[Jelster]

My F56 JCW has done 15k miles, and now the brake pad warning lights are on. My local dealer says it's the rears than need changing, at around £350.... Now, the rear pads should be relatively easy to change, and I think £350 is rather excessive.

But my big gripe is how come the rear pads need changing ? Surely, if 70% of the braking is done on the front, the fronts would be showing signs of wear, or is the front/rear brake balance off ?

Anyone else had a similar problem ?

 

[mikeswagon]

I replaced the rears about 35k, fronts around 40k, and this does seem to be common, rears first. I was roughly £200 each time iirc so their £350 does seem a bit much, for example rear pads £80 and wear sensor £22 - this is a Cooper so I dare say JCWs will be dearer.

 

[Jelster]

Cheers Mike,

I think 15k is very early, and I've never taken the car on a track day. It is an auto, so I could understand the wear being greater than on a manual, but I tend to change down manually quite often.

I'm annoyed that they need changing so quickly, and that it's going to cost me to get the **** warning lights to go off.

 

[Davyboy]

Do you use cruise control much Steve?

It's a well know factor for worn rear pads, it used the rears to maintain speed I believe...

 

[Jonvee]

I think DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) uses rear brake (trailing braking) to help keep your Mini pointed correctly every time you make a turn. Probably working with torque steer correction on acceleration too. I installed a programable relay across the the DSC switch that turns off the DSC every time I start the engine. I prefer the feel of the car. You have drive the car to keep things straight and wheels from spinning. During wet driving an easy push of the switch turns DSC on again.

 

[mtbscott]

Rears wearing out first seems common but 15K seems crazy unless you were doing track days.

 

[jaep1911]

That is crazy. I changed the pads on my previous Scion at 90,000miles first time and have not changed any on my SLK (40,000miles).
And you have to pay for new pads? I thought changing the pads is included in the factory free maintenance..

 

[Paul S.]

I know my Mini Advisor and Manager pointed out the fact that the 2016's warranty covered brake pads and the 2017's didn't. They were telling me that to get me into a 2016

 

[mikeswagon]

I guess there are regional differences but afaik in the UK the TLC covers routine servicing, fluids, filters etc but things like brakes and tyres are wear and tear and not included.

My next service in a few months will be around 45k at 30 months and that'll be me, 3 services and I'm done.

 

[jeremybingham]

There are quite a few mentions of rapid rear pad wear. Consensus am sure was the dsc operating on the rears for stabilisation etc but at that price i would be doing it myself. Did discs and pads on my r series cooper and they're the easiest I've ever done! Worst bit was routing the wear sensor!

 

[Davyboy]

I guess there are regional differences but afaik in the UK the TLC covers routine servicing, fluids, filters etc but things like brakes and tyres are wear and tear and not included.

My next service in a few months will be around 45k at 30 months and that'll be me, 3 services and I'm done.

How did you get 3? Are you in the U.K.?

 

[mikeswagon]

How did you get 3? Are you in the U.K.?

Senior moment there, I had it in my head it would be 3 as I've had a few visits, but it will be the 2nd service, 1st was at 20k.

Oh and the last time I checked, Scotland was still in the UK, but Nichola won't let it lie.....

 

[Jelster]

Got the car back from the dealer today and we agreed a 50/50 on the costs (actual cost was £252.74). I often use the active cruise control, especially through all those 50mph roadwork zones on the motorways.....

Still, it goes in 6-8 weeks, so I'm cool with it as it is now. The new JCW Clubby has the "standard" cruise control so it won't be regulating the speed as often.

 

[Dimitri]

Well, Its funny as I have a 50k km/5yrs free service, named "Large" and recently found out that it only covers filters and oil change, which costs €20/lt whereas the rear break pads that need to be changed EVERY 20k km (as this is considered normal wear for new mini) cost €250 per pad set, and €350 per disc set. Which means that approx every 20-30k km, I need to change front and rear pads for*€500, and *€1200 for every 50-60k km. So the dealer proposed a service package upgrade called "XL" for *€700 which covers all the above and more for upto 60k km. Which seemed like a really good deal, until I asked around for a non authorised bmw service and offered me a new set of rear pads + sensor cables + labor =*€80 TOTAL!!!
Is this stealing or what? They should be ashamed for a car that apparently is NOT that good with all the recalls, the consumption lies, the multimedia malfunction/ bluetooth connectivity / iPhone incompatibility... My car has gone to the service the last couple of yrs more than 10 times for fixes/recalls/malfunctions more than 40 days in total inside the service. More than any other car I ve ever had... Fellow owners you do the math... I did mine. Love the looks of the car, and driving response but enough is enough i think. Its not thaaaat good. The only good thing is that I had the chance to drive many courtesy cars

 

[James-B93]

Mine went in for a different issue and was told that my rear pads were on 3mm left and that was on 12,000 miles, I was pretty shocked as well, I'll be purchasing the pads elsewhere and doing them myself I think, nice easy job if it's a similar job to the E9x BMW's which, looking at the rear calliper, they don't look all that different

 

[mtbscott]

I've had five prior MINI's, most traded away around the 35K mile mark and it wasn't until the last R56S I bought used that I'd ever had to replace brakes. The rears on it needed new pads at around 42K, the fronts around 45K. I replaced them myself at around $100 per axle for new OEM pads. I understand that the rear brakes are a component used by the traction control and "lsd" systems but 12K miles is absurd.
I put 62K miles on my recently traded Porsche 991 Carrera and it was still on its original brakes! On a car with a much higher level performance. That said, if my new car eats them up as you guys say, I will change them myself.

 

[jamesahy]

My F56 JCW has done 15k miles, and now the brake pad warning lights are on. My local dealer says it's the rears than need changing, at around £350.... Now, the rear pads should be relatively easy to change, and I think £350 is rather excessive.

But my big gripe is how come the rear pads need changing ? Surely, if 70% of the braking is done on the front, the fronts would be showing signs of wear, or is the front/rear brake balance off ?

Anyone else had a similar problem ?

My rear brakes were replaced after 11,000 miles for £225.08 (along with loads of teething problems checked for free). My front brakes are about half way gone, but it's worth noting I drive spiritedly.

I got a photo of my cash invoice if you want to have a go at your dealer: http://imgur.com/a/Bg8mX

...don't read the other stuff on there that says I've kirbed my wheel

 

[James-B93]

Just out of curiosity..I understand how to bed in brakes correctly but does the whole braking hard from certain speeds a number of times still apply when bedding in the rear pads?

I can't imagine the rears do much braking when doing this?

 

[Jelster]

Just out of curiosity..I understand how to bed in brakes correctly but does the whole braking hard from certain speeds a number of times still apply when bedding in the rear pads?

I can't imagine the rears do much braking when doing this?

Depends on how hard you stamp on them I guess >

I think my gripe was down to having to pay when I am just about to P/X the car However, that said, I know I do "make progress" where I can, and now that I understand about the stability control and cruise control using the rears, I'm not as surprised as I was, just a little annoyed.....