I come from the world of Jeep Wranglers, and have done my own brakes, U-joints, suspension work, along with the typical maintenance items, oil, rad flush, transfer case fluid changes.

I have yet to turn a wrench on my 2015 Countryman JCW, it's always been maintained at the dealer.

It will soon be time for brakes, last set (BMW/MINI - OEM) installed have provided upwards of 60,000KM of trouble free service life.(except the excessive dust)

Unlike any other vehicle I've ever had, I'm hesitant to work on this car....must be the stigma the dealer puts off on it's customers, maybe it's the unknown, all my experience has been on North American Brands.

Any of the avid DIY folks here experienced this, any advice, tips, tricks? Best practice for brakes?

The dealer has quoted me parts with Tax in $1,300, plus their labor....get's me to a estimate of $1,850, for rotors, pads, and sensors installed.

Seems a wee bit steep like Mount Everest Steep....I need to investigate the options.

Thanks

 

Yeah, that price is very steep!

If you've done brakes on other vehicles, nothing out of the ordinary on the Mini, other than the different tools needed. (E-Torx being one of them)

Here is a good reference for procedures:
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/

 

If you've done disk BRAKES before you'll find the ones on MINI are pretty common and straight forward. In fact the calipers they use are on many other makes! My Focus ST had the same make, just different diameter.

The rears need the 'turn and push method' to retract the pistons .... this is FAR from unique to MINI but if you have not seen b4 you may want to do a lil research. Most folks like to use a special tool to aid. You can get it at Harbor Freight and there are choices. I've used this one on MINI since 2003 https://www.harborfreight.com/disc-b...-pc-63264.html

And if you dig around on this site you'll see many horror stories of folks not able to get the rotor locating screw out. Make sure you have the correct TORX bit (T-45?) and a good size breaker bar. Use one hand to hold the bit into the screw and the other to lift the bar SLOWLY ... if the bit pops out you can easily strip the bolt and then things go downhill fast. A lil PB Blaster soak ain't a bad idea. I've never had one I could not get out and been doing MINI brakes for self and friends for many years. Never had to try the impact gun .... (edit addition) to keep the hub from turning while fighting this bolt I put two lugs back in and run a length of re'bar thru them and down to the floor in "%" orientation ... you can block rotation solidly.


That big spring clip is also a PITA to get back on until you've done it a time or two ....

I always plan to replace the sensors whether they tripped or not. Technically if they did not rip (get consumed) they can be reused but IME they crumble most of the time when I try to remove them having been cooked so many times. For MY MINI I find 'em useless and just eliminate 'em. I rotate my own tires and check pad wear each time so I don't need a sensor to tell me they are worn. (cut the senor end and connect the two wires together ... car will see this as a good sensor). There is one sensor per axle, right front wheel and left rear, inner pad.

 

Thanks for the responses, following up on the links provided.

Capt_bj thanks for the spell check poke. I see my mistake HAHA...corrected what I could, my multitasking mishap.

When pushing the piston back into the caliper, do most crack the bleeder loose, or just leave it alone? Can this be done without the use of a scan tool for the ABS pump....this was one of the scare tactics the dealer was pointing out. E-brake is NOT electric on my year.

Cheers

 

not talking about electric e-brake ... it is mechanical ... been this way all the way back to 2002 (my first MINI) ... might be different on a GEN3 but I've not messed with that yet (under warranty and maintenance for now)

the ABS issue is a valid concern but I've done a BUNCH of brakes on MINI and have no scanner and never had a problem. You get into trouble if you get air in the ABS 'box' .... no reason for this to happen (but it does)

the 'open the bleeder' is again a valid issue which kinda sorta joins the ABS issue above ..... concern is about 'contaminated brake fluid' ... some say if you just press the piston you push "used" fluid back up into the system and potentially the ABS box SO they say open the bleeder and let the excess fluid escape. I've been pushing back since the beginning and have never had a problem. If I'd had a leak and 'opened' the caliper or line I'd do the other way ... MINI recommends changing fluid every 2 years btw ....

just noticed you have JCW ... do you have the Brembo brakes? If so, you may want to research Brembo issues specifically. I've not seem much discussion of those on NAM ....

 

Did DIY brake replacement and it's straightforward, no gotchas out of what was already mentioned here. Rear pistons are turn and push so you need the tool, and yeah i opened the brake fluid reservoir so that excess fluid had somewhere to go...dripped onto the floor which probably wasn't great for risking damage to any painted surfaces. Next time I would suction most of the brake fluid out before starting to prevent that.

There's a couple videos on youtube on how to replace the pads/rotors for the JCW brembo brakes and just be patient with the spring clip and it'll come out. No scan tool for ABS pump and everything seems to work fine.

And yeah as capt_bj says there's nothing special about these brakes

 

Capt_bj - Interesting you should ask...no to the Brembo, rather the TRW. As I progress on educating myself, I understand the RED TRW with the JCW logo are a carry over from BMW, and there are not too many of us out here with this configuration.

You guys are giving me a different perspective here, checking out some youtube videos on the subject....feeling more so like a DIY.

Thanks