2011MY, 2 years old and going to main dealer for second service in a couple of weeks. A few times recently, after a run of about 10 miles, there has been a smell of burning brake pad material? with some heat observable from the offside rear wheel. Will be mentioning it when it goes in for servicing but in the mean time was wondering what might be the cause. Initially thought it might be sticking calliper/spring or adjustment problem but on further reflection perhaps it could be VCU related, although for less than 15k mileage unlikely. Any ideas/comments would be greatly appreciated so as to have some ammunition before it goes in.

Thanks in advance.

Hello Cannonball,
Yes, I think i may have the answer but you wont like it, sorry
I see you own a manual. Mine had done around 20k and it started to develop a burning smell similar to brake heat.
Turns out it was the clutch/DMF which started to slip at around 2000/2200 rpm when pulling in a high gear. It was more noticable on inclines.
The clutch slip wasn't noticable at first, but by the time i'd done a few thousand more miles, it was.
Good news is that it was all fixed without quibble under warranty.

I'm not saying it's the same problem as your car; I dont wish to scaremonger, it's just that the symptoms are identical.

Keep me posted please, hope you get it sorted.  Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Most likely a rear calliper stuck. If it is, and the disc is "blue-ed" and glazed (i.e.overheated) I would hold out for new discs and pads rather than just feeing off the stuck calliper. John
07 HSE Narvick Black
Land Rover Series One
Triumph Rocket 111 (sadly gone!)

You do get a strong smell if the DPF is going through its clean cycle.

Maybe, but I would worry about the O/S rear wheel area getting hot as per OP. John
07 HSE Narvick Black
Land Rover Series One
Triumph Rocket 111 (sadly gone!)

I can confirm the wheel gets REALLY hot when a caliper seizes. My LHF caliper siezed (dust seal split) and caused weird shuddering, etc. Caliper was replaced plus BOTH discs and pads. Job sorted.  10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

I think thats whats causing my problem with my MY11 SD4 - im getting rear wheel judder when pulling away and it clears after a couple of seconds, I went to the dealer last week and sods law it didnt do it so have booked it in in 3 weeks time to be investigated unless it gets more frequent and i will chance going in to see them again, would discs and pads be covered under warranty if the calliper is replaced for being at fault? Now - 2017 BMW X3 M Sport Carbon Black
Gone - 2014 BMW X3 M Sport Space Grey, faultless!
Gone - 2011 Freelander 2 SD4 HSE Bali Blue with xenons
Gone - 2008 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE Rimini Red with bodykit

Thanks to all for your excellent input, I'll let you know how I get on at the service.

If the calliper has resulted in screwed disc and pads I would of course expect the whole lot to be replaced. Although they are "service" parts, this is not a case of reasonable wear and tear. John
07 HSE Narvick Black
Land Rover Series One
Triumph Rocket 111 (sadly gone!)

..........checked out today at 2nd annual service, nothing found, no damage to discs or pads, mystery unresolved! Thanks to all.

Not saying it is, but the smell I get sometimes I also thought was wheel/ brake pad based. But I'm sure it is the DPF cleaning and unfinished. Get it after doing shorter trips, but always disappears after a longer run.