[MrDummy]

But the rotors and pads are still good?

The dealership verified I have 5mm left on both front pads but for some reason the CBS is showing I have 1500 miles left.

I know its conditioned based and all that but I was wondering what would happen if the front pad CBS went to zero. Would that flip the red brake light or would it do nothing?

Please advise I did UTFSE 1st but there were different issues that came up.

I just would hate to have to live with a light or icon on my dash for a year or so before the red brake (words) came on.


THANKS for any help and try not to be to hard on me guys...

[fdriller9]

You're brakes won't work and you will die....

On a more serious note, you can replace the sensor, reset the service indicator, and tie the sensor back to a brake line or something until you need to change pads.

But be warned, that you MUST manually check the pad material from time to time.

[MrDummy]

but is the sensor Bad? Or is the computer just not reading the CBS correctly for some reason?

Do you know what exactly will happen, in regards to any lights, once it hits zero?


The dealership, that tried to reset the system but it did not change, told me that the brake pad wear sensors are what triggers the red brake light words in cluster, but didnt tell me what would happen when CBS service tracker for the front brakes hits zero with more than 3mm of pad still on them.

Thanks for the reply, I do appreciate it.

[Express]

if its still showing you have mileage left then why dont you remove the sensor now and tie it up?

[e90pilot]

The sensor has not been triggered. The readout will start reading negative numbers and will show the red brake indicator on the dash. even if the sensor has not been triggered.

[MrDummy]

^^^ so I am screwed then?

I wonder why dealer told me not to worry about the CBS readout then? And IS there a way to fix this without removing sensors or having to worry about not knowing when I have the 3mms of pad left like it is suppose to tell me.

Thanks again for all responses...

[MrDummy]

Well i called dealers and ask them again and they said it wont show any lights unless sensors wear to 3mm of pad.

Wtf? I dont know what to do..

[AlanAZ]

My CBS has be showing 1500 mls for my front brakes for the last 2,000 mls. Keep driving it until the red brake warning shows up in the dash and won't go away.

[MrDummy]

^^ ok, but can you please let me know when yours changes, so I know the next increment. I am thinking it will be 1000 miles but who knows.

Thanks for Reply

[MrDummy]

Now I am getting a little upset guys, I called a different stealership to see what the CBS system would do in regards to my front brake issue. Nobody who I spoke with knew off hand what would happen, so I gave them my # and they said they will call around then call me back.

I feel as though I am asking how the earth was made or something.....


Grrrrrr...

Oh well, guess I will wait and see, but you would think someone either on these forums or a tech at dealers would have ran into this before?

[DESI4life10]

The calculations are based on your driving habits.

It may show 1500 left, but that was based on an estimate on how you were driving before that. If you all of a sudden changed your driving habits, the service interval will either start going up, or not change for the longest time.

For an example. I had 8000miles left on my front brake pads and took it to the track. The end of the track day, it showed 2000 miles left. The computer is telling me that if I kept driving the way I did that day, I would run out in 2000 miles.

Now after that, I went back to my normal driving style and the 2000 miles started increasing or never went below 2000 miles.

There are 2 stages for this. Once you have 3 mm left on the bad, the sensor will break past it's limit and trigger a red warning (indicating your at the minimum level for pad material). If it is yellow, it is in condition based service (and the sensor hasn't fully triggered).

[MrDummy]

Thanks for the great reply. I have never seen any of my cbs messages go up and i check them often. My oil readout is the only one that moves up & down once in a while.

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by *********

You're brakes won't work and you will die....

Nothing that serious..the brakes will stop working but the drivers ejector seat is then engaged landing you nicely in a neighbors yard..

[mike3000fl]

been there, done that...

cbs will turn red and go negative, car will show icon on startup or shutdown (cant remember). nothing bad will happen.

My pads still had a lot of meat left when CBS hit 0.

My attitude was that i planned on replacing rotors when the pads finally wore down, so i let the pads wear ALL THE WAY down, lol. I figured worst case I will see a small groove develop on the rotor and know it's time and the rotor was getting replaced so a groove wouldn't bother me. Turns out that the sensor wore down to the point it was actually making a squealing noise from metal to metal and that annoyed me, so I replaced pads, rotor, sensor at that point.

If you do let the pads wear down more, remember to check the inner pads and inner surface of the rotor periodically. Just because the outer pads and rotor surface look good doesn't mean you don't have uneven wear.

CBS suggests service, sensor will let you know.

[335i101]

I haven't changed brakes on my 335i but have on my 650i and there was a brake pad indicator on that....meaning u would hear screeching when pads were low.

Again not sure if 335 has it.

[MrDummy]

Thanks for All replies guys, good info so far.

However, is what DESI4life10 said true about cbs readout going into negative numbers or does it stop at zero?

Thanks again for the helpful info.

[mike3000fl]

negative

[AlanAZ]

please let me know when yours changes, so I know the next increment.

Now showing 1300. I've been doing more city driving. Good timing, my next oil change is in 1700 mls, I'll change the brakes then -- EBC dash-slotted rotors and Cool Carbon pads.

[DESI4life10]

Originally Posted by MrDummy

Thanks for All replies guys, good info so far.

However, is what DESI4life10 said true about cbs readout going into negative numbers or does it stop at zero?

Thanks again for the helpful info.

When it is red, it will go into negative (you can visually verify the thickness)

[MrDummy]

^^ Can I ask you this last thing then my friend, once it hits 0 on my CBS system, but NO red brake lighting comes on since I have pad left whould the yellow light stay on all the time & would it be the car icon or another circle designed icon that stays on in dash all the time?

THANKS again for all the help everyone...

[mike3000fl]

Originally Posted by MrDummy

^^ Can I ask you this last thing then my friend, once it hits 0 on my CBS system, but NO red brake lighting comes on since I have pad left whould the yellow light stay on all the time & would it be the car icon or another circle designed icon that stays on in dash all the time?

THANKS again for all the help everyone...

his car is canadian, their brake warnings use different lights. we get the parking brake light, they get an icon.

[MrDummy]

^^ Thanks I need to figure out what to do with this situation still.

I guess I will keep calling around to different dealers/shops and hope for an answer from someone who knows what will happen for sure on front brake issue...