E85 rear brake pipe problem

[micko]

Hi all, as a new member to this forum (although a sometime viewer) I'm hoping someone can help me get out of a hole I've dug for myself with my 2004 E85 3.0i. I've been doing a full refurb and upgrade of suspension, brakes, underside, having bought the car late last year, which includes replacement of the usual corroded rear brake pipes. As with many/most BMWs, two hard pipes run from the front of the car to the rear, along the left hand side of the car normally under a plastic cover. Logic might suggest that the left hand pipe would serve the left hand wheel and the right hand pipe the right hand wheel. Stupidly I forgot to confirm this when I removed the old brake lines, which I cut part way along the car in order to splice in new ones, and there are no obvious clues from looking at the old pipes as to which side they were originally on. I suspect that these pipes in fact cross over near the left hand wheel arch, which some You Tube videos and online photos seem to suggest, but can someone definitively set my mind at rest?! I'm imagining all sorts of strange things may happen to the traction control/ABS operation if I've got them the wrong way round! Many thanks in anticipation....

 

[skelters]

If you go onto http://www.realoem.com and put in your car details.

Look under brakes and it gives you all the part numbers and exploded drawings of how it all goes together.

 

[micko]

Thanks Skelters for the quick reply. Unfortunately the realoem diagrams don't show enough detail to determine the physical layout on the car. The brake pipe diagrams are particularly vague on this. What would be ideal would be someone who's either just done this job or has a car they're breaking or working on and can have a quick look for me.

 

[skelters]

You've probably seen this one...

[youtube]Fc4w7ufY0bg[/youtube]

 

[skelters]

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=111706

 

[MJJamieson]

Look at the DSC unit and trace the pipes back, the ports are stamped.

VR = Front Right
VL = Front Left
HR = Rear Right
HL = Rear Left
V = Front Input
H = Rear Input

 

[micko]

Once again, thanks for taking the time to reply. I had already seen the online video (thanks Skelters), which is what raised the question in my mind, as the routing wasn't clear from this. However, I cleaned the crud off the DSC unit and found the markings pointed out by 'MJJ' and traced the pipes back - job done!