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Brake Booster stopped working

1K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  hello468 
#1 · (Edited)
I have a 2003 745Li and my brake booster stopped working one cold morning and I nearly backed into another car. I was inches away before it finally stopped rolling...

I checked and it looks like there is a recall out for the vacuum pump leaking oil and causing the brake booster to fail?

I called up the dealership to ask if the recall had been done on my car and they had detailed records of every service the car has been in for as well as all it's other recalls. For this recall though the extent of their records was a tiny note saying "Checked/Performed recall" at the bottom of one of my other service records - no mention of parts replaced, or actual work performed. Every other record has every minute detail recorded... This was from just 3 months ago.

But because they "Checked/Performed recall", they now want to charge somewhere near $2000 to fix what as far as I can tell appears to be the exact issue outlined in the recall.

I'm quite annoyed at the BMW dealerships at this point and I was wondering how feasible is it to fix this myself?
 
#3 ·
0_0 shame on bmw !
I called their customer service number and the response was more or less - speak to the dealership.

Any ways - I've been searching the forums for other people with the same issue and the parts they needed replaced.

Mostly it seems like the vacuum pump leaks oil into the brake booster line. If the leak is left long enough the brake booster can also fail.

I see three major parts which may need replacement (I'm not worried about minor seals etc as their cost is minuscule).

General consensus seems to be that the vacuum pump is very simple to replace... But I can't find detailed instructions on the booster line or brake booster.

Also - would there be any other parts in this chain I should look at?
 
#5 ·
I believe there is an open recall for that issue.
The dealership claims they've performed the recall for the issue even though they can't seem to produce proper records of it.

Also - I noticed something else about my brake issue. It seems that the issue appears when the weather is below freezing. In warmer temperatures my breaks function perfectly. I get the feeling that it may just be a seal or hose some where that's expanding/contracting with the temperature changes as I doubt any metals would expand/contract enough with a 10 degree difference.

As it stands - I think I'm going to take it to an independent BMW mechanic to diagnose it. If it turns out to be the recall issue then I'll yell and scream at the dealership until they fix it properly - if not, I'd be better off at the indy anyways.
 
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