Handbrake

H

hoylet

New member
Hi
New to the forum.
My daughter has a z4 e85 and the handbrake mechanism needs a good pull to get it to hold.

MOT is coming up soon. Does anyone have a mechanism for sale or are willing to sell.

Can the handbrake be slackened off so that i needs to be pulled up higher using the previously unused teeth as a temporary measure.

Thanks
 
The E85 handbrake has always been a bit pants tbh. There is an adjuster cog on each side that you can access that will either tighten or slacken the handbrake cable, that would be a temporary fix until you can get the rear drums off and have a look at the condition of everything.

To access the cogs you take off the rear wheels and you’ll see the adjuster through a small hole, which you can manipulate with a screwdriver. A bit fiddly and a bugger to work out first time you try it, but should do the trick. Just put the handbrake in the cabin to whatever position you want to use; chances are you can still spin the wheels by hand in that position so just adjust the cog until the shoes hold the wheel like they should.

ETA you can do this leaving the wheel on and just taking out a bolt and spinning the wheel, if that is easier for you. Make sure the car is is manual so you can spin the rear wheels by hand. See this vid for guidance: https://youtu.be/YgMlBzdKLyA
 
Mine was missing several teeth in the middle and I managed to recut them with a Dremel with a shaped grinding wheel and a small file. Tricky from above but possible.

Did the same job on the X5 where you can get in from the side and that was a lot easier. Makes me wonder if a little surgical hole in the transmission tunnel would be worth it on the zed as actual removal is very involved.

There was another thread the other day where someone bent the bodywork to get access to the lever bolts from above too.
 
No one has mentioned latching the handbrake cable tensioner at the lever end to take the tension off before touching the adjusters in the disc/drums. This can be done with a flat blade screwdriver once the lever gaiter is lifted clear. Old posts on here if you do a search that explains how to.
 
Or you have my current problem where the back plate has rusted so much that the handbrake has been pulled through and therefore hardly operating. Replacement is a bit painful cost wise
 
smorris_12 said:
Mine was missing several teeth in the middle and I managed to recut them with a Dremel with a shaped grinding wheel and a small file. Tricky from above but possible.
Click to expand...

Did you manage to do yours from above? I’m thinking this could be worth while as a bit of preventative maintenance for the teeth… mine hold okay for now. But figure re-shaping would be worth while doing. Don’t really want the haste of replacing the whole mechanism.

Which sub forum was the thread you mentioned? So I can track it down for a look? TIA :)
 
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2010554#p2010554
Method of removal from inside the car detailed in this thread.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom