E89 Disk Pad life remaining question.
Discussion
My 2011 e89 was in for a service & MOT yesterday. I had a call from the dealer saying I needed new rear pads and disks. I asked if it was an MOT failure and they said no so I said to leave it. It has covered 39000 miles and I knew the life remaining figures in Idrive were high - I checked later and it has 16000 estimated life left on rear pads.
My questions are :
How accurate are the life remaining figures in idrive? Ie am I looking at 55000 miles out of these pads? That seems very high. I can’t really see enough through the spokes of the wheels to see how much of pad is left.
What warning do I get that the pads need replacing? I know there are wires in the pads that short against the disk when the pad is worn to a certain degree. Do I wait for the warning to appear? How many miles do I have then before it becomes a safety issue?
Is it normal to replace pads and disks at the same time? Dealer quoted £300 for both rears.
Previous mechanics have said to me ‘you’ve got xxxx miles left on these pads’ so could judge when to change but unfortunately I didn’t ask for this info yesterday. It’s a pain as I don’t want to kill myself or anyone else on road but don’t want to get ripped off either.
Thanks in advance!
My questions are :
How accurate are the life remaining figures in idrive? Ie am I looking at 55000 miles out of these pads? That seems very high. I can’t really see enough through the spokes of the wheels to see how much of pad is left.
What warning do I get that the pads need replacing? I know there are wires in the pads that short against the disk when the pad is worn to a certain degree. Do I wait for the warning to appear? How many miles do I have then before it becomes a safety issue?
Is it normal to replace pads and disks at the same time? Dealer quoted £300 for both rears.
Previous mechanics have said to me ‘you’ve got xxxx miles left on these pads’ so could judge when to change but unfortunately I didn’t ask for this info yesterday. It’s a pain as I don’t want to kill myself or anyone else on road but don’t want to get ripped off either.
Thanks in advance!
Bear in mind that there are four pads in the rear brakes and AFAIK only one of them is wired for a wear sensor. If the pads are not wearing evenly it is possible that one of the "unwired" pads could be worn far more than the one with the sensor. So you could have a potentially dangerous situation if you rely totally on the wear sensor. There is no substitute for a visual inspection. If you can not do it yourself you should find an indy that you trust. He may be able to see enough to judge the wear or he may dismantle the brakes to examine the pads properly. If he dismantles the brakes he will probably recommend that you fit new pads to save the labour of dismantling the brakes a second time. So it looks like you can budget for new pads in the near future.
PS: A similar situation exists at the front, four pads and one sensor.
PS: A similar situation exists at the front, four pads and one sensor.
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