sticking brakes

M

mad4slalom

Senior member
any one else having problems of sticking brake calipers, put the coupe away after washing the other day and the brakes after four or five days wer stuck fast , had it when i first got the m, so have been leaving it in gear with handbrake off, takes two or three goes in forward and reverse to unstick them with a huge jolt when they free up, when i have driven the car they are fine again, have'nt had this on another car before, nb, previous owner had a caliper and disc replaced under warranty after caliper stuck so bad, he drove it and not being v. mechanical it got so hot it trashed the disc and burnt the paint on the wheel so they had to refurb it. its still under warranty, should i get them to take a look ? :?
 
Try and dry the brakes off after washing, few spins round the block or something, a few feet backwards and forwards never seems enough to properly dry the discs off.
 
BMW brakes rust before your eyes when you wash them: take a look next time. You should ALWAYS give a car a short drive and repeatedly use the brakes after washing to get some heat into the hardware to dry off the water to prevent seizing.

I also have a Citroen C2 VTS which does the same on the handbrake if it's been parked in the rain and left for a few days.
 
ok, but what's actually happening, are the metalic bits in the pads rusting to the dics or are the pistons sticking in the calipers by forming a ring of rust where they protrude from the dust seal?
 
Probably the latter is the major culprit, but if rust is forming it might also occur in the handbrake mechanism too.
 
They might also be binding on the calipers. Think about copper slipping the sliders, guides & make sure you don't jet wash the calipers, as this is a common problem with drying them out & seizing them over time
 
hmm makes ypu wonder about how thorough ins 1 and 2 actually is, maybe if it aint broke, dont fix it mentality. if we did our own servicing we can afford the time to do the cleaning and greasing and old fashioned preventive maintainence that the dealers dont or wont do.whats better, sticky brakes with a stamp in the service book, or diy, so a better maintained car but a lesser service history ? I guess we all know the answer, dealer services plus extra tlc at home , but with the money the dealers charge, these jobs should be done as an integral part of routine services. bottom line is , you may buy a car with full bmw history, but it does'nt mean its necessarily any better looked after than one without. :thumbsdown:
 
Discs rust - its a fact you have to deal with. If you get the discs and pads wet before you put it away and don't let them dry off by using them - ie going for a drive and a few good uses, then the water will cause the surface between the pad and disc to rust - once this dries out it forms a bond between the 2 which is what you have to break when you move the car for the first time. This happens on pretty much all cars, but as said, you need to dry the brakes off before putting it away.
 
understand the putting away wet bit,but there are several posts re seized calipers , so badly siezed in fact that the disc and caliper were unsalvageable and the wheel needed refurbing , that sounds more like poor maintainence, sub standard parts or poor design of same. my other vehicles dont suffer like the bmw after such a short space of time, guess i just need to keep a closer eye on it, do you think it's worth mentioning to the dealer, especially as the vehicle has history of the same problem, ? thanks.
 
mad4slalom said:
any one else having problems of sticking brake calipers, put the coupe away after washing the other day and the brakes after four or five days wer stuck fast , had it when i first got the m, so have been leaving it in gear with handbrake off, takes two or three goes in forward and reverse to unstick them with a huge jolt when they free up, when i have driven the car they are fine again, have'nt had this on another car before, nb, previous owner had a caliper and disc replaced under warranty after caliper stuck so bad, he drove it and not being v. mechanical it got so hot it trashed the disc and burnt the paint on the wheel so they had to refurb it. its still under warranty, should i get them to take a look ? :?
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Hi,

If your's is an E86 then I presume it has shoes as the park brake, like the E85 unless there's something I'm missing ??

Mine also stick if on for a long period...so I do the same as you and park it in gear, you could dismantle and clean with brake cleaner etc. to see if that helps, but if they are shoes it will not affect your normal braking as it is the discs that are in operation then !
 
yes they are handbrake shoes which is why i leave it in gear and handrake off so it must be the brake calipers sticking, i think i will strip and inspect for peace of mind and go from there.
 
mad4slalom said:
yes they are handbrake shoes which is why i leave it in gear and handrake off so it must be the brake calipers sticking, i think i will strip and inspect for peace of mind and go from there.
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worse case scenario is they are readily available on the web , about £60 / £80 per caliper aint the end of the world , , annoying though :|
 
mad4slalom said:
yes they are handbrake shoes which is why i leave it in gear and handrake off so it must be the brake calipers sticking, i think i will strip and inspect for peace of mind and go from there.
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Hi, sorry must have misunderstood you...thought the problem didn't happen when you left the handbrake off !! :)
 
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