Rear calliper sticking

[Angelus666]

Got in the car this morning to find the rear left calliper had stuck, wouldn't allow me to reverse off my drive...luckily had enough room to go forward a foot so I could free it and then reverse back. It's been sticking more and more over the last month. Anyone else suffered from this?

It's covered by AUC warranty, but a pain the arse going back and forth to the dealer every week!

 

[mmm-five]

Was it the caliper, or the handbrake shoe?

The handbrake shoe sticking is a common problem when the car is left for a while. Most people just park and put it into gear instead.

Although my spanner monkey says that's bollocks and it just needs to be adjusted properly, and that the dealers don't bother as they have to strip off some of the centre console to do so.

He did mine and it seems fine now.

 

[Adam D]

My handbrake can stick on if the car is washed/put away with water in the brakes. A little jolt unsticks it.

 

[Stratts]

If it's a sticking caliper it wI'll only get worse. No point putting it off if you can confirm this is the problem.

 

[Angelus666]

Hmm, not so sure now...the rear left wheel was stuck and the right one wheel spun with some throttle.....Calliper or Handbrake?

 

[mmm-five]

Hmm, not so sure now...the rear left wheel was stuck and the right one wheel spun with some throttle.....Calliper or Handbrake?

Could still be either.

If the handbrake is not applying evenly then one side could stick and not the other.

If a caliper is sticking, then it's usually only one anyway.

Take it for a decent drive, and if one rear wheel is hotter than the other when you come to stop then it's more likely to be a caliper. Mine got so how that the tyre pressure went up 3º and triggered a warning light.

 

[FR08MEE]

I'll bet its the handbrake...

This usually happens when you put the car away after washing or during the cold weather if the brakes are fairly warm/wet when you put it away.

Easiest thing to do is to leave the handbrake off Or only pull it up 80% and then tighten it before dropping it which can help OR just drive forward (its not very sympathetic) and it will release fairly quickly

ETA if its the handbrake do a few short stints (100m) holding the handbrake slightly up whilst driving and this should resolve/clear any problems as it will generate a bit of heat and should clear the mating surfaces, etc.

 

[JayEmm]

Both my neighbour (E46 M3) and myself (e46 330) suffered sticky calipers. Cost him a lot more to sort than me, but both were fairly cheap.

 

[Bing]

+1 on the handbrake theory, but do as Stu suggested, dead easy way to find out if it's the caliper or not.

These cars do suffer from sticky calipers, but weirdly it always seems to me the nearside front. As said above, that's a p expensive fix, at least on the front - there was a coupe at my indie last time I was there and the chap reckoned it was going to cost £1,200

 

[CornishRob]

+1 on the handbrake theory, but do as Stu suggested, dead easy way to find out if it's the caliper or not.

These cars do suffer from sticky calipers, but weirdly it always seems to me the nearside front. As said above, that's a p expensive fix, at least on the front - there was a coupe at my indie last time I was there and the chap reckoned it was going to cost £1,200

Depends if you catch it before you do any damage. I think the Caliper if about £400 from BMW, but when mine stuck, it shagged the disk and boiled the brake fluid, so needed 1 x new Caliper, 2 new Disks, 2 x new pads, sensors, brake fluid change etc.

That cost something like £1200, but mine was done through AUC, so cant complain. I actually did ok out of that, as it got all new brakes fitted, and mine were nearly worn out anyway!