Do u gotta lot 'a Brake Dust too?

[dougb]

I'm just full of question....

So, I've got just a few more than 1200 miles on my MINI S in about ten days of ownership.

I washed it last weekend, and noticed a fair amount of brake dust on the wheels. Took me longer to clean the brake dust from the wheels than to hand wash the rest of the car.

Three days later, and the brake dust is back. I've owened several cars, never had one build up this much dust so quickly.

Is this common?
Does MINI use a brake pad that tends to create a lot of dust?

I read in the owners manual, or somewhere, that MINI recommends new brake pads at between 20 and 30k miles. I thought this was ridiculous at first, now I'm starting to think otherwise.

All of my other vehicles go in excess of 60k before needing pads. I've got a F250 with 72k and a Toyota van with 80k miles, and the brakes are still really good.

[kylej]

Most BMWs and MINIs in general seem to be like this. It's the type of pads they are using across the line that seem to make a lot of brake dust.

It "should" get better. However, I'm at almost 5000 miles and every week the amount that gets on my front wheels has not decreased a lot from what I can tell. The wheels just need to be scrubbed every now and then.

I'm going to try and get some wheel wax or protectant soon, as it is a bit aggravating.

[miniguru]

This is normal. BMW and MINI use pretty soft pads, they have really good bite and that helps decrease their stopping distance.
If you really want to decrease the dust you'll need to replace the pads with some low dust pads. I sell alot of the EBC's and have good luck with them.
www.waymotorworks.com/product.php?productid=16285&cat=365&page=1

Otherwise waxing your wheels will make them easier to clean.

The lowest mileage car I ever replaced the pads with EBC's was 40miles, the guy pretty much drove from the dealer to the shop to get them.

[joshuatree]

I'm at about 30k on my 04 and I am starting to hear that old familiar "metal on metal" brake sound, occasionally. It has not been constant but it is a big concern. I spoke with a service tech at D&R MINI and he said the brakes should be fine but, would be more than happy to schedule an appointment for me. (Especially since I'm now out of warranty!) I'm thinking I am going to have to get some of the EBCs.

[minidiver]

I have the EBC Green Stuff pads on the front of Taz and I had Way put them on the rear of Seymour. They seem to have a good even bite, cold or hot, with a lot less dust than stock.

[glmini]

Aug 11, 2008 12:47:57 GMT -5 joshuatree said:

I'm at about 30k on my 04 and I am starting to hear that old familiar "metal on metal" brake sound, occasionally. It has not been constant but it is a big concern. I spoke with a service tech at D&R MINI and he said the brakes should be fine but, would be more than happy to schedule an appointment for me. (Especially since I'm now out of warranty!) I'm thinking I am going to have to get some of the EBCs.

I do not have the EBC's, but have only heard good things about them. You can check with Way on purchase and/or installation.

[deucecoupe]

I don't have the EBC pads yet, gonna wear out my starting pads first, but have also heard great things. I'm just over 30k and the best experience I had with longevity of low brake dust was a combination of Maguire's NXT liquid wax and after that a coating of Michelin Brake dust repellant...by themselves they only do an ok job and help cleaning up next time around go faster but together the wheels stayed dust free for over a week. Now this JUST happened to me so i'll have to give it another try to see if I can duplicate the results.