Rear brake pipes corroded, best solutions?

M

Mr Whippy

Veteran
 Harrogate
Hi all,

My car failed the MOT today, the rear brake pipes look a bit corroded.

The flexi's are fine, it's just the back end of the front > back pipes as they come out from under the plastic cover, and probably the pipe that runs from there over the tank to the offside brake caliper.

Has anyone ever had to do any work on the front > back pipes? Did they just create a join near the engine end and run copper to the back?


The total pipe cost is only about £60 for the full set, but fitting them might be quite amusing... anyone ever done a full pipe swap in situ of all the other parts?


Also is the pipe over the fuel tank quite easy to swap out or do you need to remove things like dropping the fuel tank, diff, exhaust, struts etc? It's only £10 from BMW but if it's impossible to fit without taking half the back end off then I'll probably go copper.




Current thoughts are copper everywhere and then deal with two joins into the steel pipes up in the dry in the engine bay somewhere...?

Any thoughts/advice from those who've done this would be much appreciated :D

Dave
 
Had similar on a previous car. Local garage just spliced in from mid way down the car and across the axle to where the flexi's were connected. That's what I'd do on the Zed when eventually it happens with wet and crud back there.

Can't see the point in ripping half the car to bits to do the front parts which are generally perfect anyway as it's hotter, drier and if anything more oily.
 
Yeah, just seems some garages suck air through teeth hehe.

Obviously things like bleed nipples and stuff worry them I suppose which is fair enough.


Gonna just ask for a quote from the garage where I got the MOT and go from there, then it can come back all sorted with the MOT refreshed etc.

If it can come back done for sub £200 I'll be happy enough.


I thought a relatively easy fix would be to buy whole new pipes, cut them so you can fit them under your bonnet easily, then go to a machine shop and have flared ends and joints made up.

In theory you could do the pipe swap with basic tools then from ABS pump to flexis... and with aftermarket flexis you could do those cheap as chips too!


And all because BMW didn't put a joint in the pipe haha :D

They must be a real nightmare to deliver too all in one piece!

Dave
 
For a job like this I can't be bothered to crawl around underneath. My local garage (who does the MOT's) just measure the pipe runs, has them ordered in ready made, bends them to shape, fits and bleeds.

Hardly costs more than sourcing the pipe, getting flares done, fluid, etc and avoids me risking a seized joint.
 
The place I'll be going works on all manner of vehicles (lots of refurbs of old classics too) so they'll be pretty familiar with building up new brake pipes I bet!

It's just finding good garages. These guys should be ok as they are local and have had MOT's done there for over a decade and it's the same guys and never had a problem... though I've never taken a car there to have a job done.

I'll certainly have to do the other easy jobs myself on a weekend, no more being lazy paying others to do them hehe :D

Dave
 
I had the same issue and rubbed mine down gently with wire wool, as it is only surface rust and it then passed the test.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=31959&hilit=brake+pipes
 
Dav the wheel nut said:
I had the same issue and rubbed mine down gently with wire wool, as it is only surface rust and it then passed the test.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=31959&hilit=brake+pipes
Click to expand...
I did the same, it's usually the paint that starts to flake off making them look bad, a few passes with wire wool makes them like new, then Matt black them.
 
I'll have to get the car up on blocks and rear wheels off and take the under-panel off to take a look at the pipes properly... give them a good check over.

Bit of a tough one because the MOT tester can't properly check them, but then again do they expect that if what they saw is just heavy dirt and some slight corrosion that you can actually tidy up with 'interference' which they can't do, then is it reasonable for the car to be put through again.

I sometimes wonder if they expect you to replace parts that's all.

It had advisory last year and I remember they put some yellow paint on the area corroded, and this year I rubbed the pipe and the yellow was still there under this years grime etc and wouldn't rub off... hmmmm... so maybe it's not a problem at all...


I guess I'll have to spend an hour tomorrow to check for myself then at least I can move forward with a bit more knowledge. Afterall if I book it in with them they might just clean them up, say they were ok, pass the MOT, and call me and charge me £50 for rubbing some pipes off to find out they are actually ok underneath haha :D


But my car is 110,000 miles and 9yrs old and it's done every winter in my ownership and stored outside... so not a surprise that it might actually need some work doing :)

Dave
 
mr nurburgring said:
Dav the wheel nut said:
I had the same issue and rubbed mine down gently with wire wool, as it is only surface rust and it then passed the test.

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=31959&hilit=brake+pipes
Click to expand...
I did the same, it's usually the paint that starts to flake off making them look bad, a few passes with wire wool makes them like new, then Matt black them.
Click to expand...

This is the method as long as it's surface and not real corrosion. Could finish off with a mix of white spirit and old engine oil and that will stop them corroding again.
 
Something like this??

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=49713&p=721167#p721167

Could probably clean up and pass ok but if they are that bad after 10 years then at some point they will fail. Remember reading about Toyota Supra's rear pipes that were past gone, above the tank.....serious hazard as they started leaking and no way of checking them without dropping the tank etc.

I don't think its a big or expensive job to replace sections of brake pipes with the correct tools, just a pain to work on with all the plastic liners and stuff in the way.
 
I wish I'd cleaned my pipes up over summer and greased them as it'd probably have been ok for this mot too.

But they will fail eventually it's just a matter of time... thin metal pipes exposed to road salt/grit/chips, water and heat and whatever else.

If I don't replace them this year it's next year or the one after so may as well sort them now and forget for a bit :D

Dave
 
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