My D needs Rear Brake Pads soon.

The iDrive indicates that my rear brake pads need service in 1,500 KM.

Here in Canada any wear and tear parts are not covered only scheduled oil changes.
Any Cannucks here have had their rear brake pads replaced and if so what is the costs?

BTW, my D has 48,000 KM (30,000 Miles).
So far it's been a smooth ride without any issues.

Oh I've also checked the work orders for the last two scheduled oil changes and found that so far only oil filters were replaced during the oil change.
I recently read here that the fuel filter should have been replaced at the second oil change as per the US maintenance manual.
There is no such manuals on the Canadian BMW website so I'll have to ask the SA when I book an appointment to service the rear brakes.

Any comments/advice will be greatly appreciated.

Nope, DC. I have 53k and the rears have lots left on them. Hmmmm....

DnA Diesel. Did your iDrive indicated that your D needs to have the rear brakes serviced?
If so at what mileage did that showed up and was it serviced by BMW and no replacements pads needed?

Thanks.

If your rear pads went before the front it is probably an indication of a lot of work by the DSC. When you are driving it hard and the rear wheels are slipping the DSC is using the rear brakes to limit the slip and keep things under control.

Yes rear brakes first is not usual at all.

I've not noticed the DSG going off that often, maybe less than half dozen times during slippery winter or wet conditions.

BTW, the iDrive simply indicated that the rear brakes need to be serviced so it may not be necessary to change yet?

I was thinking that 'cos the D is RWD and 425 lb-ft TQ that the rear pads may be worn out faster than the front? Don't know enough about cars.

I'll schedule an appointment soon and have it checked.

Thanks guys.

DC, I don't have iDrive but I inspect the running gear each time I swap winter/summer tires. My rear pads (and my fronts) look almost new. In fact, the rear pads still have a bit of the original angled chamfer that was manufactured on the edge of the pad. About 2/3 of my 53k are highway driving, which is probably why the brakes have plenty of material left.

Regards
D

My d too asked for rear brake pad replacement at 25k miles and when I went in SA said one of sensor wasnt working properly so they replaced sensor and now its saying in 6k miles which is abt 31k miles on odo. During this winter i used to have DSC going off all the time. My front brake pads still have 26k miles(~52k on odo). I do want to get both pads replaced before 50k miles warranty limit.

My idrive says front pads need to be replaced in 50,000 miles which has been that way since day 1. However, my rear pads need to be replaced in 13,000 miles which will put it at around 25k miles. I guess rear brakes are working overtime due to RWD?

DC, maybe it's a sensor issue? I just check service interval through the BC and it says 6,000km for the rears, yet visual inspection shows 9-10mm of pad left.

Cheers
D.

I don't think RWD has anything to do with the wear on the rear break pads. Unless BMW designs the rear pad much thinner than the front there is no reason I can think of that the rear pads would wear out sooner than the front pads unless you are driving your car very, very aggressively to the point that the DSC is activating a lot of the time. Front pads typically do most of the braking work so typically they wear much faster than rear pads. At any rate, I also hope that I can get BMW to replace both front and rear pads before my warranty expires but since almost all of my driving is highway I suspect I will have lots of pad left at 50K miles and will probably be told that I am not authorized new pads on their dime.

Hmmmm... it does look like a sensor mulfunction doesn't it?
Most of my driving is also highway (>80%).

Unfortunately here in Canada the free maintenance doesn't include wear & tear parts like brake pads, rotors etc.

So an unscrupulous dealer can easily replace the pads and charge for the service (labour + parts)?

Personally I'd want to see the pads if they say it does in fact need new pads when you bring it in. I am in the same camp as the others that it seems really strange for the rears to go out before the fronts. But I base that just on general car ownership and nothing specific to these cars. All of my vehicles, except my current truck, have always worn out the front brakes before the rears. My current truck wears out all four brakes at the same time, but considering pads on it last me 80-100k miles then I just can't complain.

