DIY: BMW 650i / 645Ci / E63 / E64 Brake Pad and Rotors

The pads in the center under the engine and on the diff is for jacking only. The 4 pads by the wheels are for jacking or jack stands.
So lift the front of the car using the center pad under engine and put stands behind the front tires on the pads. Then lift the rear using the diff pad and place stands on the pads in front of the rears.
Depending on how low your jack is, you may have to lift one front corner first and support it in order to fit the jack under the front pad.

It really helps to have two jacks if you are putting the car on jackstands.

1) Break-free all the wheel bolts
2) Jack the car up a bit on one of the side/front jack pads

3) Using a 2nd jack lift the entire front of the car using the front middle jack pad

4) Put jack stands under the two front/side jack points - ie the ones from step 2) and lower car
5) For the rear you have two options:
5a) - lift rear of car from middle diff brace - use a rubber puck or wood block to prevent damage to bolts (I am not a big fan of this point)

5b) lift from just in front of rear jackpad point at crossbrace attachment point

6) Put jackstands under rear jack pads and lower car
7) Car is now secure on 4 stands - remove wheels

I am not sure if the coupes have the ability to use point 5b, this may be a convertible-only brace.

Originally Posted by Yorgi

Hey guys, if anyone ends up using this DIY and finds any problems or something that was not clear, let me know and I'll modify the DIY.

I also have a 55 page Adobe PDF version if you want to print the DIY. Send me a PM and I'll email it to you. It's 15MB so I cannot post it here as an attachment.

Yorgi, excellent, excellent write up! Many thanks for your time and efforts in producing this. I used it the other day and have the following comments:

1. The front brake rotors on the 650 come off easily without removing the caliper carrier. You just rotate them out after pulling them as far forward as you can. They go on easily the same way.

2. Getting your hand behind the box which houses the front brake sensor connector to release the latch was impossible for me. So I used a small screw driver and put it between the "loop" that makes up the latch. This made it easy.

3. The part number on the Permatex Ceramic Extreme Brake Lubricant is actually 24124, not 24125 as you have listed.

Other than that, your DIY was perfect. Outstanding! And, again, thank you.

Thanks for the feedback, that is an awesome shortcut if you can pull out the rotors without removing the carriers. I wish I could go back and edit my posts but this site removes your ability to edit after 60 days I think.

Part #24125 is the 8oz "large" brush-top bottle of Permatex Ceramic Extreme Brake Lubricant
Part #24124 is a 2x 7g packet version of Permatex Ceramic Extreme Brake Lubricant

Yorgi,

Thank you very much for the great DIY! I changed out my brakes this weekend, well actually Late sunday night. I had gotten everything removed and was installing then noticed something odd about the OEM replacement brakes. The outer brake bad did not have the clips (2 fingers) on it like the pads I removed. The parts numbers were a match for what I removed. Is this an update that BMW has made to the OEM pads or are my pads suffering from a manufacturing glitch? I wet ahead and installed the pads and the car brakes fine and I have not noticed anything odd.

Thank you and have a great day.

Originally Posted by houbmw-cm

Yorgi,

Thank you very much for the great DIY! I changed out my brakes this weekend, well actually Late sunday night. I had gotten everything removed and was installing then noticed something odd about the OEM replacement brakes. The outer brake bad did not have the clips (2 fingers) on it like the pads I removed. The parts numbers were a match for what I removed. Is this an update that BMW has made to the OEM pads or are my pads suffering from a manufacturing glitch? I wet ahead and installed the pads and the car brakes fine and I have not noticed anything odd.

Thank you and have a great day.

Hmm..very strange. I find it hard to believe they would remove the clips considering the caliper is designed specifically to work with clips both on the piston and on the outside. It will not affect stopping performance but you might have issues with rattling pads when you hit small bumps or maybe more pad squeal.

Maybe BMW switched suppliers? They sometimes have the same part manufactured by multiple companies.

Fantastic post!

What brand is the OEM discs/rotors?

Originally Posted by dance171

Fantastic post!

What brand is the OEM discs/rotors?

OEM as in "from the dealer". BMW has several OE manufacturers for rotors - Balo, Zimmerman, Ate, etc....

I have not seen the OEM 2 piece aluminum hat+steel disc rotors available at any parts stores other than the dealer. All other aftermarket rotors I've seen are single piece "all steel" rotors.

As usual, Yorgi's writeup is on point. Thank you Yorgi.

Thanks! You are the man!

Hi folks.... First post. First BMW, a 2007 650i convertible (love it by the way)
I changed the rear brake yesterday (Thanks Yorgi, for the great DIY tutorial) with no problems. When I went to reset my rear brake monitor, I got the rear brake warning and now it won't reset. Since I didn't have a warning before I changed them I didn't think I needed a new sensor (I have now ordered one for the rear and front). I plan on doing the fronts today as well as the oil. Any thoughts
Thanks
Paul

Mine did the same thing. After I replaced the sensor though, it actually reset itself after some drive time.

Ditto on the great write up!

And Yorgi, even if I hadn't seen the ON plates, I would have known you were a fine Canadian. With a 10 y/o boy, I too have hockey pucks scattered all over the garage – great jack pads!!

bookmark already. Very detail and clear DIY post! Thanks!

I didn't need brakes yet, but your post inspired me to look under the air box and check my brake fluid. Horrible. I didn't find your bleeding post but this gave me everything I needed. I didn't even take off the wheels. Very simple and now my brake fluid looks nice and yellow instead of black, all for $12 worth of fluid from the dealer. This is about the fith Yorgi DIY I've followed. You Da Man! Thank you.

Hi there,
I need help!
How come I can't push the piston back, still see metal. I used a lever on the c ring and it doesn't seem to be moving a bit.
Thanks.

Try leaving the old pad clipped in, and put the c-clamp over the old pad instead of directly on the piston.

Originally Posted by ansetou

Hi there,
I need help!
How come I can't push the piston back, still see metal. I used a lever on the c ring and it doesn't seem to be moving a bit.
Thanks.

I agree with itscoo2pyopants, you should NOT push directly on the piston with the c-clamp. If you already have the caliper off the carrier (ie Image #18 in the DIY) then leave the old pad in the piston and tighten the clamp on the middle of the pad (see Image #20).

If you push on one side of the pad, or even worse push directly on the piston, the piston will rotate in the cup and jam. You can also scratch the face of the piston if you push directly on it which can lead to brake squeal.

If you are having trouble pushing in the piston even with a pad in place you can open up the brake fluid reservoir cap which will reduce the pressure required to push in the pad.

Just finished my rear brakes on the 645. Your instructions were great. Thank you very much.

Fantastic DIY! Tip - when compressing the pistons into the caliper to install new pads, crack open the bleeder valve (with a tube connected to a catch bottle) to bleed off the fluid in the caliper and avoid pushing contaminated fluid back through the ABS system. You will be bleeding the system after install anyway, so don't risk contaminating the expensive stuff upstream.

Excellent article! Instructions worked out great for my M6. Thank you!

BR, Juha

Originally Posted by Yorgi

Thanks.

Good eye! I have a hack-around Tissot that I normally wear when working on cars (seen in most shots). I did the brakes over a 2 day period and I forgot to take off my Submariner on the second day.

I know this is old but hilarious nonetheless, changing brakes in a rolex! Cheers! Bang up write-up btw, that one's getting saved... Thanks for the PDF's