Brake Pads replacement DIY?

Great thread! I did all 4 pads today and it was quite easy. And thanks Akakubi for tip #5. I could not figure out how to get the first one back on until I compressed the piston a bit.

So how many miles do you think is average for a rotor? I ask because when I was buying my pads from BMW they stated they recommend a pad and rotor change and do not condone just a pad change. My rear rotors are hardly worn after 41k miles and my fronts show a small amount.

Originally Posted by FireFly

Great thread! I did all 4 pads today and it was quite easy. And thanks Akakubi for tip #5. I could not figure out how to get the first one back on until I compressed the piston a bit.

So how many miles do you think is average for a rotor? I ask because when I was buying my pads from BMW they stated they recommend a pad and rotor change and do not condone just a pad change. My rear rotors are hardly worn after 41k miles and my fronts show a small amount.

My front rotors lated about 18k...rears about 35k.

Pittsburgh has alot of hills though.

I tried to change my discs and pads last weekend. I got the pads off and the little 6mm hex head screw holding the disc onto the hub but I could not get the disc to budge.

I don't think I missed any fastener holding it on, it just seems to be bonded onto the hub.

What penetrating oils or similar products do you guys recommend for this situation? I guess copper grease is suitable for application between the disc and hub, in order to prevent this happeneing next time?

Thanks in advance.

Get a rubber-headed mallet or a dead blow hammer, and hammer around the circumference of the disc --- don't be afraid to really hit it hard, and be ready to catch the disc when it does come off. It will eventually come out. I use a wire brush and brake cleaner to scrub the hub clean, and put copper-based grease on the hub-rotor interface. Even with this, sometimes the rear discs need to see the hammer to come off.

If this is your rear disc, make sure your parking brake is off.

--Andre

Originally Posted by Andre Yew

Get a rubber-headed mallet or a dead blow hammer, and hammer around the circumference of the disc --- don't be afraid to really hit it hard, and be ready to catch the disc when it does come off.

Loosely screw one of your lug nuts onto the rotor, that way when it comes off the lug nut will catch it. Especially if you plan to reuse the rotor for whatever reason, you do not want to drop it against the ground...The disc may deform slighly and throw the balance off.

Thanks to Jesse/John at European Motorwerks for this trick.

Thanks for the info. It is the front discs.

A friend told me that there are brake disc pullers available, I'll check some of the local autoparts stores that rent out tools.

http://www.bimmerdiy.com/diy/e36brakesystem

Torque specs courtesy of dw1

Caliper sliding pins 30 nm (22 ft/lbs) front & rear
Caliper mounting bolts 110 nm (81 ft/lbs) front and 67 nm (50 ft/lbs) rear
Rotor set screws 16 nm (12 ft/lbs) front & rear

have a 2002 745LI. is the pad change-out relatively the same?

Not sure. But I would assume so.

hi there,

wud like to say this is the best forum around with very friendly helpful ppl.
I have a request. I have to change the brake pads and rotors on my 325i. since, this is my first time ever to repair a car, i was thinking if anyone in NJ , in and around central NJ,who is planning on replacing their's too or has replaced it recently cud help me.

do PM me .......

TIA.

where does the caliper grease come into play?

I'm thinking about replacing my pads this weekend, but it seems pretty dangerous getting under the car without using heavy duty jacks and some rhino ramps (especially considering the POS stick jack BMW gives).

My uncle's brother got crushed to death when his car fell on him so i've always had a stigma... Is this really as easy as everyone says???

Just finished changing all my rotors / pads Friday. I'm no grease monkey, but i consider myself fairly mechanically inclined and I gotta say that job was not easy at all. thank goodness my sister's bf works on cars and had time to help me. i dont know what you're all talking about. it took us a good 5 hours to do all 4 wheels. granted my e36 is a bit rustier and i foolishly bought aftermarket pads that didn't perfectly fit.

do the rotors always require replacment when replacing bmw brake pads. I have ~80K miles on my 2002 325i and need to replace the pads... but not too sure about the rotors. Also, I see pads that range from $36 an axel to $100+. Is there a major difference? I just want to make sure I get this done with out any squeeking after words...

Thanks.

Since people are frequently asking about changing brake disks, I thought I would take up what Akakubi started, and document the procedure. It also makes it easier to get the info from one forum.

I will use the images Akakubi posted and explain the full brake pad and brake disk replacement procedure.

