Rear Pads low

Cameron1590_2

Hello,

I had a message appear on my dash to say rear brake pads low.

Slightly annoyed as the car had last week been into BMW who marked the rear pads as "green" anyway, I've managed to take a photo of the pads through the alloy wheels. 

I would appreciate if someone could confirm they are low and need to be changed imminently or if this light has been triggered early.

https://ibb.co/yFCTv5L

Thanks 

chrisw

That particular pad looks fine to me but you need to check each pad as the inside ones can wear out without you noticing if there's a sticky calliper. 

I think the BMWs calculate wear using mileage rather than a sensor so it's entirely possible it's triggered early. 

twopenny

I've had brakes go 3 times on me. Pad came loose and stuck the wheel which was a rescue event, bolt dropped off into the well before a steep twisty hill ahead and unable to stop at traffic lights at normal speed which meant a slow drive to the garage.

So I'm leaning towards getting it checked again.

My first thought is to go back to BMW and ask why the light came on when they said it was fine.

Cameron1590_2

Thanks both, I have no issue getting them done just being rather lazy as the local dealer is a 45 mile round trip so was trying to avoid going back unless necessary. 

Will get it booked in and air on the side of caution.  

flashg67

You could get it done elsewhere - is there a local trusted garage/specialist? If it's reasonably recent model, the dealer reads the key and should normally advise anything else showing due shortly - poor service from them IMHO

Grey_Critic

Seems a little strange to me that a week ago it was in the garage and OK and this week not. A visual check needs to be made on BOTH inner and outer pads - Go back and ask the question.

Goudy

I've seen this before on BMW's.
There are brake pad sensors and there is also a brake service countdown based on mileage. (the car thinks it needs attention based on mileage).

Either can trip the brake sensor light but if it's brake service countdown that has tripped the light, it will reset.
If the brake pad sensor has tripped the light because the pads are low, you can't reset the light.

To reset the light (if it will).
Insert the key (or key fob) in the ignition
Move the key to position 2, but don’t start the ignition.
Open the driver’s door and wait for approximately 10 seconds.
After completing the above three steps, the brake pad lights should reset if it's due to the service countdown.