A Question for Car People

bluesky74656

bluesky74656

Line Up and Wait
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Dec 31, 2005
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Brecksville, OH
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Todd Kooser
I drive a 2008 BMW 528i. Just this afternoon the computer told me that the front brake pads were at minimum thickness, which the internet tells me happens at about 3mm.

I've known that it would be due for service for a while, but the first appointment I could get was for this Friday morning. Do you think I could drive it gingerly through the week (~30 - 50 miles per day), drop it off Friday morning and be fine, or should I stop driving it until I take it in on Friday?
 
New pads are on the order of 8mm or so - I wouldn't personally get excited at 3 as long as you don't hear metal to metal (then it's too late for the rotors).
 
The system is designed to warn you in plenty of time; you may drive without guilt.
 
I would say you are going to be ok. Most idiot lights come on LONG before the critical threshhold is met....:yes: :dunno:
 
3mm is still quite a bit of pad left. No need to take it easy, just drive like normal if you're getting new ones friday.
 
I agree with everyone else Todd. On the other hand you could just fly everywhere you need to go:D
 
OkieFlyer said:
3mm is still quite a bit of pad left. No need to take it easy, just drive like normal if you're getting new ones friday.
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I would recommend driving like a mad man to get as much out of them as you can before they are replaced - no point in letting them go to waste.
 
If they are not making noise, keep driving. If you have a nondealer mechanic, he'll probably give you 10k miles to go and a piece of electrical tape to cover the idiot light. A dealer will tell you its mandatory service.
I have mine checked every 7-10k after I reach about 60k on the car but only WHEN the tires are off for rotation anyway. No sense paying them too much extra.
 
Y9ou should be fine. At least until the nannies insist that the computer shut the vehicle down when it detects something like that in a "safety" system... :mad2:
 
wsuffa said:
Y9ou should be fine. At least until the nannies insist that the computer shut the vehicle down when it detects something like that in a "safety" system... :mad2:
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The new BMW diesels already have that...for when they run out of pee! :D
 
bbchien said:
GM cars are like that too. The "mandatory return to pay us" light.
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The scary next step is when some insurance company decides that you're not covered if any idiot light is on... And then dumps your OBDII and other data after every crash "as a precaution".

How they'll get us all to comply is rates. They'll go up for "non-black-box nanny" insurance and stay the same for the "we get your car's crash data to 'protect you from false claims by the other motorist'" variety.
 
denverpilot said:
The scary next step is when some insurance company decides that you're not covered if any idiot light is on... And then dumps your OBDII and other data after every crash "as a precaution".
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Isn't OBDII supposed to be emissions related data, so the idiot light only indicates faults in monitored emissions components??
 
Heck I'm still pi$$ed that cars ding at you if you don't wear your seatbelt. Now they tell you when to change the brakes? Just wait for the squeak. I'm way behind the times I guess. I don't think I've ever even owned a vehicle new enough that the "service engine soon" isn't on.
 
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OkieFlyer said:
Heck I'm still pi$$ed that cars ding at you if you don't wear your seatbelt. Now they tell you when to change the brakes? Just wait for the squeak. I'm way behind the times I guess. I don't think I've ever even owned a vehicle new enough that the "service engine soon" isn't on.
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That is another racket. The Chevy blazer complains if the GAS CAP isn't replaced correctly. Massachusetts will not give you an inspection sticker if ANY dash lights are on that shouldn't be.
Chevy calls the display on some cars a DIC (drivers information center). Somehow, I think it's more what we're getting.
Where's my black electrical tape?
 
silver-eagle said:
That is another racket. The Chevy blazer complains if the GAS CAP isn't replaced correctly. Massachusetts will not give you an inspection sticker if ANY dash lights are on that shouldn't be
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Both of these indicate substandard emissions control. They won't give you a sticker in the most populous Texas counties either.
 
His 2008 should still be under warranty, although I'm not sure about brakes. I thought it was bumper to bumper.
 
