[Cnd Pharaoh]

I have a 2013-28i, I bought it used 2 years ago, it had 60,000 km on it, at the time the brakes service indicator was showing 70,000 km till next service needed for the brakes both front and rear.

in January 2019, I had the brakes inspected by my local BMW mechanic and the rear brakes were close to end so I got them changed, the fronts were good.

I noticed that until now, both front and rear brakes are still showing next service required after 70,000 km, the car has 86,000 km on it!

I went to the dealer yesterday and the service advisor mentioned it might be a faulty sensor, which I find a bit odd that both front and rear sensors go faulty at the same time!

could it be and issue with car software system?

anyone had this issue before?

[Wgosma]

Maybe sensor but I think more likely in the iDrive software; brake sensor is basically go/no-go device - when pads are worn enough to physically break the electrical connection (sensor plastic housing worn thru) that triggers software to begin countdown and after X miles dash displays warning along with iDrive to alert you to drive cautiously/inspect pads.

[Opie55]

I think there is a lot of confusion on this issue. Here is what I think is correct, but am willing to be proven incorrect. There are two separate brake wear indicator systems. The one in iDrive that says you need to replace them in another 20,000 miles or whatever is a totally "dumb" system. It is not monitoring brake pad wear in any way. It is just going by rough estimates. You can reset it to zero when you get new pads by using that little button on the lower left of your cluster. But you can also reset it to zero by not putting in new pads. You could replace your pads with wood or wheat toast and still reset it.

The second system is the actual wear sensor that is mounted on the inner pad on the front left and right rear. That triggers an actual brake warning message when it finally contacts the rotor - which happens when the pads have about 3mm left.

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by Cnd Pharaoh

I have a 2013-28i, I bought it used 2 years ago, it had 60,000 km on it, at the time the brakes service indicator was showing 70,000 km till next service needed for the brakes both front and rear.

in January 2019, I had the brakes inspected by my local BMW mechanic and the rear brakes were close to end so I got them changed, the fronts were good.

I noticed that until now, both front and rear brakes are still showing next service required after 70,000 km, the car has 86,000 km on it!

I went to the dealer yesterday and the service advisor mentioned it might be a faulty sensor, which I find a bit odd that both front and rear sensors go faulty at the same time!

could it be and issue with car software system?

anyone had this issue before?

And I also think you may be confusing two things. The iDrive message about brake pads - at least in the US - is a countdown of miles or Kms until new pads are required, which is not related to how many miles or Kms are on the car. And it is not unusual for the counter on the "dumb" system to say the same thing for a long time. And if not reset it can be totally wrong. On my 650, it says I need new pads in 3,000 miles. They are almost new. I don't care because I don't rely on either system. I look at my brake pads with my eyeballs.

[Cnd Pharaoh]

thanks for the feedback, so if I'm understanding correctly, the iDrive service km counter/estimator is not reliable at all, and not depending on how many km the car has done, so forget it completely and better rely on the wear sensor and the visual inspection of the brake pads.

thanks for informing me about that guys, much appreciated.

[EricD735i]

I thought the iDrive monitor was for flushing the fluid, not pads.

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by EricD735i

I thought the iDrive monitor was for flushing the fluid, not pads.

It's both. It tells you when you need to flush brake fluid - which is 2 years from the last flush (but you have to reset it or it will not know), and it separately tells you miles until you need front and rear pads. I just did my X3 pads about 4 days ago. After reset it says the rears are good for about 2,000 fewer miles than the front.

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by Cnd Pharaoh

thanks for the feedback, so if I'm understanding correctly, the iDrive service km counter/estimator is not reliable at all, and not depending on how many km the car has done, so forget it completely and better rely on the wear sensor and the visual inspection of the brake pads.

thanks for informing me about that guys, much appreciated.

You are correct. I'm sure BMW dealers have replaced a lot of pads early because people came in saying their iDrive system says it's time. However, I urge you to rely on the visual inspection and not so much the wear sensor. The wear sensor means you need new pads fairly soon, and you will get an annoying message on you cluster. That may be inconvenient if you are on a cross-country trip. Relying only on the wear sensor would be kind of like if your car had no fuel gauge, but only had the low fuel warning. You would not know anything until you were nearly empty.

[Hornet_Rider]

From my experience, if you have the yellow warning for pads when you start the car and you do a visual inspection and they are fine, you want to reset the iDrive (check YouTube) before you get the warning in red. You won't be able to reset the red warning if you don't change the wear sensor since it checks the resistance and will only reset once it picks up a new sensor. It is also why you get the sensor when you buy brakes for the car in most cases. When mine were due, I installed the new pads and left the old sensor because it looked totally fine. Could not reset the warning. Changed the sensor, and reset with no problem.

[Opie55]

Depends on where you buy pads whether you get sensors. Most don't include them. But a sensor is a simple device and it's either good or bad. Makes sense you cannot reset the warning with a bad sensor because the car still thinks the pads are worn down. But again, what we are talking about resetting is different than the mileage counter the OP is talking about.