As I tend to do my upgrades/mods when things are due for replacement…at roughly 39,590 miles, the first performance related mods have gone onto GhostPepper. Nothing to make her go faster…just stop faster.
A set of WMW rotors on all four corners, paired EBC Red Stuff brake pads, a new braided-steel brake lines, and fresh ATE Type 200 brake fluid…and since I would be replacing the brake lines, it was the perfect opportunity to finally paint the brake calipers as well.
This brake overhaul became more complicated upon removing the front calipers, and finding that both caliper piston boots were torn open…or more accurately, had a chunk missing from them. Based on the position of the missing chunks, it was obvious that when my MINI dealer replaced my front pads under warranty, a careless technician had pinched the boot between the caliper piston and brake pad upon putting the caliper back into place. So the first time the brake pedal was pushed, the piston took a “bite” out of the boots. To say I was annoyed was an understatement.
Ever trying finding a pair of caliper piston boots for your MINI at 4:00pm on a Saturday? My dealer’s parts department was closed, and every auto-parts store I talked to had nothing in stock, but could get the parts by Monday or Tuesday. Crap. But after a few hours of searching, I found what were probably the last two caliper piston boots for a MINI, in Illinois, that weren’t sitting in a MINI/BMW parts department. They were 90-minutes away, of course. So I put them on hold, and picked them up on Sunday morning to complete the job.
Finishing things up went smoothly after that. The only headache was trying to get the retaining clip on the parking brake cables re-attached to the rear calipers. Overall, a brake job on GhostPepper was easier than it was on my old R53. Although, I would mainly put that down to the lack of retaining clips on the brake calipers.
Now to bed in the pads and rotors over the next few hundred miles.
