How long on average will the brake pads last?

[Wul]

Another one from me!

Does anyone know roughly what sort of mileage you can expect to get from a set of front brake pads before they might be getting close to replacement? Based on average driving ie mixture of urban/rural driving.

Cheers

[KenL]

Not sure about the MINI but on my last car the fronts lasted 36000 miles. I wouldn't expect the ones on the MINI to last quite as long - maybe about 25K.

The rear ones should last longer as the fronts take most of the strain I'd expect.

Should be easy to see how much is left on the pad by looking through the alloy. Anyone know the recommended minimum before they're changed?

[Wul]

My fronts look to have about 8-9mm left on them at present after 12,500 miles.

[duncan]

Just be glad you dont have a Ford Focus RS.
The OEM pads for them are over £300!

[Wul]

Ouch! - i'll be putting EBC Green Stuff on when mine are done - £49.95 on Moss Mini (unless John can do them cheaper?) but not sure if that's in total for the two pair or just one pair!

[KenL]

They normally come in boxes of 4 so hopefully that'll be for 4. Pretty expensive if it's only for 2.

[Tahra]

On a brake theme - we've been told by Eastern that the suspicious noise coming from the front of the car, is not grit in the wheels or something being out of alignment but our brake discs are needing replacing ( at 17,000 miles ) but our pads are fine !!!! Been looking around and we were thinking of getting greenstuff pads but not sure about uprating the discs. Been speaking to the nice bloke at Play Mini.

Not sure if we'll be going back to Eastern either.....run out of dealers in Edinburgh, we'll be trying the Fife ones next.

[Woz]

Something is well wrong if the disks are fooked on that mileage. Kick up a stink, you might be able to get free replacements.

[john]

I replaced the pads on my last Cooper at 9,000 miles:I

I replaced them with genuine MINI pads for the simple reason that if ever the discs gave any problem then the warranty would be valid.:)

I think the warranty on the discs with Green Stuff would be a problem.

And anyway the standard pads are very good.

I have now done 12,000 miles in this Cooper and the pads are lasting well:) (I must be getting older and wiser)















Don't even think of saying anything about my young age:D

[3GGG]

Tahra, did they say why the discs needed replaced? Was it because they had worn thin, or was it because they had become scored? - Sometimes discs do get ridged as a result of rust building up in areas on the disc from salt on the roads in the winter especially if the car is left for a while in the garage after a run in the wet. I guess the rear discs on the MINI will be more likely to suffer from this because they get less hard braking to remove the rust. Could get them skimmed, but probably just as well to replace them. On non performance cars with scored discs I have just replaced the pads and bedded them in quickly by driving hard while pressing the brake ! - I wouldn't recommend this on the MINI! Better safe than sorry.

[Tahra]

Hi,
the second ( or was it third time ) I took the car in because of the noise I was told it was just corrosion on the brakes and I really cant remember if he said pads or discs. However when my husband took it in to get it fixed ( the noise is now constant ) he was told it was the discs. The front ones are a bit scored and worn and show corrosion the back ones are not bad but of course he was recommended to change all four ! The MINI is never garaged but generally it doesnt get much chance to sit around either. Its hopefully going to see my Father in law this afternoon for an independent mechanic's opinion !

As for the greenstuff pads, we thought as the brake pads aren't covered by the warranty (or TLC) it shouldnt make much difference and from the stories we were getting from the dealer doesnt look like the discs are really covered either

[lightbody]

18,000 miles on the original pads, unless they changed them at some point without telling me!

[Tahra]

Finally managed to get the MINI and the Father in law together for an unbiased opinion.......Imagine our suprise theres nothing wrong with the discs, no major wearing, scoring or corrosion and about 10,000 miles left on the pads !!! So after lots of driving round slowly recreating the noise and a bit of ruling out everything else the culprit was found - tyre noise ! Now I know we've both got to hold our hands up to obviously not checking our tyre pressure, I generally do a visual check when I get to the car and Ive never had run flats before so I didnt know that they dont "look " soft. However the car has been serviced twice (different dealers) in the time we've had it; and when it first went to Eastern to investigate the noise ( I left it with them for three days, so they had plenty of time )I said it was noise coming from the front wheels not specifically the brakes, I thought it might even be the wheel bearing. The point being John and his Dad had to use pliers to get the caps off-they got the impression that the wheels were still factory sealed, so we're not the only ones who don't check tyre pressures............

