Dealer recommending rear brake pads but no warning light
Discussion
So, my F11 520d has has just gone in for some recall work. They've emailed to say the front brake pads are down to 8mm and rears are 2mm and need replacing. Why hasn't the warning light come on for either (especially the rears). I'll be honest, I don't like the dealers and wouldn't let them do it if it was free but are they scamming me?
blackchilliman said:
So, my F11 520d has has just gone in for some recall work. They've emailed to say the front brake pads are down to 8mm and rears are 2mm and need replacing. Why hasn't the warning light come on for either (especially the rears). I'll be honest, I don't like the dealers and wouldn't let them do it if it was free but are they scamming me?
Which pad is the rear sensor on?Ask them to show you - but I think about 4mm is the limit and they start at anything from 18-20mm (depending on manufacturer).
If it's anything like my Z4M, then 3 pads could be down to metal and the one with the sensor won't be - so it won't raise a warning (moot point now though as my BBK doesn't use pad sensors).
Isn't there a function on the OBC that will tell you haw many miles they've got left in them?
When I took my E91 for an MOT in 2018 the tester wanted to fail it for worn rear pads so I pointed out the OBC was saying they had 18,000 miles left in them - got it passed with an advisory!
I was never going to do 18K in one year.
When I took my E91 for an MOT in 2018 the tester wanted to fail it for worn rear pads so I pointed out the OBC was saying they had 18,000 miles left in them - got it passed with an advisory!
I was never going to do 18K in one year.
Mr Tidy said:
Isn't there a function on the OBC that will tell you haw many miles they've got left in them?
When I took my E91 for an MOT in 2018 the tester wanted to fail it for worn rear pads so I pointed out the OBC was saying they had 18,000 miles left in them - got it passed with an advisory!
I was never going to do 18K in one year.
Obc does indeed tell you mileage, however in my experience it is useless. Mine says 70k miles left for the rear pads, yet bmw tell me they're down to 4mm and need replacing asap.When I took my E91 for an MOT in 2018 the tester wanted to fail it for worn rear pads so I pointed out the OBC was saying they had 18,000 miles left in them - got it passed with an advisory!
I was never going to do 18K in one year.
8mm on the front still has plenty of life left, I've got a set of new fronts at home, I'll measure them when I get the chance.
sjj84 said:
Mr Tidy said:
Isn't there a function on the OBC that will tell you haw many miles they've got left in them?
When I took my E91 for an MOT in 2018 the tester wanted to fail it for worn rear pads so I pointed out the OBC was saying they had 18,000 miles left in them - got it passed with an advisory!
I was never going to do 18K in one year.
Obc does indeed tell you mileage, however in my experience it is useless. Mine says 70k miles left for the rear pads, yet bmw tell me they're down to 4mm and need replacing asap.When I took my E91 for an MOT in 2018 the tester wanted to fail it for worn rear pads so I pointed out the OBC was saying they had 18,000 miles left in them - got it passed with an advisory!
I was never going to do 18K in one year.
8mm on the front still has plenty of life left, I've got a set of new fronts at home, I'll measure them when I get the chance.
sjj84 said:
Measured my new pads, 14mm of material not including the backing plate. So your pads at 8mm are less than half worn.
I'm suspecting the OP has misread/misunderstood what the email was telling him.I suspect the email read along the lines of:
"The front brake pads are currently at 8mm, the rear brake pads are at 2mm, and require replacing".
The dealership meant this to mean that the front pads have plenty of life left in them, but the rear pads need replacing.
The OP though, in his "dislike" for the dealership, has read it as meaning both the front and rear pads need replacing, and that they are trying to scam him.
I've had a similar discussion with a fellow BMW owner, about how our local BMW dealership were trying to scam him into replacing his tyres.
He was convinced it was a scam because they were recommending he replace his tyres, even though he had something like 2.6mm left on the front tyres, and 2.4mm left on the rear tyres, when the legal minimum is 1.6mm.
I told him that the BMW dealerships all recommend changing tyres at @ 3mm, rather than the 1.6mm legal minimum, due to the reduced grip levels, increased braking distances, and increased risk of aquaplaning with tyres under 3mm.
I even showed him the many internet sites that confirmed what I was telling him, to which his reply was:
"Nope, they're just a bunch of con-artists trying to rip me off!"
He'd made his mind up what the "truth" was, and refused to listen to what the real truth was!
The fact is, when it comes to tyre and brake pads, BMW dealerships tend to err on the side of caution, and recommend replacement before the parts are actually right at the end of their life, but I'll guarantee they don't recommend changing brake pads at 8mm!
Its BMW, they are sharks. There's a dealer local to us that is well known in the area for being massively dishonest. A young very well rehearsed guy who has a come back for almost every servicing issue!
Our old 35d was in for a routine service and we were told it needed new pads all round. They had been done less than 12 months before and had lasted 24 months prior to that. "Ah your car has an intelligent system which brakes one of the wheels under aggressive cornering. You must've adjusted your driving style"- we hadn't, wife takes a 60 mile round trip to work, most of which on the M40.
We decided to get a second opinion from another BMW dealer and surprise surprise there was magically an extra 3mm on each corner of the car and they lasted another 12 months until we replaced them. Shocking
Our old 35d was in for a routine service and we were told it needed new pads all round. They had been done less than 12 months before and had lasted 24 months prior to that. "Ah your car has an intelligent system which brakes one of the wheels under aggressive cornering. You must've adjusted your driving style"- we hadn't, wife takes a 60 mile round trip to work, most of which on the M40.
We decided to get a second opinion from another BMW dealer and surprise surprise there was magically an extra 3mm on each corner of the car and they lasted another 12 months until we replaced them. Shocking
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff