Rear brakes at 27K miles... really??

[ixlr8]

I took my 2016 X5 in for service with 25K miles on it. At 26K miles I started getting warning message to have my rear brakes checked at 27K miles. Now at 27.4K miles I have a warning that my rear brake pads need changing. If the rear brakes need changing every 27K miles, I wish the dealer would have checked them at the 25K service, especially since it is a 3 hr drive to go to the nearest dealer. Does the X5 really go thru rear brake pads every 27K miles??? My VW has 298K miles on it and I have only needed change the rear pads once. Most cars I have had the front pads wear out LONG before the rear pads do.

[turboawd]

Weird. Are you a two footed driver? Riding the brake?

[ixlr8]

Originally Posted by turboawd

Weird. Are you a two footed driver? Riding the brake?

I am a one footed driver, been accused of driving like a little old lady. I don't drive it like it is a sports car, I have other cars for that. Looking at the pads... they look fine which is why I am not rushing off to the dealer. I was just surprised that I was getting warnings at 27K miles to check the pads.

[Wavy]

Maybe a bad sensor?

[mpowered5]

When I bought my 15' x5 35d in January it had 23,000km not miles On it And the rear brakes and been replaced already by BMW before I picked it up.

A friend of mine who worked at bmw told me; when the auto sensing wipers are on, the rear brakes drag slightly to keep the rotors dry. Whether this is only when it is raining or not. I'm not sure, nor do I have any hard evidence to back this up. But if it is. It could be part of the reason for the early brake replacements.

[Russmov]

Originally Posted by mpowered5

When I bought my 15' x5 35d in January it had 23,000km not miles On it And the rear brakes and been replaced already by BMW before I picked it up.

A friend of mine who worked at bmw told me; when the auto sensing wipers are on, the rear brakes drag slightly to keep the rotors dry. Whether this is only when it is raining or not. I'm not sure, nor do I have any hard evidence to back this up. But if it is. It could be part of the reason for the early brake replacements.

Very interesting. I also had to replace my rears when I had my X4, only had around 40k kilometres I think at the time. I always thought 70% braking front and 30% rear. If you are correct about the rears dragging though, that could explain it. I tend to use my auto wipers a lot.

[yewlock]

Originally Posted by ixlr8

I am a one footed driver, been accused of driving like a little old lady. I don't drive it like it is a sports car, I have other cars for that. Looking at the pads... they look fine which is why I am not rushing off to the dealer. I was just surprised that I was getting warnings at 27K miles to check the pads.

Mine is 20K miles and the Idrive shows need rear brake pads in 3400 miles.

[P1]

Crazy. I owned a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 once, with the Cummins diesel. It had the original brakes until I was way over 100K miles.

[yewlock]

Originally Posted by P1et

Crazy. I owned a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 once, with the Cummins diesel. It had the original brakes until I was way over 100K miles.

Yes, it is. This car has high maintenance cost just like my wife.

[Maverik259]

I'm at 33k with no warnings in sight. And I use a lot of brakes accompanied with a lot of gas.

[perry8912]

23k miles, and been driving in stop and go traffic almost everyday, I still have 11mm left on the front brakes and 9mm for rear brakes.

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by perry8912

23k miles, and been driving in stop and go traffic almost everyday, I still have 11mm left on the front brakes and 9mm for rear brakes.

What would be considered low?

[1230vani]

Originally Posted by ixlr8

I took my 2016 X5 in for service with 25K miles on it. At 26K miles I started getting warning message to have my rear brakes checked at 27K miles. Now at 27.4K miles I have a warning that my rear brake pads need changing. If the rear brakes need changing every 27K miles, I wish the dealer would have checked them at the 25K service, especially since it is a 3 hr drive to go to the nearest dealer. Does the X5 really go thru rear brake pads every 27K miles??? My VW has 298K miles on it and I have only needed change the rear pads once. Most cars I have had the front pads wear out LONG before the rear pads do.

Have service manually measure breaks and enter new values in the car. You will extend the "computer says so" life of the brakes! As far as I know there are no automatic sensors on F15 its just values in some algorithm.

[boosted43]

Originally Posted by Maverik259

What would be considered low?

5mm and below means it's time to replace them.

[Kzang]

Idrive indicators are estimates, you have to physically check the brakes to see if the pads need changing. My Idrive mentioned 3100 miles until rear brakes needed changing for the last 6,000 miles. The 3100 miles indicator appears to be the lowest it goes and a recent visit to the dealer resulted in resetting the rear brake pad wear indicator at 6,000 miles.

Also I've read that bmw is using pads that causes little brake dust at a cost of faster wear. My 2013 E70 X5 had brake dust build up after just a few miles and in my F15 it's hardly noticeable.

[perry8912]

Originally Posted by Maverik259

What would be considered low?

Dealership won’t change your brakes until they hit 3mm mark. New brakes is about 12mm thickness.

[CatalinP]

Originally Posted by 1230vani

As far as I know there are no automatic sensors on F15 its just values in some algorithm.

Yes, there are sensors, one on each axle. You can see for yourself on realoem.com

[1230vani]

Originally Posted by CatalinP

Yes, there are sensors, one on each axle. You can see for yourself on realoem.com

Ah ok, well then... they measured mine manually and then entered new values in idrive (or whatever), added 20k (km) on my old F15 (2014)

[DuSh]

Those "sensors" are just 2 wires that will short the circuit as soon as pads wear down enough (<3.7mm) https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f...ion/1VnXcAI1To

They are not intelligent eye sensing x-ray technology that can see or scan and know your pads life. BMW (as many others) uses simple algorithm to predict pads life, but (like many others) it greatly underestimates pads life to stay on VERY conservative side to avoid risky situations and hence lawsuits etc.
Usually techs just reset pads life counter during next visit. That's all there is. Visual check (and manual pad thickness measurement with calipers if you anal about it) is always #1 method. If pads are good - just forget about silly maintenance reminders. Why the techs at BMW didn't think about resetting this when you were there last time? Well, human factor as always and welcome to real life. I have yet to see a single dealership that does everything by the book (including other brands). I don't think they exist.

You can even reset them yourself if they annoy you:

[CatalinP]

The sensors will short circuit only at the last stage. As they wear down, the internal electrical resistance modifies, so there is an indication even before the last warning.

Resetting will not help, the warning will soon pop up again. It's a common issue when people replace the brake pads without replacing the sensors.

[ixlr8]

Following up on my post, I finally got my X5 into the dealer. They said the rear inside pads were worn out and the rotors were damaged on the inside and needed to be replaced as well. The outside pads were fine as were the front pads/rotors. I was surprised that pads and rotors were worn out at 27K miles, the mechanic gave two reasons for the early pad failure.
- Pads in these vehicles are softer to prevent squealing.
- Rotor material is more porous than they used to be, absorb more water and rust more.
My X5 sometimes sits for 2-3 weeks at a time as it is not my daily driver. The mechanic believes that morning condensate gets on the rotors, on both sides. Then the outside of the rotors gets more air flow, dry out faster and rust less. He said he has seen rotors that have appeared "to rust out from the inside" and he blames the very porous material the rotors are made of.
Rear pad/rotor and brake fluid change would have cost me $1350 if the car was not under warranty.

[Maverik259]

Originally Posted by ixlr8

Following up on my post, I finally got my X5 into the dealer. They said the rear inside pads were worn out and the rotors were damaged on the inside and needed to be replaced as well. The outside pads were fine as were the front pads/rotors. I was surprised that pads and rotors were worn out at 27K miles, the mechanic gave two reasons for the early pad failure.
- Pads in these vehicles are softer to prevent squealing.
- Rotor material is more porous than they used to be, absorb more water and rust more.
My X5 sometimes sits for 2-3 weeks at a time as it is not my daily driver. The mechanic believes that morning condensate gets on the rotors, on both sides. Then the outside of the rotors gets more air flow, dry out faster and rust less. He said he has seen rotors that have appeared "to rust out from the inside" and he blames the very porous material the rotors are made of.
Rear pad/rotor and brake fluid change would have cost me $1350 if the car was not under warranty.

Warranty? Or maintenance? Either way you're lucky although I've never heard of this before