Galen

Hi all... my (new to me) X3's brake warning light came on, about 25 mi (40 km) ago, and so I am trying to shop after market to get a price for pad replacement. Is this a wise and economical move? Do I need to have the rotors resurfaced always? they look shiny, and I cannot "feel" any grooves by touch, but I'm not an expert. While waiting for a local car care center to get back to me with pricing, I called nearest BMW service department, and he basically started at worst case scenario (rotors are not thick enough, whole axle replacement) down to ~ $600 per axle for resurfacing and pad "slap". I asked what was considered too thin for the rotors, and he responded that I could make an appt and for $100 they would tell me if they were thick enough or not. I'd really like to be economical here and don't really have a need for the BMW dealer service warranty that comes with doing it there. This auto was taken very good care of by previous owner who had all work done at a local service where he had his Mercedes serviced as well. So going bak to the dealer for service at 120k mi. seems rather ludicrous. So the Questions again are: 1. Is resurfacing ALWAYS required? 2. About how much per axle ;should pads cost? Thank you for indulging me, as I am a new BMW (with 4 wheels) owner. Steven, who will be "seastones" as soon as my address is confirmed by bimmerownersclub. '66 R50