brake pad wear issue

In Jan 2011, iDrive said front pad 6000 mile, rear brake 11000. Strangely in June 2011, 3k miles later, the numbers went up to 8000 front and 12000 rear. Now another 1500 miles later, the front and rear numbers are stuck at 8000 and 12000. Has anyone else had this issue?

I asked the Dealer to check the sensors in Aug and they told me they were fine.

In any case, my car will be out of factory warrant in the end of July 2012. Given the significant cost of replacing the pads and rotors when out of warranty, I was hoping that I could get them replaced before the warranty runs out. But with iDrive seemingly not reflecting the true brake wear, I will surely be looking at paying for the replacement out of pocket. Any suggestions?

The brake pad sensor has only three wear points - Not worn - Partially worn - Replace. The sensor itself actually wears away as it touches the brake rotor (see picture). Anything other than those three conditions and the car is just guessing the miles. Most of the time I think it just doesn't change so not seeing it go down is normal(untill it hits a wear point).

GUESS: the reason it went down and back up is maybe do to driving styles and the computer guessing, I don't know this I'm just guessing now.

Your best course of action is to just check the pads manually. It is easiest to do this with the wheel off but sometimes you can tell through the wheel depending on the wheel. You can always ask the dealer or better yet a good Indy BMW mechanic to check your brakes.

Are brakes actually covered unde the warrenty?

Thanks Skim. Your explanation makes sense. I will check when I switch on the snow tires/wheels in a couple of months.

I just assumed the 4 year/50k free maintenance covered the brakes. I don't realy know. Can others confirm?

I have a 2008 528i that is less than one year from the experiation of the four year warranty. I currently have 36000 miles on my car and the i-drive says I have 11,000 miles remaining on the front brakes and 17,000 remaining on the rears. I'm concerned as well that my warranty will not support brake repalcement before the end of my warranty. I'm watching this closely, because I might get only 4 oil changes, two brake fluid changes, and three wiper changes in four years. If that is in fact the case then this is purely a marketing gimmick on the car. I will have a complete writeup of my four year factory warranty experience on Jul 2012 and inform everyone exactly what was changed, and flushed during the first four years of my car ownership. I do plan to keep the car beyond its four year warranty.

4 year/50k free maintenance, sounds like it would cover brakes. I don't have much experience with BMW's or their warranties, interesting to have a warranty that covers brakes, oil changes, wipers and stuff like that. Sounds more like a service plan of sorts but I guess its all in a name.

In that case I say ride your brakes really hard to wear them down sooner ... thats probably bad advice, put undue stress on the hole system. If you don't get your brake job before your warranty is up do it yourself, it's not that hard and it will save from what it sounds like hundreds if not a thousand $$$$

[QUOTE=Skim Milk;6385859]4 year/50k free maintenance, sounds like it would cover brakes. I don't have much experience with BMW's or their warranties, interesting to have a warranty that covers brakes, oil changes, wipers and stuff like that. Sounds more like a service plan of sorts but I guess its all in a name.
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There's both a new car warranty and free maintenance for 4yr/50K. BMW will only perform service if a) the car tells them to or b) the maintenance manual specifically states it.

For example, if you drive low mileage less than 12K/yr (I do...), iDrive may not say I need my oil changed, but the service manual states it is needed at least every 12 months. I change my oil every 7500 miles, which means the dealer gets to change it once per year and I pay for one.

Also, the manual states that (for my turbo) that spark plugs should be replaced at 45K. This is not something iDrive monitors which is weird since they monitor the state inspection date. I'm hoping I drive that many miles by 2/2012 so I can get one more "free" service from BMW.

I can confirm the 4yr/50k warranty covers pads and sensors. I have 45k on my car and had a squealing brake. Took it into the dealer yesterday and they replaced the pads and sensors for the front at no cost. Even though they weren't worn, the squealing issue was annoying.

Originally Posted by xclone

I can confirm the 4yr/50k warranty covers pads and sensors. I have 45k on my car and had a squealing brake. Took it into the dealer yesterday and they replaced the pads and sensors for the front at no cost. Even though they weren't worn, the squealing issue was annoying.

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Yes, a customer complaint that is obvious would be reason #3 for BMW to perform free service...

A lot is up to the dealer. My dealer really works with the customers on warranty maintenance issues. I was 3 1/2 years in, and still showing 8K miles, and figuring, heck, I am going to run out the 4 years before the miles are up. Well, I took the car in for the HP recall, and my adviser says, what? squeaky brakes? we'll take a look at them, and writes down 'customer complaining of squeaky brakes', and I got me some new front pads.

Check 'em manually - do not just go with the wear indicators.

I recently had my 2008 535i in for other maint and my SA decided to change my front pads and rotors and my rear pads. I have 73,000 miles and I the purchased the extended maint package to 100k miles when new. I bought the extended maint package 30 months ago primarily for this brake job that I knew was coming.

Bottom line here: my CBS indicated that I still had 8000 miles before the rear pads were needed, but the technician measured my rear pads @ just 2mm remaining, SA sez the minimum is 3mm. Hence new pads.

My question to the SA was why the wear indicators had not correctly indicated 'change me now' or whatever? She told me that they're not accurate.

For those of you wondering about my rear rotors... I raised a fit about changing them and she said that the rear rotors measured as not needing to be changed, but she squarely stated that I can have them measured at follow-on service calls to signal that future pending rotor change.

Again, measure them yourself. Dn't rely just on the CBS.

Cheers, Neubs

Originally Posted by Phoenix1

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Yes, a customer complaint that is obvious would be reason #3 for BMW to perform free service...

He was asking if they were covered and I was providing proof that, yes, the 4y/50k does cover brakes. Maybe I misread the tone (which is quite possible) but what's with the snarkiness?