Brake Pads

[PureFun]

Does any one know of a place in town that will fix brakes pads on a 2005 Mini Copper S. Should I just take it to the dealship? Stumped! Thanks...Lynn :confused: :confused:

[azuul]

Does any one know of a place in town that will fix brakes pads on a 2005 Mini Copper S. Should I just take it to the dealship? Stumped! Thanks...Lynn :confused: :confused:Try Prestige Tuning (http://www.prestige-tuning.com/index.html). Mark Williamson is the owner.

[k-huevo]

If you have jack stands and a jack I can bring the tools and help you change the brake pads at your location or you can come to my place where I can provide the equipment needed (you supply the pads); P.M. contact info and we'll arrange a time.

We can make a how-to and you can be famous with your personage viewed around the world on the internet. :cool:

[azuul]

If you have jack stands and a jack I can bring the tools and help you change the brake pads at your location or you can come to my place where I can provide the equipment needed (you supply the pads); P.M. contact info and we'll arrange a time.

We can make a how-to and you can be famous with your personage viewed around the world on the internet. :cool:And Keith does the best work!! :thumbsup

[PureFun]

Thanks guys! Wow, that is really nice of you to offer to fix my Cooper S, but I don't have a Jack or Jack stands. Also, I feel like I've been cheating on Lone Star because on The North American Motoring site they give pictures, details and how long. So much for being famous.......Still not sure what I should do?

[Will]

Keith is an amazing resource. And dont feel bad about cheating on LSMC, NAM is a great place and much much bigger, but you can still be famous here!! :)

[azuul]

Still not sure what I should do?Since Keith has offered, I'd take him up on it. He's done some great stuff for me and Azuul.

[chuckt]

Hum... I just happen to have a fresh set of rotors that need to go on. I still need to get the pads and I'm thinking about adding some brass caliper bushings, stainless lines and a fluid flush.

If you have jack stands and a jack I can bring the tools and help you change the brake pads at your location or you can come to my place where I can provide the equipment needed (you supply the pads); P.M. contact info and we'll arrange a time.

We can make a how-to and you can be famous with your personage viewed around the world on the internet. :cool:

[PureFun]

Thanks for the offer, but we already ordered everything.... I'll let you know if we screw it up. Hopefully-we won't. This will be my husbands first time with something like this. Wish me luck! I'm sure he'll do fine-it's my car I'm worried about....Lynn

[PureFun]

How long should brake pads last? I would think it would depend on the driver and the brake pads, but is there an average time? My light on my dash board is on for my brakes and I had them replaced a year ago in 7/97 I will admit, I am pretty hard on my car. Though, I don't wait till the last minute to stop....
Also, if my light just came on- do you think that will give me a day or two? I need my Mini, but I guess I can't use it if it doesn't work.

[Will]

My OEM brakes just went out and I got the car new back in 05. My buddy has a shop in town and he just replaced mine, he put high quality brakes on so I expect them to last as long as the OEM's did.

I ride my MINI hard too, late braking is fun :)

[k-huevo]

Conduct a visual inspection to be sure pads are wearing thin; sensors have been known to fail providing erroneous feedback. It is also possible to have an imbalance causing premature wear of one of the pad sets where a sensor is located. I had a frozen parking brake cable causing drag on the right rear. BTW, I don’t have the pad wear sensor feature.

If pad material is reduced enough to illuminate the lining indicator light, the pad wear sensor will need replacing if you prefer to retain the warning light feature.

As for how long pads should last, it depends on driving behaviors as much as pad compound as you suspect. I wore out OEM front pads in less than 18k miles, EBC Greens (poor performers) in 8k, but have Ferodo DS2500s which have lasted over 73k. There should be many miles left on pads when the light comes on so no urgent need to park the MINI.

[PureFun]

Oops.. I meant to put 7/05 on my earlier thread as the time I got my brakes done. Well, I'm taking my Mini in to the Mini service center this Wednesday. (10-8-08) The brakes are covered on my warranty.
How do I up grade my Mini and still have everything under warranty? I guess I can only do it through the Mini dealership.... or John Cooper Works?

[justintime]

Conduct a visual inspection to be sure pads are wearing thin; sensors have been known to fail providing erroneous feedback. It is also possible to have an imbalance causing premature wear of one of the pad sets where a sensor is located. I had a frozen parking brake cable causing drag on the right rear. BTW, I don’t have the pad wear sensor feature.

If pad material is reduced enough to illuminate the lining indicator light, the pad wear sensor will need replacing if you prefer to retain the warning light feature.

As for how long pads should last, it depends on driving behaviors as much as pad compound as you suspect. I wore out OEM front pads in less than 18k miles, EBC Greens (poor performers) in 8k, but have Ferodo DS2500s which have lasted over 73k. There should be many miles left on pads when the light comes on so no urgent need to park the MINI.

+1

Ive been through 4 sets of oem pads at 45k

[k-huevo]

What it is it you want to upgrade on your MINI?

OEM parts have a defect and failure warranty when purchased from a MINI parts distributor, but labor for replacement is not included. OEM brake pads and installation labor charges can be in a dealer discretionary category at some locations, depending on what the prevailing policy is practiced at the time. justintime has had multiple successes having his OEM pads replaced under warranty at the MINI Center.

Any modification can be performed on the MINI and maintain the warranty, as long as the modified part can not be directly linked to a failure or problem condition. For example, an aftermarket supercharger overdrive pulley could be installed and the warranty would be intact if the fuel pump failed, but if the pulley drive belt broke or came off, and caused the tensioner idler pulley to damage the crankshaft vibration damper, that would not be covered because it could be argued the non-OEM pulley was the root cause. The exception would be if the OEM crankshaft vibration damper separated causing the belt to derail and the resulting damage.

[weezer2282]

I went through a set of OEM pads somewhere around 40-45k miles. Fronts were nearly gone, but the rears were ok still. I upgraded my pads and rotors at the time though. I have Axxis Ultimates on now and they are pretty decent with about 20k miles on them. They do squeak a little when cold.

[justintime]

the oem pads are fine exp if they are under warrenty. The only time I wished I had upgraded brakes was in north carolina driving the twisties for 5 hours straight. the other was TWS. even then the pads were less of a problem than my fluid. Ive run the hawk hps in the crx and they are amazing though. Since you know you are going to replace the pads you might as well ride the warrenty out IMHO. steel lines and fluid are what I recommend :tu:

oh, and like keith said.. when you upgrade the car the only warrenty that is voided is the part you replaced and anything it may effect negatively. The mini center in San antonio isn't as bad with warrenty and modifications as most places I have heard about. To have your aftermarket parts under mini warrenty you would have to buy the jcw stuff from mini and have them install. Which would cost more than replacing two or three aftermarket parts (which may, and probably do. Out perform the jcw part you purchased) and installing them yourself. Of course that all depends on the part :p

[PureFun]

Thanks for your reply! Now I know what questions to ask when I go to the service center tomorrow.