Doggtyred said:
Isn't OBDII supposed to be emissions related data, so the idiot light only indicates faults in monitored emissions components??
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Yes. We try to guess when your emissions have increased by a percentage as required by law.

We even have to detect faults that can't happen in real life (or be simulated with real hardware) but are defined in the regulations. :dunno:

silver-eagle said:
That is another racket. The Chevy blazer complains if the GAS CAP isn't replaced correctly.
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By law. Talk to the EPA and California's Air Resources Board if you don't like that one.

The auto companies don't like the light turning on any more than you do. Really.

Everyone involved gets a black mark on their performance review if the light turns on too much in the field for some particular code.
 
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It's not still under warranty, at least not the "We'll even change the oil for free" warranty. I had the appointment scheduled mainly to switch out my winter / summer tires, and have them take a look at the brakes.

What really gets me, though, is that this situation causes the car to illuminate a warning light and display a message on the screen. In the fall I lost a Tire Pressure Monitoring sensor. It put up the Big Important Warning Light in the dash, so that I couldn't see the clock, took up the bottom of the main display (also obscuring the clock), and dinged at me constantly with no way to shut it up. For a Tire Pressure Monitoring sensor! I can see my tires are fine, thank you very much!
 
Todd...have you ever had BMW brakes replaced? If not, get ready to be floored at the cost! We just dumped the wife's 5-series BMW for an Infiniti. I got tired of the "it is a German vehicle" spiel whenever I questioned the cost of something (at an independent mechanic, not the stearlership).
 
tdager said:
Todd...have you ever had BMW brakes replaced? If not, get ready to be floored at the cost! We just dumped the wife's 5-series BMW for an Infiniti. I got tired of the "it is a German vehicle" spiel whenever I questioned the cost of something (at an independent mechanic, not the stearlership).
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Oy vey - same thing applies to Infiniti / Lexus / whatever.

Substitute "complex" for "German," and you've got the standard spiel.

My sister has Dear Departed Dad's Infiniti (a Q45), and the cost to have someone sniff at it is breathtaking. Independent shops don't do any of the more complex stuff ("...you have to have the factory training and diagnostic tools..."), and dealers basically say, "...it's a grand and up before we'll soil our pretty little jumpsuits and look at your car."

So don't think you're getting away from that - just deferring it with a new period of factory warranty.
 
bluesky74656 said:
It's not still under warranty, at least not the "We'll even change the oil for free" warranty. I had the appointment scheduled mainly to switch out my winter / summer tires, and have them take a look at the brakes.

What really gets me, though, is that this situation causes the car to illuminate a warning light and display a message on the screen. In the fall I lost a Tire Pressure Monitoring sensor. It put up the Big Important Warning Light in the dash, so that I couldn't see the clock, took up the bottom of the main display (also obscuring the clock), and dinged at me constantly with no way to shut it up. For a Tire Pressure Monitoring sensor! I can see my tires are fine, thank you very much!
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You must put a lot of miles on your car. I have a 2008 with 27K miles on it.
 
tdager said:
Todd...have you ever had BMW brakes replaced? If not, get ready to be floored at the cost! We just dumped the wife's 5-series BMW for an Infiniti. I got tired of the "it is a German vehicle" spiel whenever I questioned the cost of something (at an independent mechanic, not the stearlership).
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Your pads will be no more than $60 an axle unless you have some super exotic ceramic/carbon brakes, more like $30 or less for most cars. Changing brake pads on disc brakes takes no more than 15 minutes per wheel. Most likely unless your car was shaking when stopping, you don't need to turn the rotors.
 
Henning said:
Not oil pressure, those are usually around 2-3psi.
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I will argue that "most" low oil pressure sensors are in the 10 -12 Psi range. Car companies use higher values on those to keep warranty claims down. :lol::lol::yes:................. IMHO..:dunno:

Ben.
 
denverpilot said:
The scary next step is when some insurance company decides that you're not covered if any idiot light is on... And then dumps your OBDII and other data after every crash "as a precaution".