I feel a stroppy letter to BMW coming on. Please tell me that someone can recommend Morrisons in Kirkcaldy ???!

[Tahra]

P.S We're still going to change to Green Stuff pads anyway, been hearing only good things about them and a friend's had them on his MR2 fior a while and really recommends them. Hopefully they might keep the alloys a bit cleaner too.......

[3GGG]

quote:Originally posted by Tahra
The point being John and his Dad had to use pliers to get the caps off-they got the impression that the wheels were still factory sealed, so we're not the only ones who don't check tyre pressures............

I feel a stroppy letter to BMW coming on. Please tell me that someone can recommend Morrisons in Kirkcaldy ???!

Hi Tahra
When I got my cooper the ride was really harsh, turned out the tyre pressures were quite high, I lowered them to about 31 PSI (16" runflats) and much better. Have kept an eye on the pressures and they haven't needed much top up at all. What pressure were yours down to?

Morrisons have been fine so far with any small things that I've had done.

David

[Tahra]

I think they've been set to about 30 at the mo, they were actually down to 16 !!!! Saying that it didn't feel soggy in any way, its just suddenly much better again ! John was suspicious that some of our rattles are back with the harder ride. They wouldnt use a easy way to get rid of some noises would they ??? Too X-file like.
Will definately be trying Morrison's next time for warranty/TLC stuff. We went off Dunedin when the sprayed the whole interior of the car with WD40 whilst attempting to lubricate the sunroof ! And I do mean cover, luckily we've got the leather interior so it was just very sweet smelling for a while !

[Big Gordy]

Hi Tahra
I had the green EBC pads on my old XR2 for years and the extra 'feel' I got from my brakes was treeeeeemendous. It was like I had fitted a new system and the reduction in brake dust was considerable. I now have them fitted to my Mondeo with the same results. I also fitted their grooved/dimpled discs as well. Very good kit. Highly recomended. They also make a grooooovy swirly swooshy sound when you brake (if you have the window down) Am I sad or what !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

[3GGG]

quote:Originally posted by Tahra

Will definately be trying Morrison's next time for warranty/TLC stuff. We went off Dunedin when the sprayed the whole interior of the car with WD40 whilst attempting to lubricate the sunroof ! And I do mean cover, luckily we've got the leather interior so it was just very sweet smelling for a while !


I hate that when it happens:D

Seriously I had a similar thing with a non MINI car at a dealer who sprayed about a whole can of WD40 on the door hinges, making a terrible mess and stink and charged me for the whole can. Told him where he could put the empty can:D

WD40 is not a good long term lubricant, it is a mositure repellant and freeing agent and should not be used for jobs that need permanent lubrication, there is proper stuff like grease for that...

[Tahra]

"They also make a grooooovy swirly swooshy sound when you brake (if you have the window down"

Sounds much more preferable to grinding, gratey noises anyway ! We've got the pads ordered so we should have them fitted at the weekend, as the discs are fine at the mo we're just leaving them. J really fancied ones with the red bits ( can't remember the technical name - are they the calipers ?? ) but as that upgrading the whole wheels, I dont think we'll be bothering !


PS How do you do quotes properly on NMS, I managed it fine on the MINI2 site - not used to all this forum stuff yet..... Duh just saw the thing at the top finally......:p

[Big Gordy]

Yes they are calipers but you don't have to replace the wheels - just paint the calipers red !!!
That's what I'm going to do. Mmmmmm a chilli red Mini with red calipers behind 17" 'S'wheels Mmmmmmmmm donuts :) :) :)
Yeh I'm a forum virgin too !!

[Tahra]

I can see that happenin, but Im sure it'll look much better on yours than our Silver one :( Thats the trouble with buying an ex demonstrator we didnt get to choose the colour ! However since BMW had the extreme oversight not to make purple one of their colours anyway, Im just going to have to save up for a respray...

[Big Gordy]

How about Gold calipers !!

[Tahra]

We could aim for gaudiest MINI ever, but then Im married to someone who had a bright yellow MX5, still lusts after a yellow TVR, so maybe he would like the gold idea...shudder.