Tools Needed

• 7mm Hex Head Socket
• 6 mm Allen Key or 6mm Hex Head Socket
• 4" 'C' Clamp (or larger)
• Screwdriver (the one in the toolkit works fine)
• Hammer
• 16 mm Socket (6 point preferable)

Strongly Recommended

• Mechanics Gloves ($6.99 Sears)
• Jack stands, or equivalent, to place under vehicle
• Penetrating Oil
• Copper Grease
• Brake Parts Cleaner

Once you have jacked up the vehicle and stabilized it with jack stands, or something similar, remove the wheel, to get to the brake disk and caliper. If you are working on the rear wheels, make sure the parking brake is not on, otherwise you will not be able to remove the disks. The parking brake uses the brake disk hat as a brake drum.

The image shows the rear wheel, from the inside of the brake disk. Prise off the plastic dust caps (A) off the rubber boots, that shroud the caliper guide pins, circled in the image. You can prise them off with your fingers.

Using the 7 mm hex head socket, remove each guide pin. You will be able to pull them out completely.

Compress the caliper spring clip slightly, in the direction shown by the arrow, using the C clamp, and prise it off using the screw driver.

This should enable you to slide the brake caliper and pads off the brake disk.

Watch out for the pad wear sensor clip, when prising it off the brake pads. This is the tiny little copper clip that holds the sensor onto the brake pad backing plate. The sensor is on the front left, and rear right wheels only. New brake pad wear sensors come with a new spring clip, so make sure you have it, before discarding the present one.

At this point, rest the caliper on a small box or object, just behind the strut, or use bungee cords or something similar, and tie it to the springs, to avoid stretching the brake pipes.

Using the C clamp, compress the caliper piston fully. You should also monitor the fluid level in the brake fluid reservoir, to make sure it does not overflow.

Using the 16mm socket, undo the two bolts (B) that secure the brake carrier. The brake carrier is the silver bracket that holds the caliper, shown in the image in the post above.

Now that you have removed the brake carrier, you can now remove the brake disk.

Using the 6 mm allen key or hex head socket, remove the little bolt (C), that holds the disk onto the hub.

You might need to squirt it with penetrating oil, as it is quite likely to be rusty.

Once this little bolt is off, the disk will come off.

However, you are quite likely to find that the disk is rusted solid onto the hub, and it will not budge.

This is where the hammer is handy. Just give it several sharp blows, around the outside edge of the disk to remove it. Obviously, you are going to dent the disk, but you are replacing it with a new one.

Be careful about the disk, it is very heavy.

At this point you can clean all the parts using the brake parts cleaner. OEM brake disks are cadmium coated, so should not need to be cleaned before fitting.

Once you have cleaned the hub area, coat it liberally with copper anti-seize compound. I used Loctite C5-A copper anti-seize compound.

http://www.loctite.com/int_henkel/lo...id=19&layout=3

Now you can go ahead and fit the new brake disk, and fasten it with the little 6mm bolt. This bolt simply stops the disk from falling off, so tighten lightly.

There are torque specs listed in an earlier post, refer to those.

With the brake disk mounted, you can now fit the brake carrier. Check the torque specs for these, they are different for the front and rear wheels, I believe.

Position the new brake pads into the caliper correctly, and install the brake pad wear sensor, if applicable. OEM brake pads come fitted with an anti-squeal shim, so you don't need to apply any compound to them.

Slide the caliper containing the brake pads over the disk and secure by the caliper guide pins.

Be careful not to over-torque the guide pins. These don't really bear any force, so should not be over-tightened. Replace the dust covers over the guide pins. Fit the caliper spring clip back over the caliper.

If you have fitted a new wear sensor, follow the old sensor cable, unclipping it from its retaining clips, and clipping in the new sensor cable. The sensor leads to a little box, which has 2 clips on its side. Unclip those and swing open the door. Unplug the old sensor, and plug in the new one.

You will need to switch on the ignition to position 2, for about 30 secs, for the new sensor to be recognized, and the wear light to switch off in the dash. Surprisingly, the new sensor is not recognized during a driving cycle.

getting the rotors off can be a pain in the a$$. few things to keep in mind...

the minimum thickness is scribed on the rotor hub. but it's usually covered in brake dust.


make sure the e-brake is off.

take the rattle clip off before romoving any bolts.

we(tech's) dont usually use a rubber hammer. a metal hammer shocks the rotor.

it's a good idea to tap the socket into the allen bolt that holds the rotor on with a hammer to make sure it's in. they strip easy.

after the rotors off, clean & lube the hub. it'll make it much more easy next time.

Hello everybody,
Thank you for explaining about the disk brakes. I'll most probably work on that this coming weekend. Plus i also wanted to know how to get rid of the inspection light that blinks and beeps for like 2 secs right after starting the car.
Can i do something without going to the dealer.
If its an oil change, can I also do that and someone please please tell me where I can find instructions to do that.
Thank you all and have a great weekend.

Here is a great link shows step-by-step, can not be easier than this;
http://m3.madrussian.net/diy.shtml

threads like these are why i join forums... thank you guys