No brake squealing sound but red brake light replacement came on?
 

I just got my car inspected back in February and it passed just fine. The mechanic didn't say anything about my brake pad lining being low or close to needing replacement. He actually said it looked great.

None of my brakes make the audible squealing sound.

However, I was driving to my parents' house today for Father's day when the red Brake light came on and the message in the iDrive said to replace the brake pads now.

I'm always a very gentle brake using driver but that message freaked me out and I was even more gentle with using my brakes today.

Am I in danger? Do I need to replace the pads tomorrow? It's Sunday, so the stealorship was closed.

Also, what are the odds that this is a sensor gone bad? Does that ever happen?

Just wondering because even on the way home in the quiet of my neighborhood streets, there was no braking squeal.

Is the brake pad sensor based on miles or months driven? Does it just need to be reset?

No disrespect to your mechanic but I would be getting the two sensored wheels off (front, rear diagonal not sure which side though) and checking for myself.

If they are OK then maybe there is damage to one of the sensor lines. If possible remove them and see.

Uh ya.. seeing is believing.. so nobody can tell you how bad your brakes are. Look at them first, then try to find those sensors. It could be any of those combinations.. although technically your brakes could go to nothing and grind metal and do all sorts of ugly things before it compromises your safety. So no need to run out and get those brakes so fast.. but first thing's first.. you have to look and see what's going on.

My friend at work helped me and we followed instructions on this site:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=575269

We took some pictures and the brake pads look pretty good?

http://imgur.com/a/sR9ff

Wheels, yes, calipers, no. Once the wheel is off it takes seconds to visually check the pad thickness. The sensors are based on wear -- once they wear down to a certain point, embedded contact wires within the sensor will contact the rotor and trigger the warning. Since they're mechanical, the warning is almost always correct. And, of course, the sensors will have to be replaced regardless but they're cheap and extremely easy to replace.

The sensors trip when there's about 3mm of pad left. You can typically drive safely for weeks/months with the light on. BMW wants the car to be "Autobahn Safe" and supposes endurance braking is the norm for their cars, so they err well on the side of super safe.

I just did brakes for a friend on an E90 and the owner was freaking out about the lights - when she saw how much pad was left she almost wanted to put them back on and get her money's worth out of the old ones.

What do you think about these pictures?

Brake Pad Wear Visual Inspection - Album on Imgur

It looks like the pads still have quite a bit of life left in them, right? They look pretty good compared to new ones?

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6166/...e96bacc2_b.jpg

Yes looks like a lot of life to go.. so .. now I wonder, did the actual warning light go off.. or the computer telling you it's time to look at your brakes..

So, this is the message that's on the iDrive?

iDrive Brake pads message

Mmm yah I'd say that your sensor was tripped somehow... I'm pretty sure that's the image when they are tripped. If you go into maintenance that's where it estimates the miles until the next service... it's where it shows a list of items.

Unless your picture is deceiving, there would be no way for the sensor to be touching the metal. . It could be a faulty sensor? They are like 10 bucks and simply slide into the pad and plug in. You could take off the wheels and see if it's disconnected or missing?