Rear brake squeak E85

I have been having a very strange and very odd squeaking noise coming from the drivers side rear wheel and it is embarrassing at times. I am at a complete loss as to what it could be. It is completely contrary and comes and goes. But only happens when driving between 10-25mph it stops when turning left and gets worse when turning right. It is not a loud rumble so I do not believe it is the bearing. It sounds to be in time with the wheel turning with a higher oscillation as you speed up and slowing along with you.

When i purchased the car there was no issue apart from an ever so slight squeal under braking - not really that bad so i ignored it until it morphed into a noise when not under braking as well.

Eventually I got fed up - took it to a garage and said please just fix the squeak. They told me there was nothing wrong with my brakes, that they had cleaned them up and it would be fine. For about 15-20 miles beautifully quiet. Then it came back. It got worse with my tyre pressure being lower and i had a slow puncture (turns out i had a nail in the tyre) so I thought it was the nail scraping the alloy. Had my tyres replaced - 60 miles of bliss and then the noise came back.

Then i tried hard braking in case it was a particular patch on the brake pads - nope.
For a while pumping the brakes at a standstill stopped the problem briefly but then that stopped working too.
Then I then went for the - just throw money at it - approach. All new discs and pads. 200 miles of joy. I was certain I had a warped disc.
As of last night the sounds have returned and now i am at a complete loss.

Has anyone had any sort of issue like this? Any ideas what i might try next....... It seems to have a mind of its own and not have any particular reason to not work. I'm going to take it all off again today and put it all back on again. That seemed to work last time....... :(
 
Not had a problem on my e85, but on my 3 series, this happened, took the rear disk off, cleaned up and greased and adjusted the handbrake mechanism, and never done it since. Sounds similar so I'd suggest next time it squeals, maybe try lightly applying the handbrake and see if it stops / changes tone. When re assembling, remember to put a little bit of grease on the clip edges of the brake pads - also a common cause I find for a squeak.
 
PAC_Z4_F31_110Puma said:
Not had a problem on my e85, but on my 3 series, this happened, took the rear disk off, cleaned up and greased and adjusted the handbrake mechanism, and never done it since. Sounds similar so I'd suggest next time it squeals, maybe try lightly applying the handbrake and see if it stops / changes tone. When re assembling, remember to put a little bit of grease on the clip edges of the brake pads - also a common cause I find for a squeak.

Thanks for the suggestion. I had thought it might be a handbrake issue....... I shall give that a good go today! Clip edges are nicely greasy! The handbrake does stop it for the time that it is applied - so fingers crossed this is it!!
 
Could also be the handbrake shoes glazed.
A light rough up with some wet and dry may help too.
 
Okay - now that I have dismantled the handbrake I have found the source of the issue.

The retaining bolt that holds the handbrake shoe back against the dust cover has come loose because the hole that it sits in has rusted to the point of failure. So as I drive along the handbrake shoe is sitting askew and rubbing against the inside of the brake disc. Turning shuts it up because it pushes the handbrake up and away from the disc.

The whole lot appears to be a rusty mess so all new is probably needed! Looks like the handbrake is getting a rebuild!! And a new dust cover!! Thanks for the suggestions!
 
You could try fitting a steel washer over the hole so the retaining pin gets held in tight rather than being pulled through the rust hole. If the dust shield is really rusty then maybe replacement would be best. If you don't want to remove the hub and bearing to get the old one off you could cut it off and cut the new one so it can be parted and twisted onto the hub, once on tack weld the cut up or make the cut through one of the mounting bolt holes and use a washer under the bolt to retain it on the hub and secure the cut joint.
 
bagginsludomax said:
Okay - now that I have dismantled the handbrake I have found the source of the issue.

The retaining bolt that holds the handbrake shoe back against the dust cover has come loose because the hole that it sits in has rusted to the point of failure. So as I drive along the handbrake shoe is sitting askew and rubbing against the inside of the brake disc. Turning shuts it up because it pushes the handbrake up and away from the disc.

The whole lot appears to be a rusty mess so all new is probably needed! Looks like the handbrake is getting a rebuild!! And a new dust cover!! Thanks for the suggestions!
Well at least you found it.
Have you tried 'Umfaan' on here? Think he's breaking one at the moment.
 
Back
Top Bottom