I've never had to replace them in many pad changes over the years. Just turn the pins so they're easy to pluck out with a pair of needle nose pliers. I always clean off the pins & springs holding the pads every time I change pads & spray the pucks & seals with brake cleaner before reassembly.

Dave. On my bike the right caliper has a grub screw instead of the bleeder valve. First question: why did BMW do that? And second: does this suggest that the fluid has never been changed because wouldn't the BMW tech have replaced the grub screw with a bleeder valve? I will need a bleeder valve for that side when I do the service this winter. I believe it is a SB1010S; I suppose I can buy it from Max BMW.

Dave - if this is what you have on your front right caliper, you'll need to replace the strange barrel shaped thing on top of the caliper with a bleed nipple.

That fitting is for the assembly line filling of the front brake hydraulic system. It unscrews and a bleed nipple then goes in. Save yourself some mess and carefully tape the threads of the bleed nipple with plumbers tape. That will prevent the threads from weeping and bubbles from entering while you are bleeding or pumping the system.

DOT4 eats paint and plastic. Keep a wet rag handy. And drop a quarter (25¢ piece) in the handlebar reservoir to keep it from squirting on the dash and windscreen. Clutch side, too. That's the best 50 cents I ever spent on the bike. They're still in there.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5v...3-h911-no?.jpg