BMW E46 How To Replace Front & Rear Brakes DIY 

Thanks!

Metric car, metric torques please :D

@@50cts dude I'm from Canada.. and I'm not bitching. Use a conversation tool on your phone it's 2019

@@Diablo-gt7pq How about NO? :D

@@50cts You're telling me you'd rather wait for someone to tell you the conversions instead of just doing it on a calculator?

lol

Lmao

You can tell hes done this many times by how fast yet confidently he works

Hahahaahahahhah😂😂😂😂 I thought the same 😱

Thing is though, this guy is working on relatively rust-free stuff, we're in the rust-belt and have to fight every bolt & nut.

I would say that's a good call on the transmission. Even if you rebuilt a trans with 200k on it, it would still have the same valve body with the same wear in its bores, so finding one with lower miles is best.

thanks for the info, your the man

Yeah this was not the perfect video. Hopefully I will be able to improve on it in the future.

He is right about the greasing part. Guide pins for those types stay dry and are not told to be greased by repair instructions. The only parts that should be lubed is the pad contact points on the anchor. BMW brake grease (grey colour) comes sachets and are around $2 a packet. You need around 2. He is wrong about the anchor cleaning, wire brush is not permitted, only brake cleaner, this is to ensure the surface anti-corrosion coating doesn't come off and begin to rust. The back of the brake pads shouldn't be greased as there is a small chance that the pad will take the piston out of the caliper (common on calipers with more than 1 piston). If you want to do brakes faster, don't use clamps, use the biggest multi-grip plier you can get your hands on.

Indeed, silicone paste is for Akebono brake system, which seals pins inside dustboot. Teves system is somewhat semi-open, thus paste could attract debris, dust and so and finally cause pins to be seized.

Trust me, DONT add this grease to the guide pins. This is maybe for different cars but not for the E46. I warn you. My brake pins were stuck because of the grease.

🤔 hmm seems like grease would help. Don't see how it would hurt anything.

Haha yeah I have no idea how people work in the Florida heat & humidity

That’s good advice right there

Niiice, I like that very much.

Very easy, although the shitty plastic usually breaks when you remove them. Its also very hard to find affordable replacements :(

@@buzzyinurface Agreed. My headliner and a/b/c pillars were replaced with new fabric that's a bit too thick. The material is nice and the headliner looks good, but the pillars are all off. The a pillars are especially bothersome because the airbag covers don't clip in properly.

You didn't break anything but wash off the excess fluid with brake cleaner because it eats through paint.

Gone for a long drive today. Brakes work fine, and the system doesn't appear to be leaking fluid.

50sKid What kind of floor jack do you recommend?

I know it’s been five years, but he did address this in the video, around the 15:00 mark. Just crack open the top fill cap and keep and eye on the level as you slowly (SLOWLY) compress the piston.

How did those end up working out for you?

Depends on the climate. In some really rusty states the calipers will need to be replaced after so long. Maybe the mechanic is just speaking out of experience but you can also just wait until you take things apart and see if the pistons push back into the calipers freely--if so you should be fine.

Thanks, I'll do it that way.

The caliper slides relative to the caliper bracket so when the piston on one side pushes out, the whole caliper slides the opposite way until the pad on the other side comes into contact with the rotor. Search around for an animated video on how brakes work--there has got to be something that visually demonstrates it for ya

50sKid You are a genius. Thank you for fast respond. You always do respond fast to me. Every time you impress me as to how INTELLIGENT you are. I, have been following your videos every single day. I just wish I could find a way as to how to send you a $$$$$. For teaching me to service my 325-2003 and my 328- 2000. I watch your videos every day since 2015. I’m the one who told you, that you should be a college Professor. Do you have a PO. Box.? Please get one and all of us that follow you can help with expenses. I will be more than happy 😊 To help you out with your expenses. You have saved me tons of money. I have done just about all you have thought me on my BMW’S. I’m 68 years old and not even when I was in College I was looking forward to to class. But with you, I’m always looking forward to your classes they are INCREDIBLE. PLEASE I will love to help as you helped me. God blessed you Jason. I’m so glad that you found a new job. I know you lost your 10 year old job. The good thing is you found a new job. I’m so happy for you. You deserve even more than just a new job. Can wait to your next video. My wife tells me that I pay more attention to you than her. 🙏 😊 Thank you so, so very much. Get a POBOX. JASON. TALK TO YOU LATER. AWESOME. TONIO.

Hi man it's been a while but how did you get out the old retaining screw ? I have the same problem

@@ikeralex06 I sprayed it with wd40 and then used a screwdriver, or if it was something to dent with, and then screwed it out by hammering it in the counter clockwise direction. There are some othe videos specifically on how to do this if you search for it

Don't forget to buy new screws to replace with when you finally get it out and continue working on this.. ;)

Alright I will try that, thanks

I had to drill out the heads of my front disc retainer screws. Rears came out with no issue but having a hell of a time getting the rear discs off!

On a Mazda 3 I literally had to cut the front rotors off with a recip saw because they were rust-welded to the hubs so badly. Some people would prefer a grinder but I used what I had handy. No retaining screw on those but a mallet didn't work. Internet doodz said get a hammer, which failed. Then they said get a bigger hammer, and to stop hitting it with my purse - but no dice. Screw-jacking with a bolt through the mounting point failed. A three jaw puller simply broke. With nothing else left to try I cut through the outer rim all the way to the hat, and pounded a chisel down through the cut, which finally popped them off. Now I'll always put a little anti seize on the mating surfaces - always. That was a nightmare.

@@UMepher thanks, appreciate your input. That helps a lot.

generous of you but he gets add money

I replaced pads and rotors with OEM ones the clicking is gone.

nah no need to bleed in that case.

Perez Gustavo keep it in park. U don’t want the car rolling

I hope you chocked any wheels that were left on the ground and didn't rely on the Park position. If doing both axles at once, I'd put the whole car up on stands. Some of us have no Park because we aren't missing a pedal and have RWD cars, which means keeping the car in gear and setting the parking brake if doing the fronts (and chocking the rear wheels), and chocking the hell out of the fronts or preferably lifting the whole car when doing the rear.

Felix Rivera Gomez super late reply but hopefully it’ll help someone else. If you’re just doing discs and pads and don’t ‘open’ any of the brake lines, i.e. don’t touch the bleed screw on the calliper or replace any lines etc, there’s no need to bleed the brakes. Just hit the brake pedal a few times after you first start the car and then follow the bed in process as described in the video!

However: you should do a flush every 2 years or so as brake fluid usually deteriorates after that point and won’t be as effective at cooling. This is a good time to do it as you’ll have the car jacked up and wheels off, but it’s not actually a necessity!

Not true for E46's. The e-brake is a separate assembly that uses brake shoes vs some other cars that use the pad for braking and the e-brake

the sensor is the wear sensor. There is one on the front left and rear right. They fit into the middle of the pad and contact the rotor when the pad wears down.

Operating temp is 204.4 -206.6 F or 96-97 C. You need to get the OBDII reader from amazon and check that as well. This engine SHOULD NOT be exceeding 215 F. If it does, turn it off and let it cool, otherwise bad things are going to start happening. Clearly there's a coolant problem, which this car is notorious for and you need to fix it ASAP. It's been two months and I hope you've fixed the problem but if not, your engine life is becoming shorter exponentially. First, check your radiator hoses, second, check you expansion tank, third check your thermostat, fourth check the engine coolant hoses and heater hose, fifth check your water pump by pulling off the pulley and searching for coolant. If you find nothing, and you don't find coolant leaking, your head gasket might have gone bad. Not to jump ahead though, MAKE SURE you have enough coolant and oil. Your car should be able to drive normally with the aux fan and maintain the operating temps. I took out my clutch fan.

Mounting brackets: 81 ft-lb front, 48 ft-lb rear. Slide pins: all 22 ft-lb. Rotor retaining screw: 12 ft-lb. I use a torque wrench for the brackets but just make the pins "tight" with a regular socket wrench. And I'm not worried about the rotors screws - get 'em "tight" with an allen wrench, since it isn't like they'll be going anywhere once the wheels are on.

If it is shaking only when you are braking, it’s either warped brake rotors or worn suspension control arms. If it’s shaking when you are not breaking, it’s probably wheels that need to be correctly balanced.

@@50sKid Thanks! 🙏🏻 I’ll give it a try 😊 In fact it is both. For about 10.000miles ago i put on 4 new brake rotors, calipers, pads and hoses (all from ATE). It’s the 2nd time it gets the warped front brake rotors. The Wheels are “new” renovated “style 32” with new Goodyear F1 tires. I have only driven them for about 6000miles.

If you don't replace rotors and only do pads, you're almost guaranteed to get squeaking brakes. It would have cost about $60 to resurface all 4 rotors. With the price of pads & rotors these days, it just wasn't worth the hassle.

Sony FDR-AX33

Allen key and some leverage might work.

Not typically, but if yours are corroded then you should.

These don't involve anything electronic so no. The sensor was just preventative maintenance on his part. Not much, if anything, will require you to touch the ecu unless you need an 02 delete or something.