E86 Handbrake adjustment query

[chanlon1]

So I changed the handbrake shoes recently.
Afterwards, I felt that they must need adjusting as I was practically hitting the ceiling with the handbrake and not much was happening
Made all the adjustments, and before finishing off made sure the handbrake grabbed after a few clicks....and it did.
But....when it came to actually driving and testing the brake, it doesnt seem to have changed much.

On further checking, I never did anything with the spring that is under the handbrake gaiter/boot inside the car. Lots of job aids and videos have people talking about this.

Could this be why? Or should the handbrake still be able to be tightened without messing with this screw?

Its the first time I have ever dabbled in handbrake adjustments etc, so a bit of a novice........
thanks

 

[pvr]

The adjustment is with that spring off. I did that on mine but it pulled the whole handbrake assembly through the rear guard and I had nothing (besides a £2200 bill to fix it ...)

To clarify - those were Scottish guards so were vapourised

 

[chanlon1]

The adjustment is with that spring off. I did that on mine but it pulled the whole handbrake assembly through the rear guard and I had nothing (besides a £2200 bill to fix it ...)

Paul, are you saying that you need to release the spring first in order to adjust?

 

[pvr]

Yes, needs to be moved sideways

I didn’t get very far after that as the rear was toast, but that was what I saw in the videos I was following for the e8x

 

[chanlon1]

Yes, needs to be moved sideways

I didn’t get very far after that as the rear was toast, but that was what I saw in the videos I was following for the e8x

Thanks. Hopefully this weekend I'll take a look again.
I did buy the backing plates for the rears, but never actually put them on as I felt the old ones were still sound. If I do need to put them on, I will be cutting them to fit and not going down the route of removing the wheel bearing like yourself

 

[chanlon1]

Still no luck in adjusting these handbrake shoes.
Resorted to taking the discs off again to see if anything strange was going on.
My service lock under the handbrake, the spring is unclipped.
Even if I push the spring in, it won’t go far enough for the little clip to engage.
I’ve tried tightening both side of the shoes to their maximum and to their minimum, and the spring will not push far enough in for the clip to catch.

What am I doing wrong???