DIY: 1998 BMW 528i, PARKING Brake Overhaul

I just want to update this thread with modern prices since they've actually improved over time.

I just bought a set of Wagner Quickstop Z831 shoes for $20.46 and a Carlson hardware kit for $15.46 from Amazon with free shipping. The total for the lazy was $39.52. I was concerned at first that the Wagner kit would only include a pair of shoes and I'd have to order two boxes, but then decided that was silly because who only replaces half of their parking brakes at a time? I have Amazon Prime anyways, so even if I needed to order a second box I'd have it in two days. I can confirm that four shoes are included.

I am not replacing the rotors as they are still well within spec after almost 80k miles and I plan on using a die grinder and brass wire wheel to clean up any rust on the inside of the drum.

Many OEM purists will probably cringe that I'm using aftermarket parts, but considering the terrible reliability of OEM in this case I'm hoping that an aftermarket solution is better. Even if it's the same, the Wagners pads cost less than 1/4 of the OEM Jurids and are half of the cost of Pagids. I don't see the value in going with something more expensive in this case.

It's interesting though, the friction material on these pads looks different than I expected and is shown in cn90's excellent guide above. It looks like sand honestly, though I can see and feel metal flakes and the construction is made of several layers of pressed fibrous material. The sand color just threw me off. Once I have them installed I'll report back with a review, though anything will be better than my almost useless brake now. It's never worked well since I got the car a little over a year ago.

Originally Posted by waehrik

I just bought a set of Wagner Quickstop Z831 shoes for $20.46

Can you post a photo of the friction codes to this thread?
- What friction grade (e.g., EE, FF, EF, etc.) is recommended for BMW E39 brake pads (1) (2)

Originally Posted by bluebee

Can you post a photo of the friction codes to this thread?
- What friction grade (e.g., EE, FF, EF, etc.) is recommended for BMW E39 brake pads (1) (2)

Absolutely.

The Wagner QuickStops are friction code GG

Originally Posted by waehrik

Wagner QuickStops are friction code GG

Thanks. This is perfect information.

It's interesting that the shoes have a higher friction rating than the pads (which are FF).

1+,

This is because every time the Parking Brake is engaged, the shoes do not contact the drum evenly.
It is a hit-and-miss issue.
Just look at the mechanism and you will see that when the Parking Brake Lever is pulled, the expander expands the shoes at that point, so the shoes will contact the drum at certain spots but not others.

Originally Posted by bluebee

Thanks. This is perfect information.

It's interesting that the shoes have a higher friction rating than the pads (which are FF).

I was thinking about that too but it actually makes sense that the parking brake shoes have a higher coefficient of friction than the disc brakes. Well, now my GG parking brakes are a perfect match to my GG Akebono Euros but that's besides the point...

When you consider the amount of contact area for four disc brakes and their moment arm from the hub verus the tiny rear shoes closer to the hub and with poor cooling capacity it makes sense that the shoes be spec'd higher if they are to have any hope of stopping the car in an emergency situation. As cn90 points out, the shoes do not even contact the drum along their entire arc length, further reducing their stopping torque.

Reporting in on the Wagner QuickStop pads and Carlson hardware kit.

My car is able to stop now with just the E-brake and with only five clicks of the brake can hold itself on a fairly steep hill in neutral.

What I found when doing the brakes though was not what cn90 experienced. My shoes were fully intact, just improperly adjusted at the right wheel.

I bought the car a bit over a year ago from a BMW dealership none the less, and as part of the purchase they agreed to fix two things that were safety issues:
1) The driver side seat belt didn't retract quickly
2) The parking brake didn't work

The service department 'fixed' the brake but it still didn't work particularly well. The problem was obvious on taking off the brake caliper. I think a new technician worked on my car because they didn't know from memory or look in the shop manual #9 in cn90's guide. The star must be rotated differently on each side. The left side was adjusted perfectly and the inside of the rotor was nice and smooth from good engagement. The right side was compressed all the way and the rotor was all rusty on the inside. It was clear that the pads hadn't touched the rotor in a long time. Using the old pads, I adjusted them correctly, put the wheel back on, and spun it many times, progressively pulling the parking brake lever up to increase tension. Basically, I used the old pads to sand the contact surface down. This worked great.

I did something crazy on reassembly. I reversed the right side adjuster. It doesn't matter which one is reversed, it's just so they both behave the same. The adjusters are exactly the same on both ends and the backing plate doesn't interfere, so I didn't see any reason why not to do this. Now on both sides I can tighten the shoes by pushing at the top. I can't see any drawbacks besides that it's different.

1+,

The adjuster can be installed either way, i.e., the star wheel can point to the front or rear. It does not mater as long as you know the orientation and direction to adjust.

Originally Posted by cn90

1+,

The adjuster can be installed either way, i.e., the star wheel can point to the front or rear. It does not mater as long as you know the orientation and direction to adjust.

That's good to have confirmation that I didn't create any additional problems by doing it this way. It's easier to know just to push up than have to look up online which way each is supposed to be. I'm inclined to forget.

Also of note is that the Carlson hardware kit included new star assemblies as well for both sides since I noticed that the TRW kit did not. That said, I replaced the stars since I had them but they were in perfectly fine shape since they're aluminum and didn't rust. The springs were a bit rusty though, but still not bad.

Great write up CN90!!! I have to tackle this job very soon as my 97 540i has lost it's ebrake a long tine ago lol. I just bought the car a few months back and love the torque and power band! My break pedal feels very stiff and hard to depress, is this a symptom of a master cylinder giving out or the break module on the left side of the engine giving out?
I hope you kept your E39!
Thank you guys for any feedback!!!

For the record, JimLev posted these pictures over here today:

Originally Posted by JimLev

The only thing your see under the car is the thick sheath, the cable is inside it.
At the rear of the car the cable comes out of the body just past the driveshaft center bearing support, IIRC.
You need to remove the heat shield to see it. Here are a few pics.
You will need to pull the rotor(s) off to replace the cable.

See also:
- cn90 parking brake adjustment DIY (and other emergency brake adjustment DIYs) and tons of pictures of a 540i brake job