Figured you guys would like the title...

Anyway, driving down a rather busy 4 lane road, two each way. About 3 or 4 cars ahead of me there was something bad going on so everyone was stopping rather abruptly. I noticed the guy in front slamming his brakes... as i wasn't following too closely I slowed gradually, giving a progressively stronger push on the stop pedal.

I'd say i was braking at about 45-65% maximum stop capacity (is there such a thing) and I noticed the abs kick in, WTF mate ? ?? The road was pretty smooth so I checked my brakes (4000miles on the car total) and I've tons of pad left.

Anyone else notice this? Another brake question i have is that every so often (3 or 4 times a week) it seems like my brakes have air in the lines. I'll brake and there is a real inch or two of dead space before anything happens. I haven't done anything to the brakes or wheels yet, so its not a matter of me forgetting to tighten anything. Any ideas? I haven't check the fluid yet as I'm at work, but thats on the agenda for tonight. What should i look for?

 

What's the condition of the tread on your tires? What was the condition of the road surface? I've noticed that my MINI's abs is pretty sensitive. If I hit the brakes while on rough road surfaces the resulting wheel hop can trigger the abs (as well as traction control sometimes). Point is, the first part of your post doesn't lead me to think that there is anything amiss with your brakes or the abs system.

The bit about feeling dead travel in the pedal DOES sound a bit weird though. If you really think that there's something wrong, I'd get to the dealer and have them check it out. That's what a warranty's for...

In terms of checking the fluid, you certainly want to make sure it's up to the proper level in the tank. If you have low fluid maybe you'd experience this dead feeling...and of course a loss of fluid in and of itself is reason for concern (and thus a trip to the dealer).

 

At first I thought it might be my tires or pads or rotors too, but I checked 'em all and its all normal. Everythings still pretty new, the tires also only have 4k miles on 'em. No flat spots or anything either.

Road surface was pretty smooth too, i've noticed with bumpy roads that if i decelerate hard over bumps, the hop will induce abs as you said.... this felt similar except for the bumps in the road. thats the weird thing. i'll check fluid and it looks like my baby might be going in for her first check-up.

 

I've also noticed the ABS kick in when braking into a turn onto a different road surface. As for pedal travel, there should be about 1/2 inch. I had my dealer replace the brake/clutch fluid (2 years down) and I got it back with over an inch of travel in the brake pedal. I finally took it back and they said it was fine but would bleed it again just in case. Well they say that they didn't get any air when bleeding again but the pedals (somehow ) were fixed . They've loosened up somewhat since but you should have yours checked. 2 inches is definitely too much.

 

Wheel hop inducing ABS is annoying and has been discussed before. My Saab doesn't do this. Extremely sensitive. Or maybe I'm just driving like a maniac!

 

Some call it an annoyance, others call it a feature. Remember, our MINIs are equipped with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and Cornering Brake Control (CBC). EBD controls brakeforce front to rear to try to negate diving under abrupt braking. CBC controls brakeforce independently to each wheel to try to tame any yaw tendencies inherent in a short-wheelbase car braking during cornering. Both of these features work through our four-channel ABS system.

If you did any turning while you were braking, CBC could have caused ABS to engage, in order to distribute brakeforce accordingly. Was there any gravel on the road? Rocks? Water?

If the braking was pretty strong/abrupt, EBD would have kicked in to keep your MINI from standing on its nose.

 

I have noticed it in my mini too, I have around 21k miles but the brakes are still original and in good shape. I particularly notice (whenever is happens, which is once or so a week) that my pedal feels harder to push and then I can hear/feel abs kick in, even in gradual stops. The abs has different pulses per second and whenever it does it "prematurely" the pulses are far apart (like 1/sec). I am going to get the dealer to check mine cause it is definately not normal. Any thoughts?