Brake Pads
Posted Tue Aug 8, 2006 in
Automotive
Yesterday was a pretty busy day, all in all. I rose and worked through the morning email. (There was quite a bit.) Then, Wife and I dropped DiL at the B&N where she works and headed for a bite for breakfast at the Denny’s on the south side of town. I noticed an annunciator on the BMW’s dash, so Wife retrieved “The Book” (the owner’s manual) and we looked it up.
The brake-pad warning annunciator was lit. The Bimmer has about 36,000 miles on the clock. Different vehicles (and different brake pads) can go a variety of miles between pad replacements. I have no experience with BMW automobiles, so I didn’t know what to think.
We went to breakfast. The greeter gave us our choice of seats. I took a table where I could see the entrance and cash register. That’s standard procedure. We’ve interacted with this man for many years. He used to have a ponytail, but cut it about a year or so ago. “Too many choices?” he asked.
“Nope. We’ll take this one.”
Wife and I chatted while our food was prepared. We watched as other patrons were brought to the dining room and offered their choice of seating. Some people don’t know what to do with the decision. They’re so used to being told where to sit they don’t know what to do when offered the choice. That’s an interesting bit of psychology.
Breakfast was good and the coffee was great. We paid our bill and went to the car. I called the BMW dealer and left a message for the service writer. He returned my call just after we arrived home and I made arrangements to drop the car for an inspection or repair.
By this time, more email accumulated, so I dealt with that. Wife and I laughed when we learned that DiL wasn’t scheduled for work until 1200—she went in at 0900. I’ll have to tease her about being blonde.
The afternoon was nondescript—a mix of working on the immediate and urgent. My phone buzzed about 1700 and the car was finished. It needed new brake pads and they flushed the brake hydraulic fluid—something I do every year or two with my motorcycle. They also replaced the wiper blades.
Wife and I drove to the dealership. We purchased a maintenance contract on the vehicle that carries us through 2009. The price was pretty steep, but not that bad. The bottom line on the invoice was zero. Yup, we got away with zero additional dollars invested. I’m not sure how much a BMW pad-replacement job costs, but I’ll bet it was between $200 and $300. The fluid renewal would have added another $100 to that, by my estimation.
I’ve had an oil change, a service inspection, and now a brake job done under the maintenance contract. I estimate we’ve spent half the cost of the maintenance contract after about 1-1/2 years of ownership. I think we’ll come out ahead.
We also have a BMW-certified vehicle with a warranty through 2009. We’ve already had a rear lamp and socket replacement done under that program.
I think that purchasing a dealer-certified vehicle and a maintenance contract is a good use of funds. We might have paid a little more for the car (perhaps $1K) and the maintenance contract cost about $1.5K, but the availability of rapid, dealer-based repairs (and corporate-trained technicians) is valuable. BMW has some pretty smart folks working for them. They’ve kept our business in the company and built a significant amount of customer loyalty through their excellent warranty and maintenance programs.
I asked the service writer “How many miles between pad replacement?”
“It all depends. My record is 7,200 miles. But, most vehicles go between 35K and 40K miles between pad renewals.”
I don’t know how the vehicle was driven for the first 11K miles—it was a dealership vehicle. I don’t ride the brakes, but we do a significant amount of in-town driving. We’ll see how we do over the next interval. Some vehicles go further between pad renewals. BMW may use relatively soft pads for improved braking and less pad noise. We’ll see.
Most drivers average about 30 to 50 K on a set of brakes. I had to replace the front brake pads on my girlfriend’s car at 30K miles. I think my brake pads last a great deal longer because I do so much highway driving. My F150 has 92K miles and I have never replaced the pads. I usually replace the pads when they hit the 20% threshold on thickness.
BTW..I just bought my first German car. I purchased a new Volkswagen Jetta TDI. The car is rock solid as far as handling and safety. The Germans really know how to design and build a car to be “driven.” I found a couple of really informative websites that specialize in maintenance and driving tips for my VW. I’ll bet that similar sites are out there for your BMW.
We’ll see how the brakes on my VW hold up. So far, I am thoroughly impressed with the car.
— rivercanoe_71 17 August 2006, 18:24 #WTG on the new wheels! I’m so excited for you. I’ll bet you have a blast and you now have a very safe and well-engineered vehicle.
Congrats and kudos!
— ruminator 17 August 2006, 18:56 #