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Brake pads worn msg / pads to be serviced in 12k miles...

2K views 24 replies 13 participants last post by  blue dragon 
#1 ·
Hi Guy,

Today I got a "Brake pads" message on the dash. It is a bit confusing as the CBS shows 12k miles for the rear pads and about 34k miles for front.

How to understand this? Could it be just problem with the sensor? The night before I was switching my summer wheels to all season for a ski trip - I really doubt that I damaged sensor, etc. when doing this...



 
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#3 ·
someone could have reset the system without changing pads. step 1 look at pads. step 2. go from there.
 
#4 ·
One service alert is for your rear brakes - maybe the "red" alarm is for your FRONT brake pads that could have gone so thin that the in-pad sensor was triggered.
 
#7 · (Edited)
You would think that this fn idrive would be able to say if it's front or back pads red warning. Another lazy implementation.

The first annoying issue I had was "increased battery drain". Ista showed 0 events of excessive drain! So I ran power diags and it turned out to be that the battery charge level was consistently low (dying cell). Despite that, the car started fine and ran fine so without ISTA I'd be chasing a drain issue which it was NOT!
Replaced battery no issues since.

But why didn't idrive say battery level low? Another mixed up message to guarantee work for the dealer like not specifying the axle... They can sell you brakes for both f+r.
 
#8 ·
Just came back home and checked my receipts. 5k miles ago I had only front brake service done. Maybe they reset both axles and therefore iDrive shows 12k miles left for the rear axle. Correction - front shows 37k miles left.

Anyway, when changing the wheels I did not pay that much attention to the pads. I think the outer pads were fine, but I did not check the inner.

Agree with robnitro, I would expect that idrive shows which axle needs service... I needed to check Carly. Gary214 - I was away for two days. I had confusing information from the car, therefore, I asked. I always care to have brakes in great condition, in particular, given that I am towing fairly often. I will order the kit now and have it replaced.
 
#9 · (Edited)
You should be able to look at your brake pads with your eyeballs, with the wheels still on, & get a rough gauge of how thick the outer pads are...

The inner pads are where the wear sensor for each axle is located. You'd need to remove the wheel to see the inner pad thickness...

On brakes that have worn out bushings and / or piston seals, you can get brake pads that do not wear evenly side to side, as well as length wise, so check for this (ie outer vs inner wear, as well as leading vs trailing edge)...

You already know how to remove the wheels, so remove each of them one at a time to see whether the warning warrants immediate repair, or can be put off until a more convenient time... I've had worn out brake bushings and / or worn piston seals cause one caliper to significantly wear the inner brake pad to 1mm thick, where literally every other pad on the vehicle looked nearly brand new, including the outer pad on that same wheel; which is why you should check all of them (not just remove one tire from each axle & calling it good). If the wear sensors on the E70 are like the E46 & E36, then there's only one on one of the wheels on each axle...

Also, agree about the stupidity of "smart" technology that attempts to make things "smarter" / "easier" for the common majority simpleton... Unfortunately, this is inherent to consumer technology / technological progress, in general, as technology can only be as smart as those who created it, further confounded by to whom it was designed for, where "design by committee" & "catering to the lowest common denominator" is utterly counterproductive to actual competent engineering & design... Anyone who's tangibly above average competence who's been on a committee, knows that committees are inherently average / mediocre / & frustratingly stupid (by nature of the inherent stupidity of "majority rule" paradigms), & catering to the lowest common denominator inherently means anything deemed to be too complex for stupid people, is dumbed down to the point where it ironically becomes confusing, frustrating, overly simple / stupid for those who are not simple or stupid ;)
 
#10 ·
you could have knocked the sensor off, its happened to me before.
 
#11 ·
I purchased rotors, pads and was ready to try to do the brake job for the first time... watched 100 YT videos... took the wheels off... and found that the sensor cable is broken.



Question: can I just connect the cables and call it a day or the brake service message won't disappear? If connecting the cables it the way to go, how to figure out which cable goes with which?

Thanks!
 
#13 ·
Lengths are exactly matched? If the cut is slanted, one side will be a mm or two longer...
 
#15 ·
Thanks Guys! I connected the wires and problem solved.

Good point on the quality of the work, Doug. I am not sure whether this was poor quality of the work by indy as I had no problem with this for the last 40k+ miles. Also, the night before I got the brake service message, I changed the wheels. I do not know how, but maybe I damaged the cables. However, I would expect the message to pop up immediately the next day, what did not happen...

Anyway, next brake service I will do myself. I called a couple of places - they charge $200-$340 per axle. The more expensive place is charging "corkage $20 fee" if you bring your own parts. At this price level when I am interested in making my hands dirty.
 
#16 ·
Polarity doesn't matter, connect it either way. If it doesn't clear, then try connecting the wires from the car together to test that section (eliminating the sensor in the pads which could be damaged)
 
#18 ·
Hmm, did not consider this. To be honest, I've never felt that I had not enough braking power, even in the mountains. However, you never know when you will need more efficient brakes...

Did you do this upgrade? What is approx. cost? Is this direct swap?

Another thing is that I have 18' wheels for winter. Not sure, if this is big enough for X5M brakes.
 
#19 ·
I did this upgrade back in 2014 when I was towing the boat quite a bit. It was quite a popular upgrade and rotors and calipers could normally be found for around $800 from all the X5M'ers upgrading to larger kits. It is direct bolt on, you need to replace the dust shield as well, and I did braided lines at the same time.

I recently refreshed pads and rotors and towed my new PWCs up to my cottage today. It reminded me how well the upgraded brakes work (trailer has no brakes).
 
#22 ·
FYI - The sensor can be purchased for AutoZone/Advance/PepBoys for $16.99 or so. Works perfect and usually in stock same day.

I did my rear pads last weekend. Took me about 45 min to do both sides. If you replace rotors too, you can add about 15 min per side if yours are hard to get loose.

Can definitely be done at home without needing specialist tools.
 
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