I just had my rear pads replaced a few days ago @ around 25k miles - the front ones have thousands of miles yet. I don't drive aggressively (DSC rarely lights up) but I attribute the wear to the steep streets where I do a lot of my driving. I'm not sure why the fronts didn't wear out first, but add me as another example of this scenario.

I must be accelerating more quickly than I thought, since I also had to get two new rear tires. :-)

Does the hill assist perhaps use just the rear brakes?

Guys, its the DSC that eats the rear brakes. Nothing necessarily to do with RWD but it is constantly braking the rear wheels when you drive it hard. I change my own pads so I am sure they are worn out before replacing them and I can assure you that they wear much faster than any of my other vehicles.

My rear pads are probably going to last only 25k miles as well, with the fronts indicating they will go about twice that distance. I don't drive aggressively either, so the overly-sensitive DSC is likely the reason for the counter-intuitive wear pattern.

Graham

Originally Posted by kmorgan_260

Guys, its the DSC that eats the rear brakes. Nothing necessarily to do with RWD but it is constantly braking the rear wheels when you drive it hard. I change my own pads so I am sure they are worn out before replacing them and I can assure you that they wear much faster than any of my other vehicles.

@kmorgan: Could you suggest a good DIY link (335i or d)for those interested in doing their own brake pad replacement?

So it looks like the D has a tendency to eat rear pads...
I do not drive agressively (like doing jack rabbit starts from stop lights) but i do drive between 120~140 KM/Hr on the highways.
Rarely do I do hard braking so it has to be either the DSC or more brake pressure is applied to the rear wheels 'cos of the RWD?

Anyway I'm not too concern as the D is a fine car and if it has a healty appetite for rear brake pads so be it!

Hmmm...I wonder if it's the same with the 335ix?

Yea, my 335i does the same thing. I did notice a big improvement however, when I started turning the DSC off when I was driving it hard.

Originally Posted by DC-IT

So it looks like the D has a tendency to eat rear pads...
I do not drive agressively (like doing jack rabbit starts from stop lights) but i do drive between 120~140 KM/Hr on the highways.
Rarely do I do hard braking so it has to be either the DSC or more brake pressure is applied to the rear wheels 'cos of the RWD?

Anyway I'm not too concern as the D is a fine car and if it has a healty appetite for rear brake pads so be it!

Hmmm...I wonder if it's the same with the 335ix?

Could the rear pad wear possibly be related to driving in winter weather conditions (snow/ice)? I think someone mentioned this earlier in the thread - it might make sense that traction control would have to use the rear brakes a lot more in those weather conditions to control slip on a RWD car. Of course, if you haven't had much driving in that type of weather, my theory goes down in flames!

Originally Posted by Diesel Bimmer

@kmorgan: Could you suggest a good DIY link (335i or d)for those interested in doing their own brake pad replacement?

DIY - rear brake pads + brake pad sensor

I am not sure about a link but suggest getting a Bentley manual. It has detailed descriptions of most any repair and a lot of useful info as well.

Originally Posted by 62Lincoln

Could the rear pad wear possibly be related to driving in winter weather conditions (snow/ice)? I think someone mentioned this earlier in the thread - it might make sense that traction control would have to use the rear brakes a lot more in those weather conditions to control slip on a RWD car. Of course, if you haven't had much driving in that type of weather, my theory goes down in flames!

If I'm not mistaken when the DSC activates you can see the "Triangle" LED flashes on the dash?
I've only seen that happened a few times during last Winter.

It would be interesting to find out if any 335ix or D owners in Florida (Flyingman where are you?) has the same issue with the rear pads.

Anyway I look at it as a wear and tear item and am prepared to pay the price in return for a fantastic ride!

I am pretty sure DSC can activate sometimes without the idiot light flashing, such as when it is functioning as an electronic LSD. My 335d has never seen snow or ice and is chewing through rear pads at roughly 2x the front wear rate.

-Graham