Brake Pads and MOT

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Steve_R1979 said:
Before anyone jumps ANY further down my throat.....

1) 4-5mm of pad left. I don't think its life threatening at the moment, but they will be done in the next couple of weeks. I'm not reckless enough to let her run it down to the backing.

2) Its a Mini Cooper S JCW. They are currently replacing the gearbox, a job that they would have charged us for had I changed the pads last week and screwed the warranty, hence my concern about screwing up the warranty pre MOT.

3) I am MORE than up to the job.

4) Pads alone are 180, plus fitting. If I take it anywhere else but BMW the warranty is void. As you can appreciate I can change them myself, saving the fitting, and at BMW rates, thats a lot of money to be saved. I'm just trying to get things order and find what my limitations are.

4) Cold day in hell when I let kwik **** near it. The pads are special order anyway, as the car has the big brake set up on it.

Thanks for the advice gents.......I do appreciate what your saying, I'm not going to let them get dangerously low, and there is enough pad on them to last her through the MOT, which is at most a week away!!

Steve
Click to expand...

1) you didn't say this. You merely stated that the warning light was on. This implied that you a)hadn't checked the pads, b) didn't have the wherewithal to check them. If you had stated "warning light is on, I've checked them and they still have 4-5mm on" you would have got a different response.

2) Changing the brake pads yourself could not possibly have affected the warranty issue with the gearbox. Trading Standards would have had a field day as they are totally unrelated.

3) Only you can be the judge. As per point 1, your initial post didn't lend itself to believing you had vast amounts of experience.

4)You do not have to have the car serviced and maintained by the supplying or manufacturing dealer. Googling European Block Exemption Regulation (bit of a mouthful I know) yields this from wiki:

"Prior to 2003 automobile owners in the EU region risk nullifying their vehicle warranty when the vehicles were serviced or repaired in workshops not belonging to the vehicle manufacturer or its dealers. This barrier was broken in October 2003, when the European Commission (EC) passed a law allowing vehicle owners the freedom of having their servicing and repairs done at their chosen workshop.
According to the UK Department of Business Education & Skills, the empowerment created by this law provides competition in the automobile industry as vehicle owners now have the opportunity to repair and service their vehicle at alternative workshops to the automobile manufacturers. BER provides automobile users the flexibility and benefit to reduce the amount spent on servicing, thereby providing consumers more choice and better value for money."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_Exemption_Regulation_(EU)

Essentially, you have the freedom to have your vehicle serviced and repaired where you see fit without affecting your warranty, as long as the garage carrying out the works demonstrate oem quality parts and that they are competent. In the UK, being VAT registered is usually seen that the garage is bona fide, and I know of two instances where this has been accepted (one vauxhall, and one renault)

In this section, you mention your limitations, which would imply again that you do not feel totally comfortable with doing the job yourself, which is at odds to your point 3.

Finally, point 5 (although you numbered it 4 again), at least we agree on something about kwik ****.

good luck.
 
Last edited:
If it was a new car then the above is correct.

This is an approved used warranty and I don't think the eu law applies.

I didn't give any more info because I didn't think it was relevant!!!

I only wanted to know of the brake pad warning light was an MOT fail!!!!
 
Steve_R1979 said:
Before anyone jumps ANY further down my throat.....


4) Pads alone are 180, plus fitting. If I take it anywhere else but BMW the warranty is void. As you can appreciate I can change them myself, saving the fitting, and at BMW rates, thats a lot of money to be saved. I'm just trying to get things order and find what my limitations are.



Steve
Click to expand...

Ergh your wrong there chap, BMW cannot insist you use an authorised dealer. They can ask, but they cannot force you.

Its again EU legislation that allows independant garages the right to work on any vehicle and the consumer the right to choose who works on there car. Provided its a competant mechanic and you keep records showing genuine parts were used they cannot refuse a warranty claim.

They'd stand even less chance of refusing a warranty based on an unrelated item - especially a consumable product.
 
Optimus Prime said:
1) you didn't say this. You merely stated that the warning light was on. This implied that you a)hadn't checked the pads, b) didn't have the wherewithal to check them. If you had stated "warning light is on, I've checked them and they still have 4-5mm on" you would have got a different response.

2) Changing the brake pads yourself could not possibly have affected the warranty issue with the gearbox. Trading Standards would have had a field day as they are totally unrelated.

3) Only you can be the judge. As per point 1, your initial post didn't lend itself to believing you had vast amounts of experience.

4)You do not have to have the car serviced and maintained by the supplying or manufacturing dealer. Googling European Block Exemption Regulation (bit of a mouthful I know) yields this from wiki:

"Prior to 2003 automobile owners in the EU region risk nullifying their vehicle warranty when the vehicles were serviced or repaired in workshops not belonging to the vehicle manufacturer or its dealers. This barrier was broken in October 2003, when the European Commission (EC) passed a law allowing vehicle owners the freedom of having their servicing and repairs done at their chosen workshop.
According to the UK Department of Business Education & Skills, the empowerment created by this law provides competition in the automobile industry as vehicle owners now have the opportunity to repair and service their vehicle at alternative workshops to the automobile manufacturers. BER provides automobile users the flexibility and benefit to reduce the amount spent on servicing, thereby providing consumers more choice and better value for money."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_Exemption_Regulation_(EU)

Essentially, you have the freedom to have your vehicle serviced and repaired where you see fit without affecting your warranty, as long as the garage carrying out the works demonstrate oem quality parts and that they are competent. In the UK, being VAT registered is usually seen that the garage is bona fide, and I know of two instances where this has been accepted (one vauxhall, and one renault)

In this section, you mention your limitations, which would imply again that you do not feel totally comfortable with doing the job yourself, which is at odds to your point 3.

Finally, point 5 (although you numbered it 4 again), at least we agree on something about kwik ****.

good luck.
Click to expand...


/\ /\ /\ Agree with all of this, BMW are bull****ting you by saying you have to go with them, it boils my **** that dealers do this, I have even had them tell me this when I 'enquired' about a new car, should have seen his face drop when I said I was from trading standards and this was against the law for him to suggest.

As I previously said though the warning light can generally come on premature, a physical check (which you have done) is needed, the brake pad light is an indicator that the pads are low, not an instruction for immediate replacement, a visual check should always be done, it could have been a faulty sensor, corroded connection or one of any number of other faults.

As for the £180 brake pads, think your getting bent over there, they cost £30 tops for a decent brand of pads. You may find that you will need a scanner to release the calipers, depends on what ABS system is fitted and wether its front or rears and what kind of handbrake is fitted.

Oh yeah, it definitley wont affect your warranty, if the dealer has said this then report it to MINI UK, the dealer is just that, a dealer, a middle man, any money he can save he will, by the sounds of it your dealership is run by con men and is the kind of place that gives the motor industry a bad reputation!!
 
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