2007 E85 Brake Pipe replacement - advice needed

[wolverine2k]

My indie did front to back with copper plus hoses.
£ 300 all in.
Sorry hes in south yorkshire,but gives you an idea on price.

Cheers. So far found a guy 4 miles away who quoted £250 for the rears but that includes him replacing rear reluctor rings for me too.

[colb]

The fixed lines for the rear emerege from within a plastic covered channel that emerges in the N/S wheel arch, the lines split there one to the N/s and the other across the car behind the fuel tank. It is possible to put a new line behind the fuel tank by poking it through across the car one you cut the old pipe out so the replacement will sit in the holding clips. At the rear discs the hard lines have joints secured to a bracket in the arch. Stock flex brake hoses fit to this and run down to the calipers. Stock pipes have a small hard line between the two flex pipes, you are best advised to upgrade these flex pipes to stainless hoses that do away with the small hard line the oem ones have, all available on ebay circa £70 for a full set here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274755823762 ... xyVLNSwuEt
All this is DIY if you have the tools to make flares in the pipes and the ability to bleed the brakes after the new parts are fitted.
If you did book an MOT at RBM you should be ok to get the car there if you have no one local to you who can do it or even prepared to do the job.

Just seen your result post whilst writing this reply, sounds like a good deal at that price but order the stainless flex hoses so he can fit them when doing the hard line replacements.

[wolverine2k]

The fixed lines for the rear emerege from within a plastic covered channel that emerges in the N/S wheel arch, the lines split there one to the N/s and the other across the car behind the fuel tank. It is possible to put a new line behind the fuel tank by poking it through across the car one you cut the old pipe out so the replacement will sit in the holding clips. At the rear discs the hard lines have joints secured to a bracket in the arch. Stock flex brake hoses fit to this and run down to the calipers. Stock pipes have a small hard line between the two flex pipes, you are best advised to upgrade these flex pipes to stainless hoses that do away with the small hard line the oem ones have, all available on ebay circa £70 for a full set here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274755823762 ... xyVLNSwuEt
All this is DIY if you have the tools to make flares in the pipes and the ability to bleed the brakes after the new parts are fitted.
If you did book an MOT at RBM you should be ok to get the car there if you have no one local to you who can do it or even prepared to do the job.

Thanks for that... I have actually got those pipes in my basket since last week!!

I've got about 6 mechanics in an industrial estate near me so gonna go see them all in person next week. Surely one of them can do the work. I can do enough jobs but replacing brake pipe I'd not want to risk.

[Mr Tidy]

This seems to be getting quite a common problem on E85/86s now. The plastic cover doesn't seem to help in some ways as road dirt builds up at the back of it then absorbs water that sits around the pipes with inevitable results.

My second E86 had advisories for the rear metal pipes on it's MOT when I bought it and got advisories again when I got it tested in 2016 and 2017. At that point I figured it was time to do something about them!

I happened to be spending a few days visiting a friend in Cheshire so I got them replaced in kunifer by a forum member whose name we don't mention very cheaply - but next time I got it MOT'd the tester was impressed with the quality of the job.

£250 including replacing reluctor rings doesn't sound like a bad price though.

[wolverine2k]

So I finally got the brake pipes done with some assistance and put some steel hoses in too. Bled them and the brake pedal is still slightly spongy but working. All warning lights off and last thing to do is the headlight level motor and then back off to an MOT.

But me being the fool that I am... I decide to follow some YouTube advice on making brake pedal harder and use ISTA to run the DSC adjustment.

The DSC adjustment fails on the second step (Separating valves) and keeps failing. There are no leaks so no idea why it's failing but now I have the stupid traction control light on and the error code 5DD0.

I can't see any steps in INPA to recalibrate DSC.

Anyone have a clue how to solve this one?? I've been googling for hours

[wolverine2k]

So the brake pipes
- Used 90/10 Copper/Nickel pipe.(£16)
- Used a DIN flaring tool (£37)- A-P6FT which is incredibly easy to use.
- Bought some connectors (£10)
- Steel hoses x4 (£75)

Here's some images of the completed job:

Near side pipes - I went for the purple braided hoses. It's one complete hose instead of two for the rear:


Under the car there was already a connector there that I used for the OS and for the NS had to cut the line and flare/use connector. I should have wiped the hose down - that's not corrosion before the new joint, just a bit of gunk.


