Rear break pads wear

Hi guys,

Got my 2012 528i a month ago and am extremly happy with it.

Only thing that's troubling me is that the rear break pads seem to be wearing out very fast.
On the front break pads I still have 45000 km left (per info in Vehicle Status), but on rear pads there is only 17000 km left.

This seems to lower by 1000 km every day or two.

Anybody had similar issues?

The wear indicator on my rear pads rapidly headed towards zero over a few months, then sat there for about nine months saying 2200 miles to go. So I think the monitoring is a bit screwy.

Having said that, I had to replace them at 32000 miles - there was still loads of wear left on the front pads.

Weird for the rear ones to wear first...

You won't believe this, but I'm still on my original pads, over 5 years. Still more than 3mm left on them.

Yes but you have an E60. The F10 appears to have brake pads which are made of cheese...

if you drive the car aggressively with the DSC on, the car will brake the rear wheels to control oversteer. This may not be an issue for folks in the US who get pads changed for free but I can see how this wear may annoy other people across the globe. You can always turn DCS off by holding down the DSC button for 5 seconds but be mindful that when you do that, you better know how to control the car or else end up on the side of the road.

I'm also wondering if the rear brakes are the ones used to slow the vehicle when you go down a hill with the cruise control on.

Don't worry about the light. Mine was at 1,700 miles. It's now up to 2,900 miles, some 4,000 miles later.

Go figure.

Thanks for the replies guys and putting my mind at ease.

It would be really annoying to have to change the pads at 5000 km

The system is a bit over anxious for demanding a rear pad switch.
it seems 60000 kms is quite doable with the first set.
After a reset (as for the oil change intervall) the distance calculated by the CIC has been rising steadily from 30k to well over 65k.
At 56 k kms the pads are looking quite allright, It looks like the system is working fine now.

My car has 11,000 miles on it and I'm taking it in tomorrow for new rear break pads.

30k are on the rears and I'm getting a brake moderately warning
Going in Friday for replacement

I'm at 30kmi and the service indicator states I will need new rear brake pads in 2300 miles.

Originally Posted by dunderhi

I'm at 30kmi and the service indicator states I will need new rear brake pads in 2300 miles.

Did you make a visual inspection?
Oh well you get them for free so just let them change them.
I am interested in the actual blocks wear and the thickness of you rotors.
So after a change maybe you can post the figures overhere?

Don't believe the sensors. I brought my car in at 20k miles. The sensors said I needed new rear brakes in 1700 miles. They measured them at the dealership and they still had 9 mm on the pads. They reset the computer and now It says I have 22k more miles to go. Crazy.

My rears were changed at 12k on my 550ix. Hands down the fastest I have ever changed any pads in a car. Usually the fronts go in the 20-30's. The rears? I don't think I've kept any other car long enough to change them...

Originally Posted by Quacker

I'm also wondering if the rear brakes are the ones used to slow the vehicle when you go down a hill with the cruise control on.

I've also wondered if the brake lights come on when the cruise control slows the car going down hill.

Sorry for a dumb question, but where do you guys check for brake wear information? I see noting in my system. Looked where the oil level and flat monitor info sits and nothing about brakes whatsoever.

Well, I just went in to have my brakes done as it said 1200km left on them. Since I had the car in for some other work I asked them to look at it and change if required.

I was surprised to learn the rear pads still had 10mm left... They told me BMW had changed the way the car brakes, and it uses the rear way more then prev systems in order to reduce the noise dive in heavy braking and as a result they expected the rears to wear faster. They also said that the brake wear is based on fuel consumption and as such is prone to a wide margin of error. Idle times specifically effect it dramatically. And there is a change brakes now warning that happens, when the real brake wear indicator is triggered from low pad depth.

I was wondering if anyone else had heard these same things?