[dvaz]

I was wondering whats the consensus on brake pads replacement.

Do you guys just do it when using the iDrive estimation ( i guess its mileage based? ) or just wait till the sensor trips.

I am doing them myself regardless, just buying the OEM kit.

[najnad]

wait

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by dvaz

I was wondering whats the consensus on brake pads replacement.

Do you guys just do it when using the iDrive estimation ( i guess its mileage based? ) or just wait till the sensor trips.

I am doing them myself regardless, just buying the OEM kit.

I watch iDrive but view it as an uneducated forecast because it really isn't tuned in to real pad thickness and I also measure the pad thickness but never wait for the pad wear sensor to activate. Why? Cause inevitably it will trigger at the most inopportune time and I won't get the job done in time. I don't always replace a rotor along with the pads, it depends on wear but I don't want to get caught in a situation where my stopping power is diminished because I waited to the last minute or I scored by rotors when it could have been prevented.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it

[pungo]

The idrive is suggestion is calculated using mileage, driver brake habits and some other voodoo, then guesses how many miles. As Marty mentioned, go by actual pad thickness. Are you doing rears, cause if you didn't know, there's a special procedure to retract the electronic parking brake.

[tracer bullet]

Do it when your pads get thin, like < 3mm left. Well that's my preference anyhow, meaning there's something like 20 - 25% left before they start grinding.

Measure the distance between the backing plate and the rotor itself = pad thickness. Look down between the wheels spokes.

[Hornet_Rider]

Make sure you reset the iDrive before it gets to red . Otherwise it won't be resettable until you change the brake sensor... I learned this many years ago when I changed them the first time. Not sure exactly what logic it has but I read others that had the same issue.

So if you want to delay the change and not always have the warning when you start the car, you may want to do it.

[dvaz]

Originally Posted by pungo

The idrive is suggestion is calculated using mileage, driver brake habits and some other voodoo, then guesses how many miles. As Marty mentioned, go by actual pad thickness. Are you doing rears, cause if you didn't know, there's a special procedure to retract the electronic parking brake.

Doing the fronts.

Didn't know about the rear, ill have to dig around to find out more. I am guessing is just mechanical and won't need to plug in a laptop with ISTA+?

[richardodn]

As the warning is just an educated guess, what you should do is to inspect the pads front and back by taking a wheel off each axle. As you are DIYing it, it's also a good time to order the parts and plan for a opportune time to do it.

Also, the rear parking brakes can be retracted mechanically. The procedure is to unbolt the electric actuator and then use a T45 bit to retract it.

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by dvaz

Doing the fronts.

Didn't know about the rear, ill have to dig around to find out more. I am guessing is just mechanical and won't need to plug in a laptop with ISTA+?

richardodn is correct, you cannot simply manually compress the piston back to it home position because its connected to your ebrake motor so you have to either command the motor to retract the piston via a software tool or app or manually rotate it back. Here's a video where you can see how easy it is. Screw up though and you'll break something so just take your time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljq4ATPorXM

[deeLow]

Pretty easy to jump out the sensors too, incase anyone was wondering. Simply cut the sensor end off and put the 2 wires together.

[383vett]

Originally Posted by Hornet_Rider

Make sure you reset the iDrive before it gets to red . Otherwise it won't be resettable until you change the brake sensor... I learned this many years ago when I changed them the first time. Not sure exactly what logic it has but I read others that had the same issue.

So if you want to delay the change and not always have the warning when you start the car, you may want to do it.

It get red when the sensor contacts the rotor. When this happens the contact within the sensor is broken and needs to be replaced. The light will not go off without sensor replacement.

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by deeLow

Pretty easy to jump out the sensors too, incase anyone was wondering. Simply cut the sensor end off and put the 2 wires together.

Why would you want to do this?

[pungo]

Originally Posted by deeLow

Pretty easy to jump out the sensors too, incase anyone was wondering. Simply cut the sensor end off and put the 2 wires together.

Originally Posted by Marty in NY

Why would you want to do this?

The sensors are there for people that are not intimate with their vehicles .
I've never worn my pads down so low it tripped the sensor. I've also never replaced a sensor on any of my vehicles for the same reason. So for me, the sensors no nothing, if I didn't have them or the wires were twisted together, it really doesn't matter. Though I always reinstall them when changing pads just because they're there.

[383vett]

Originally Posted by Marty in NY

Why would you want to do this?

Only if an owner is about to sell a vehicle with worn pads.

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by pungo

The sensors are there for people that are not intimate with their vehicles .
I've never worn my pads down so low it tripped the sensor. I've also never replaced a sensor on any of my vehicles for the same reason. So for me, the sensors no nothing, if I didn't have them or the wires were twisted together, it really doesn't matter. Though I always reinstall them when changing pads just because they're there.

The pad wear sensor, by default, was a good idea but in practice it only serves as a reminder to check the pads. That in itself is not a bad idea as I can remember having pads, when they were riveted to their backing, scrape the rotor because I was too lazy, busy, uninterested, uneducated, etc, etc, to care. However, I don't suppose I was unlike the general population so maybe that led to the invention of sensors, dunno.
Like you said, you never had to replace one and if you pay attention to their reminders and your car, you probably will never need to but for the general population, I guess they are an ok thing. Like anything else though, I bet there are several people like 383vett mentioned that use them in a negative way

[deeLow]

Originally Posted by 383vett

Only if an owner is about to sell a vehicle with worn pads.

Not true. I'd much rather cut the sensor off and go the old school way of checking the brakes. Did it on both my 335i's.

Why would I replace the pads with 20-25% left because the car is telling me to do it now when I can still go at minimum a few more months?

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by deeLow

Not true. I'd much rather cut the sensor off and go the old school way of checking the brakes. Did it on both my 335i's.

Why would I replace the pads with 20-25% left because the car is telling me to do it now when I can still go at minimum a few more months?

When the sensor triggers an alert, it is not telling you to replace the pads. It is simply reminding you to check them yourself. There is no reason to cut the sensor off unless you are thinking about doing some unethical. Even if a sensor failed, they are so cheap to replace. Sorry, I don't get it.

[dvaz]

Originally Posted by Marty in NY

richardodn is correct, you cannot simply manually compress the piston back to it home position because its connected to your ebrake motor so you have to either command the motor to retract the piston via a software tool or app or manually rotate it back. Here's a video where you can see how easy it is. Screw up though and you'll break something so just take your time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljq4ATPorXM

Sounds simple enough. It seems like if using ISTA software, I don't have to remove the motor to manually retract it.

[pungo]

Originally Posted by dvaz

Sounds simple enough. It seems like if using ISTA software, I don't have to remove the motor to manually retract it.

Yup, work smart by use software to retract the e-brake, don't mess with unnecessarily unbolting it.

[Wgosma]

I don't have ITSA, it's pretty simple to disassemble the caliper and manually turn e-brake drive screw. Been there, done that. More work , yeah, but pretty minimal.

[kevink1]

My iDrive has been telling me I have between 3100 and 3900 miles to go on my brakes about 2 1/2 years now. Goes up on long enough road trips, down during city driving. I had them last checked last year when I got new tires, and I figured I had at least 20-30,000 miles remaining.

[nakamuru]

Originally Posted by Hornet_Rider

Make sure you reset the iDrive before it gets to red . Otherwise it won't be resettable until you change the brake sensor... I learned this many years ago when I changed them the first time. Not sure exactly what logic it has but I read others that had the same issue.

So if you want to delay the change and not always have the warning when you start the car, you may want to do it.

how do you reset it before it gets to red.. the idrive i mean that shows brake warning etc