I still have the 5DD0 issue. I think I'm going to try to bleed via ISTA and then try the DSC again. Hopefully that will resolve it. Otherwise no idea what to do. It keeps failing at "Separating valves" which is the second step.

[thecremeegg]

Bump!
I'm currently trying to get the rear pipes done on my Z4 and I'm getitng prices of £400 & £500 down here in Hampshire!
Seems somewhat steep to bend some pipe but is that the current going rate?

[Hwec2]

I got mine done last year by RBM with Kunifer, cost was about £340 if I remember correctly.

RBM know the cars very well and are very well regarded which for such a safety critical job is worth a lot! I can’t recommend them enough.

[wolverine2k]

Bump!
I'm currently trying to get the rear pipes done on my Z4 and I'm getitng prices of £400 & £500 down here in Hampshire!
Seems somewhat steep to bend some pipe but is that the current going rate?

Do it yourself if you feel capable, it was easy to do and the only big cost was the steel brake lines on the end. The tools, kunifer etc can be bought for £75. Just get a good flaring kit though, not that standard Chinese one that everyone on eBay and Amazon sell. The one I got is brilliant. Other cost will be your brake fluid.

My local mechanics were all telling me that the petrol tank had to be dropped etc. Utter nonsense.

Took me a total of 2 hours to do, not sure why so many quote so much for a relatively simple job.

[thecremeegg]

I got mine done last year by RBM with Kunifer, cost was about £340 if I remember correctly.

RBM know the cars very well and are very well regarded which for such a safety critical job is worth a lot! I can’t recommend them enough.

Yea RBM were £400 which just seems super steep. Said it was half a days work...

[Zedebee]

Bump!
I'm currently trying to get the rear pipes done on my Z4 and I'm getitng prices of £400 & £500 down here in Hampshire!
Seems somewhat steep to bend some pipe but is that the current going rate?

Tom, if you decide to have a go yourself but want a reassuring second pair of hands, I’m happy to help. I’ve not done it myself but would value the experience.

[bigwinn]

Bump!
I'm currently trying to get the rear pipes done on my Z4 and I'm getitng prices of £400 & £500 down here in Hampshire!
Seems somewhat steep to bend some pipe but is that the current going rate?

Tom, if you decide to have a go yourself but want a reassuring second pair of hands, I’m happy to help. I’ve not done it myself but would value the experience.

Its deffo not as hard as it looks

I lost a lot of time stressing about the shape of the new pipe, which wasn't necessary

Only advice I'd give is don't scrimp on flaring tools as the harder part is flaring the steel original pipes under the car (assuming its the rears at fault)

[Zedebee]

Bump!
I'm currently trying to get the rear pipes done on my Z4 and I'm getitng prices of £400 & £500 down here in Hampshire!
Seems somewhat steep to bend some pipe but is that the current going rate?

Tom, if you decide to have a go yourself but want a reassuring second pair of hands, I’m happy to help. I’ve not done it myself but would value the experience.

Its deffo not as hard as it looks

I lost a lot of time stressing about the shape of the new pipe, which wasn't necessary

Only advice I'd give is don't scrimp on flaring tools as the harder part is flaring the steel original pipes under the car (assuming its the rears at fault)

Cheers Stuart - I would see a decent flaring tool as a good investment. I used to be frightened of taking the callipers off, but now I’m not.

[Mr Tidy]

I had them replaced on my second E86 in 2016 by a former forum member whose name I can't mention and who now runs a Zed workshop in Cheshire.

He didn't have premises then so did it in his garage at home and charged me £100!

But as bigwinn says the most difficult part of the job was flaring the OE steel pipe to put a join in it.

[thecremeegg]

Bump!
I'm currently trying to get the rear pipes done on my Z4 and I'm getitng prices of £400 & £500 down here in Hampshire!
Seems somewhat steep to bend some pipe but is that the current going rate?

Tom, if you decide to have a go yourself but want a reassuring second pair of hands, I’m happy to help. I’ve not done it myself but would value the experience.

Thanks Ben! I'm still deciding what I want to do, might take it to "REDACTED" as he'll do front and back in copper for £250...