How they'll get us all to comply is rates. They'll go up for "non-black-box nanny" insurance and stay the same for the "we get your car's crash data to 'protect you from false claims by the other motorist'" variety.
Click to expand...

I heard a Progressive(?) ad on the radio about something similar to this. They put some kind of a reader in your car and you can qualify for a lower rate. I don't remember all of the details.
 
SCCutler said:
Oy vey - same thing applies to Infiniti / Lexus / whatever.

Substitute "complex" for "German," and you've got the standard spiel.

My sister has Dear Departed Dad's Infiniti (a Q45), and the cost to have someone sniff at it is breathtaking. Independent shops don't do any of the more complex stuff ("...you have to have the factory training and diagnostic tools..."), and dealers basically say, "...it's a grand and up before we'll soil our pretty little jumpsuits and look at your car."

So don't think you're getting away from that - just deferring it with a new period of factory warranty.
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And we complain about the cost of aircraft maintenance? I'll keep my Jeep, thank you very much.
 
Standard BMW service is to replace pads and rotors as a set. BMW does not recommend turning the rotors, and IIRC for this reason they do not publish a spec for minimum rotor thickness.

That said, I have 110k on my E60 and about 9mos ago (recently) replaced my brakes with aftermarket from Bavauto.com (the jury is still out on if I'm happy with the front [cool carbon] pads). However, I saved quite a bit. I've heard some OEMs charging $900 bux for parts/labor (f+r). I probably spent ~$600 f+r.

With that said, even if you're scraping metal, you're going to replace the rotors anyway- just drink the Kool-Aid. But I suspect you're not scraping metal-metal. Ensure that you have sufficient stopping power and also while you're at it, get the fluid flushed. Makes a world of difference (I went aftermarket here too- APE Blue fluid.)
 
tdager said:
Todd...have you ever had BMW brakes replaced? If not, get ready to be floored at the cost! We just dumped the wife's 5-series BMW for an Infiniti. I got tired of the "it is a German vehicle" spiel whenever I questioned the cost of something (at an independent mechanic, not the stearlership).
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Plus, it was fugly. :rofl:
 
Doggtyred said:
Isn't OBDII supposed to be emissions related data, so the idiot light only indicates faults in monitored emissions components??
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Oh heck no. It doesn't cover things like the power window positions (yet), but it keeps track of all sorts of sensors and systems, including braking systems and transmission stuff too.
 
Change them yourself and save the money for flying. You need to get weird 16 and 18 mm sockets and a pad spreader. Many sources for BMW pads, rotors and the sensors on the internet. The warning should reset itself when you put the new sensors in.
Pads, sensors and rotors will be about $300. Probably 4X this to have a dealer do it.

(Although I also think this should be under the BMW warranty for a 2008. In that case, let them do it.)
 
Lance F said:
Change them yourself and save the money for flying. You need to get weird 16 and 18 mm sockets and a pad spreader. Many sources for BMW pads, rotors and the sensors on the internet. The warning should reset itself when you put the new sensors in.
Pads, sensors and rotors will be about $300. Probably 4X this to have a dealer do it.

(Although I also think this should be under the BMW warranty for a 2008. In that case, let them do it.)
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After I obtained the service procedure, I decided not the do it myself...and this is after years of doing brakes on all of my previous Japanese and American vehicles. I have YET to even change the oil on my Bimmer...too many specialty tools req'd.

The service warranty period is 4yrs/50,000 miles (whichever is first) or 6yr/100k if you purchased the extended and is extensive enough to even cover wiper blades.

However, I'd recommend finding and developing a relationship with an independent shop. There may come a time when that relationship will be important to you.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
New pads are on the order of 8mm or so - I wouldn't personally get excited at 3 as long as you don't hear metal to metal (then it's too late for the rotors).
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IME it's too late for the rotors even if there's no metal to metal contact. These days it seems that most cars (at least most "performance" cars) have rotors designed to wear beyond limits by the time one set of pads wear out. I don't know if this is primarily to save unsprung weight or just to provide a post-sale revenue stream.
 
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