Remaining brake pad life

[Bmwtechgeek]

Hello. A red warning come up on the dash of my wife's 2017 X5 that the brake wear sensor has been activated.

Im planning to replace the pads next week but just wondering approximately how much life is left on the pads when the sensor is triggered? Is it safe to drive short trips?

Thanks

[Amsterdave]

You'll be absolutely fine for a week. I recently replaced a set of pads when it said 200kms remaining and had instant regret, the pads that came off had a ton of life left in them..

[jiggz]

Originally Posted by Bmwtechgeek

Hello. A red warning come up on the dash of my wife's 2017 X5 that the brake wear sensor has been activated.

Im planning to replace the pads next week but just wondering approximately how much life is left on the pads when the sensor is triggered? Is it safe to drive short trips?

Thanks

I'm curious how many miles you got out of the pads, I assume they're the original?

[F15_SGM]

Warning It turns on because pads are done. Yes they have life but not enough. Only will cause damage to rotors meaning more things to replace.

[tlow98]

They are normally two stage sensors. You’re just past the first sensor. You’d only be in trouble if you wanted to do some heavy braking. Towing, mountain driving, etc.

[Bmwtechgeek]

Originally Posted by jiggz

I'm curious how many miles you got out of the pads, I assume they're the original?

Maybe less than 30 000km

[Clifton]

Is the warning for the rear or front pads? And did you say that pad life was 30K Km or 30K Miles?

[Bmwtechgeek]

Originally Posted by Clifton

Is the warning for the rear or front pads? And did you say that pad life was 30K Km or 30K Miles?

Front pads. 30 000 KILOMETRES

[Clifton]

Originally Posted by Bmwtechgeek

Front pads. 30 000 KILOMETRES

WoW!! That's aggressive wear for the fronts. I'm 50/50 City Highway and I'm still on factory pads front & rear @ 38K miles. Rears are closest to replacement and are showing due in 7K miles.

Given the burn rate, I would definitely put replacement high on the list and ASAP.

Depending on the wheel and brake combination, you can actually peek in at the pads. I use the backing plate as a quick visual gauge. Example below:

Compare pad material to backing plate, if:

• greater than - good
• equal to - time to think about replacement
• Less than - critical / borrowed time

[Bmwtechgeek]

Just checked the computer and its the rear pads that hit the sensor. The fronts still have a lot of meat on them. Im assuming most of the brake force happens up fromt?

[Clifton]

Originally Posted by Bmwtechgeek

Just checked the computer and its the rear pads that hit the sensor. The fronts still have a lot of meat on them. Im assuming most of the brake force happens up fromt?

Yes the fronts do most of the braking power, but the rears wear faster because they have additional duties like traction control, hill brake hold etc.

It's odd to me too, but I've owned two of the F15 X5s and rears are the first to go. Usually it's the other way around on most cars i.e., 2x front pads to 1x rear pads.

[Kkgy79]

Originally Posted by jiggz

I'm curious how many miles you got out of the pads, I assume they're the original?

Already 120k miles. Still show up 12k miles left.