Is it the handbrake.......

B

blowers

Member
 Buckinghamshire
........or is it me?

About three time now I have been on a slope (live in a hilly area) where the handbrake doesn't seem to hold well and I have had to hold car on foot brake. Is that normal for the Z4 or do I need to get handbrake checked as I don't quite trust it !!
 
Try pulling the handbrake up sharply twice ( self adjusting ), this may adjust the tension in the cable , if this fails , adjustment can be made through one of the boltholes in the rear drum , there is a ratchet adjusting thingy which can be turned with a screwdriver
 
This didn't work for me so I got the stealership to do mine at the last service, it was a strip and clean job but is OK now.
 
mine has been doing this since i got it at under 8k miles... i need to double pull it.... so now out of habit i always double pull and leave it in gear!
 
Basically the answer is 'yes' - the handbrake set up is faulty. It should be able to lock the back wheels. One good test is engine on tickover, release clutch gently with handbrake on. If it stalls the engine it's good enough.

Remove the rear wheels and adjust the drums trough the hole. Impossible with wheel on (and tricky without). If that doesn't work. Rear discs off and give it a good service, new shoes, etc.

Don't hold with any of this double pull stuff. It should just grip 100% first time.
 
cj10jeeper said:
Don't hold with any of this double pull stuff. It should just grip 100% first time.
Click to expand...

I don't hold with it either, dealer disagrees though - said there was nothing wrong :(
 
It's a really common thing on the Z. Most people do the "double yank" - Have a read of this thread http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15798&hilit=double+yank
 
OK - so not planning a lecture on basics, but if you are pulling the handbrake twice all you are doing is ratchetting it up to compensate for poor initial adjustment (part 3 in the link Lucy provides above) and even then it will be of limited effect as only part of the friction material will be on the inside of the drum.

With the handbrake lever fully down the shoes should be adjusted so each wheel just rotates freely. The lever should then be adjusted to 3 to 5 clicks and I guarantee that you'll be able to light up the rear wheels with the handbrake lever on the initial pull
 
stevedruidstone said:
I persisted with the double yank and the adjustment, in the end the cables and ratchet needed replacing
Click to expand...

That fits because all your doing is putting extra strain on the cables and mechanism in an attempt to get enough friction to stop the wheels rotating.
 
cj10jeeper said:
Basically the answer is 'yes' - the handbrake set up is faulty. It should be able to lock the back wheels. One good test is engine on tickover, release clutch gently with handbrake on. If it stalls the engine it's good enough.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you... Also using a single click will cause it to "creak" when getting in and out of the car..... however the first time mine I noticed mine did this i took it to BMW.. my car was just under 2 years old... and the dealer had it for the entire day and came back and said its perfectly normal!

Mine goes up about 2-3 clicks, the second pull goes up an extra click and locks properly.

I could probably just adjust this myself... but havent had the time/ am too lazy.... and always leave it in gear so isnt something high on my list.
 
Agree in that I just leave mine in ' P' and never apply the handbrake anyway. They cannot be relied on to hold a car on a slope in any event.
 
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