Newbie Brake/Other Questions

[knodb]

I am the proud owner of a 1997 318i with 114k miles. I purchased the car new and it has been dealer serviced since day one. However, I am growing tired of the games that dealers play and the exorbitant cost that goes with it. I've recently invested in both the Haynes and Bentley manuals along with a fairly substantial set of tools. The car recently had an inspection service II done by the dealer and I plan to pick up the ball from here on along with a local mechanic. Just to become familiar with the car, I recently did a quick check of my fluids and front brakes. I did, however, encounter a few roadblocks which in turn raised the following questions:

1) Where is the power steering fluid reservoir on my car? I checked both manuals and they do not specify its location with the 4 cylinder engine. The Haynes manual conveniently showed it with the 6 cylinder but not the 4.

2) I wanted to do an extensive brake check but could not get the caliper off. I followed the directions in the Bentley manual as if I was going to change the pads. I removed the caliper bolts and rattle device. After this, according to the manual, the caliper is supposed to slide right off. I tried just the part of the calipers containing the brake pads and still no dice. I did notice some other bolts which appeared to be holding the caliper on but I did not want to get myself into a situation I could not back out of since the manual said nothing about these bolts.

3) I did get a reading on both the rotors(OEM) and pads (OEM) but could not find the minimum thickness for the rotors. I do think that I need pads, however. My readings are as follows:

pads: 4mm
rotors: 21mm

Thanks to all in advance that assist!!

[himes]

knodb,

Put two fingers on the inboard side of the caliper and your thumb on the outboard pad and squeeze hard. Or just put both hands behind the caliper and pull it toward you a bit (the car is supported carefully right?!). You need to compress the caliper piston about 1 - 2 mm to get it to retract into its bore. Then it should slide off the disk. The more of a ridge there is on the disk edge, the farther you will have to compress the caliper piston, to get the pads to slide past it. Caution: one or both of the pads might fall out when it slides off.

The piston will move slowly but should definitely move.

[knodb]

Thanks Himes, I will give it a try (hopefully before the end of the week). Once I got the car up I gave it a good rock on both sides and in the front and back so I think that it is pretty stable. Regarding the caliper, I guess I am just over tenative due to lack of experience and feel. I also have no backup car in case I screw up. Thanks again!!

[himes]

Removing the brake fluid reservoir cap before you compress the caliper piston *might* make it a bit easier. But if the fluid level is high, it might overflow, though so be careful. Put a rag under the reservoir to catch the spill. Best yet, engage the assistance of anyone who has done this before on almost any other car.

[Ad Hoc]

As far as the brakes go, read this article from the Pelican pros:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Brake_Pads/E36-Brake_Pads.htm

[CHoffa]

To remove the caliper, remove the plastic plugs & the allen head pins. Then push the pads back in (pushing the piston back into the caliper) a screwdriver between the pad & rotor will lever them back easily. As the others said, you need to go back far enough to clear the ridge on the rotor. When you change the pads, you'll need to push the piston all the way back in. This is best done with a "C" clamp. A tip, do one side at a time, leave the other side assembled in case you need to look at it to figure out how it goes back together, if you rip everything apart, you'll have to refer to the manual.

The other set of bolts holds the caliper bracked to the spindle. These will need to be removed to allow the rotor to be replaced. The allen bolt that holds the rotor to the hub can be a bugger. Soak it with penetrating oil well in advance of trying to remove it. at worst, if you bugger it up, you can drill it out, remove the rotor & extract what's left of it from the hub. Don't drill comletely through, just enough to remove the head (the new rotor will include a new one, you can see how much you'll need to drill). If the remainder is stuck in the hub, you may be forced to use an "easy out". Keep this as the last resort. Penetrating oil on the stub that remains, heat the hub (careful not to wreck the bearing), a good sharp pair of vice grips should get it out. Removing the rotor can also be tricky. Once the retaining bolt is out, you may need to apply penetrating oil to the interface between the rotor & hub. A good sharp smack with a dead blow hammer from the back side should knock it loose.

A light dab of Never Sieze on the new retaining bolt as well as the contact surfaces of the hub/rotor will make this job easy the next time. I painted mine with high temp silver paint as well as a light coat of Never Sieze. Use that stuff with caution, just a light coat is all that's needed, it will get everywhere.

The minimum thickness allowable is stamped on the rotor hub. You may need to clean the surface to see the stamping (wire brush or sandpaper). If you plan on machining the rotors, remember to subtract approx 0.020" from the current thickness. If you are approaching the min allowable, just get new rotors ($40 each from our host vs $25 to get them machined, not really worth the effort to machine them).

As for the rotors & pads, unless you drive very aggressively (track, autocross) I would stick with the stock rotors & OEM pads (Pagid). Cross drilled rotors while cool looking, will wear the pads faster & are prone to cracking. I recently replaced my "high performance" pads with OEM spec Pagids, The OEM spec pads give much better performance in my opinion over the PBR Metal Master that I had on there. Granted I drive very conservatively, the high performance pads are just that, they don't really shine unless you drive like a maniac (need high heat to activate them).

Consider flushing your brake fluid, easy to do with a pressure bleeder (Available from our host). ATE blue or gold fluid will allow you to ensure that you've done a complete job. Some people alternate the blue/gold to make sure that they have completely removed the old fluid (color change).

The power steering reservior is down low, you'll see a ridged circular threaded cap on the reservior. Unsrew it & check the level & condition of the fluid. Some people are proponents of flushing this fluid, there is also a filter screen in the bottom of the reservior, which may be cleaned or just replace the reservior. I personally would only do this if the fluid is very dirty, which signifies that something in the system is wearing & soon to fail - unusual, these systems are typically trouble free.

Thoroughly scan the Pelican site, tremendous amount of information, extremely well written articles.

Enjoy your "new" BMW!

CJH
1996 328isC
Philadelphia, PA

[Wayne 962]

Power steering reservoir is on the left side of the car (right side if you're looking at the engine bay), all the way down, in front of the alternator...

-Wayne

[knodb]

Thanks Guys!!

Your input is appreciated. I am going to check the rear brakes next and if they are ok, which they should be, I am going to wait to do the front for another month or so since the Bentley manual tells me 3mm is the minimum and they are a shade under 4mm. I will change the rotors along with them regardless of thickness since they are forming a definite lip. I might as well wait until I have the new parts in front of me to dissassemble the whole ball of wax.

My only remaining question regards the bleeding. Next month will be two years since they were bled and the timing will be perfect with a front brake job. I am concerned, however, with the Bentley warning regarding bleeding brakes with a traction control system. I did some research on this site and the issue appears to be with having the ABS reset in the case of air entering the system and only the dealer has the tool to do it. From what I understand, the only way that air should get in (if doing it manually), would be for the brake peddle to be lifted up while the bleed screw was off. Any other input regarding this subject would be appreciated.

Now I am off to hunt down the ATF reservoir. This was a piece of cake to find on my 83 320i and 87 325ic when I had them but it surely does not jump out at you on a 97 318i.

Thanks again!!

p.s. Choffa, I am from Ambler, PA by the way.

[CHoffa]

knodb, when you are ready to do this, give me a call, 610-960-8619, I'm in Flourtown. I have all of the tools & pressure bleeder to help out. I can take a spin up & help you out whenever you're ready. Should only take a couple hours start to finish with two people working on it.

CJH

[knodb]

Choffa,

Very much appreciated. I will be in touch. Thanks a ton.

knobd