[fragrantparrot]

Hi all,

I've had the brake service warning counting down for a while now on my F56 MCS, and it has now gone past '0 miles remaining'. Around the point that it hit 0 miles, the red brake warning light came on in the speedometer, like the image attached, which has made me a little concerned.

I have checked the pads through the wheel, which still have a reasonable amount of meat on them, and have also checked the brake fluid of which there is plenty. The brake pedal also feels normal and there is no grinding noises. I have also scanned my car with an OBD reader and no codes came up.

Does this light just come on when the wear sensor's contact is broken? Or is this another issue that I'm not aware of?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Sevenoneseven]

Have you checked the other (inner) side of the pads, if I’m correct the sensors only activate if the contact has touched the metal...so in theory they should be low?

The only negative I can think, if your brakes are working fine and you do have plenty of meat on both sides, probably only thing is that you’ll have a orange/red indicator on your IDrive service history?

 

[fragrantparrot]

Have you checked the other (inner) side of the pads, if I’m correct the sensors only activate if the contact has touched the metal...so in theory they should be low?

The only negative I can think, if your brakes are working fine and you do have plenty of meat on both sides, probably only thing is that you’ll have a orange/red indicator on your IDrive service history?

No I haven't, I don't currently have the tools to jack it up. Considering there isn't any grinding and there is no lack of brake bite, I think it still has some life left I was just wondering whether the red light is normal for this scenario.

I have the red icon in iDrive, which has been there since it hit 0 miles.

 

[anonemouse70]

Do you know when the brake fluid was last changed? Should be done every 2 years on the fixed service schedule. You can check the vehicle status to see if it thinks this service is due.

 

[fragrantparrot]

Do you know when the brake fluid was last changed? Should be done every 2 years on the fixed service schedule. You can check the vehicle status to see if it thinks this service is due.

In the cars computer it says it's due in 2021, so it doesn't appear to be that yet. The brake fluid in the reservoir also looks practically new.

 

[ahmetdouas]

Hi all,

I've had the brake service warning counting down for a while now on my F56 MCS, and it has now gone past '0 miles remaining'. Around the point that it hit 0 miles, the red brake warning light came on in the speedometer, like the image attached, which has made me a little concerned.

View attachment 71107

I have checked the pads through the wheel, which still have a reasonable amount of meat on them, and have also checked the brake fluid of which there is plenty. The brake pedal also feels normal and there is no grinding noises. I have also scanned my car with an OBD reader and no codes came up.

Does this light just come on when the wear sensor's contact is broken? Or is this another issue that I'm not aware of?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

It's normal, always happens when brake pad warning hits 0 miles. In my opinion it is quite conservative, I drove another 5,000 or so miles with that light on before replacing the discs and pads and did not have any braking issues, and while the pads were thin they did not look like they were about to fail (it vibrates a lot under braking before that happens anyway, I have driven my pads down to the metal on another car before). Once you replace it you can reset it and the light will go away.

So if it feels ok just keep on driving until you feel you should change it, in my case I had to change it before my MOT as it would have failed the test with the brake warning light on!

 

[pilotwoo]

As others have said it is quite normal. It is designed to frighten you to get them changed asap.

As you have discovered, the sensor goes off very early. If you know how to measure your pad wear, then change them when you feel it is proper. I went several thousand miles past this warning last time.

Main dealers will charge you at least £100 more than an independent would. Getting them done at an indy will not affect your warranty.

 

[fragrantparrot]

Ah that's brilliant thank you both!

The discs need doing this time so I will keep going as normal and if it reaches metal-on-metal then it isn't the end of the world, and I'll replace then when I get the chance.

 

[pilotwoo]

Just don’t compromise your safety 🙂

 

[fragrantparrot]

Just don’t compromise your safety 🙂

I want! I'll probably still do them before they absolutely need it to be safe, but I'm glad I don't have to stress about it for a while haha.

 

[joderest]

you will have to replace sensors as well, otherwise you will not be able to reset the warning light.

 

[fragrantparrot]

Little update, replaced my pads, discs, and sensor on the weekend and once I reset it on the computer it got rid of the warning light so all is good.

Thanks everyone!

 

[LazyLancer]

Just curious, how were your rear pads? I'm at 15.000 km now and the dealer says my front pads are slightly above 50% but rear pads are below 50%.
I get it that ESP regularly pings your rear brakes in a tight high-speed curve to help the car into the corner, i.e. drive harder = get more rear brakes wear. But still curious.

 

[fragrantparrot]

Just curious, how were your rear pads? I'm at 15.000 km now and the dealer says my front pads are slightly above 50% but rear pads are below 50%.
I get it that ESP regularly pings your rear brakes in a tight high-speed curve to help the car into the corner, i.e. drive harder = get more rear brakes wear. But still curious.

I actually replaced my rear pads around 6k miles ago, the reminder in iDrive had gone off and ran out of miles, but the warning light in the dash hadn't illuminated yet, and they had quite a lot of 'meat' left on them.

Since I bought the car second hand I don't know if they were replaced before I bought the car, but I think they probably were (bought it on 45k miles). Also, I believe the cruise control uses the rear brakes to slow you down when going downhill, or turning the speed setting down, so that will also add to the rear pad wear.

 

[gpete8]

Dum question. How do reset brake warning light. Is it the same for 2022 model

 

[RockCrusher]

Just curious, how were your rear pads? I'm at 15.000 km now and the dealer says my front pads are slightly above 50% but rear pads are below 50%.
I get it that ESP regularly pings your rear brakes in a tight high-speed curve to help the car into the corner, i.e. drive harder = get more rear brakes wear. But still curious.

Late to the discussion but my 2018 JCW brake wear light came on. At around 15K miles. Caught me by surprise. My usage is easy on brakes. I usually get 50K miles or more. With one car (Porsche Turbo) I managed around 124K miles from the front brakes. Rear brakes were worn but no warning light on when I sold the car at 161K miles.

Turns out the JCW's driver's side rear brake and one pad -- the one with the sensor -- was worn down.

After the pads/rotors/sensors replaced I noticed the the stability control symbol flashing during a sweeping right hand turn. And I could feel the driver's side rear brake being applied. I tried taking this at lower and lower speeds. The stability control still applied that brake.

Decided to try a brake fluid flush/bleed. Had this done and after the stability control system was quiet. Oh with some effort I could cause it to activate but then its intervention was justified.