The brief
The X1 came in for a brake job, the front brakes due, picked up on a check with the pads worn and the discs scored. The owner wanted it done quickly with genuine parts, and a front brake set is a job that can be turned around while you wait. The front brakes do most of the work on any car, and on a heavier vehicle like the X1 they work harder still. The pads are the wear item, designed to be used up and replaced, and the discs they clamp wear too, thinning and scoring over their life. When the pads go right down, the wear runs into the disc surface, scoring it. By that point you're not just changing pads, the discs are scored past serviceable, so the front needs pads and discs together.
The diagnosis
On the lift the front brakes confirmed it: the pads worn near the end, and the discs scored and below minimum thickness. The calipers and slides were freed off and checked, they were fine, just the pads and discs gone. The rears still had life. So it was a front axle set: new genuine BMW-spec pads and discs on both sides together, because you don't fit fresh pads to a scored, undersized disc, and you do the pair so both sides bite the same.
The work
Both front discs and the worn pads were removed, the hubs cleaned up, and a new genuine BMW-spec set of discs and pads fitted, the calipers and slide pins cleaned and greased so they move freely, every fastener torqued to spec. The pads were bedded in properly so they'd grip evenly from the start. A road test confirmed quiet, even, progressive braking with a firm pedal and no pulling.
The outcome
Quiet brakes, a firm pedal, even bite, sharp progressive stopping, and the confidence back, all done in the one visit. The X1 went home stopping properly again. Worn pads turn into scored discs the longer they're left, so doing the front pads and discs as an axle set with genuine parts put the braking back where it should be, the safety job you don't put off.
