Service 1, mine was Inspection 1 (or second scheduled oil change), which usually comes up around 30k miles. Inspection 1 includes a fairly large numbers of inspection items, although if there are no problems, th eonly actual service item is air filter and oil change.

 

I think that if you track your car at all or participate in autocrossing, the life of your pads and rotors will be VERY significantly reduced. I have about 9k miles on my MC right now (1 year's worth of driving and autocrossing), and I fully expect to replace the pads by the end of the year between normal driving and 6 more autocross events... that doesn't include DE's, which might cause me to replace them sooner.

I'd think with spirited driving and some DE's or autocrossing, maybe 20k miles... One guy in Houston has gone through 2 sets of pads and rotors on his MCS - but that's been with 6-8 track days and heavy autocrossing.

FWIW, the stock MINI brakes aren't that bad for autocrossing, really. Especially not if you swap the fluid out with ATE Blue or the like... If you do a LOT of DE's or track days, it might be worth upgrading. But it'd be a LOT of DE's and track days to make it worthwhile, IMHO.

 

>>The oil change only is Service 1, mine was Inspection 1 (or second scheduled oil change), which usually comes up around 30k miles. Inspection 1 includes a fairly large numbers of inspection items, although if there are no problems, th eonly actual service item is air filter and oil change.


Thanks for that info. :smile: I thought they were all called "Inspection" and
then a number.