BMW E46 Parking Brake Adjustment DIY 

A tip from me, if you have trouble with the "feel" of the clicks: when you have tightened the adjuster the correct amount, go to the inboard side of the hub and mark one of the teeth on the adjuster with Tippex (and take a picture) - it has TEN teeth, so you can loosen it to where the marked tooth comes back to the same place, and that's exactly ten clicks of loosening😁.

To tighten: Left side-move towards back of the car Right side-move towards front of the car

8'46" "I think I am gonna leave my car on the jack stands and ride my bike to the auto part store... " LOL, gotta love this line

dude, any time i have any e46 question, i find a video of you explaining it thoroughly. cant thank you enough. great vids. i watch them often!

I don't often comment on RU-vid but I feel compelled to thank you for having the best e46 instructional channel. Thanks from the UK!

God bless you for making this video, my e- brake is literally junk and I need to do this!

This is just the perfect channel. Having had my E46 330ci for a year now, this had brought the kid out in me. I used to work on my cars years ago but time and age meant i just left it to the garage. Now after finding your channel i now do most myself. The satisfaction and not to mention the money saved from not having garage bills is immense. Thank you so much for all your work in sharing your knowledge. This is like the Bible to me. Keep it up

Just EXCELLENT !!!! Thanks. Listening to your videos will save any BMW owner (E46 plus others models) a small fortune, and prevents giving a few paychecks to the local BMW Dealers and expensive repair garages. Owning a wonderful E46 can be expensive, but they are great cars, and we can minimize our basic maintenance costs by listening to videos like your. Thanks again...

I did this fix successfully the day after your post. You mentioned all the important details. I was well overdue on this one. The wife trusted the parking brake about two weeks ago outside the store. She later found it leveraging in a nearby ditch.

quick note: When doing the final adjustment make sure the transmission is in neutral otherwise, as you saw in the video, when you spin one wheel, the other wheel also spinns. This means that the first wheel you adjust will work but the second one will seem like its already in the perfect position because youre actually feeling the brake on the other side! Just remember to put in back in gear when lowering the car back down.

I'm a female and i work on my BMW 2003 325I and thanks to all your vids and the E46 fanatic forum for helping me..

A good tip for finding the adjuster with the brake caliper on, is to sight it through the nut hole with a torch, and then make a line in white paint on the caliper aligned to the adjuster ring., so you'll always know where it is.

You are a master at your craft even if this is a personal hobby. One of the best channels on RU-vid. I wish all informative youtubers are as thorough as you on their craft. God bless!!

Thanks 50s Kid. Did this job today and should have watched your video first as I didn't put enough tension on the park brake cable on the second notch. It's holding a lot better but not good enough, so back onto the stands tomorrow. I would recommend having the park brake warning light adjusted to illuminate on the first notch. As brake drag can heat up your small park brake pads and cause them to expand and drag harder - wearing out the thin pads quite quickly.

Superb. Precise and to the point. Unlike others how really just talk nonsense. Well done Kid. ...

I've done this a few times, but keep forgetting which way to tighten...so thank you very much!

man, i love your videos, super informative and not a single step missed. also the camera angles and lighting are on point! keep doing you man!

Great video! Thank you! I will say on my 2003 330ci the passenger side adjuster needed to be turned opposite from what you showed. I was having issue adjusting so I took off the disc and observed. Sure enough I was turning the wrong way. Wish my Jeep was this easy.

Your videos on e46s are without doubt the best

Just finished this job. Fought the star for a little bit as it would not move more than 2 clicks. Disassembled the brake drum to find the star wheel rusty and seized. Cleaned it up and lubed w copper grease. Adjustment was a snap after that!

Great thanks, you answered my doubt in which way to turn...now i saw clearly that the adjuster is sort of a rocketshape that points in the air, and u have to them clockwise, on eather side to expand the break, thats my way to get it my brain...you explained it good in yr words, driverside away from the car, passengerside in the other direction, very clear display bro! Thx bob from belgium!

Very helpful video as always! I was able to get my CCV system and OFHG replaced with the help of your awesome videos, this is next! Thank you for what you do!!

I could not have found this video at a better time, I recently bought myself a 316ti and the handbrake is so bad that I nearly hit people rolling back down a hill

thank you, my handbrake is trash, I park my car on a slight hill and have to rely on the transmission and dont want to do that anymore, cant beleave the shop's quoted me $100 for this easy as hell adjustment, thanks

I had two problems on my e46 and ended up finding both solutions on ur videos. Thank you so much

Good bless your soul kid ! You save me over 900 dollars to change my cooling system as well my brakes! Your awesome.

Many thanks! I know it's a while since you made this video, but thanks. I made a booboo and put the adjuster on upside down, so thought you'd got it wrong with the direction to turn it! Happy to say it was my mistake .. 😜 Incidentally, changed discs/Rotors, brake pads and handbrake shoes and cables all as one. The wheels don't turn absolutely freely when everything is new!! I'm taking it apart again next week for a wheel bearing change so will have more miles by then and I'll change the adjusters so they're to spec!!

you is the man ever time my 2.8ci 2000 reg has a little problem you got a vid for it 9 times out of 10 with out you the e46 car world would be lost,big thanks to you please keep it up

This video couldn't have been posted at a better time, I literally need to do this myself. Thanks!

I had to take off the brake disc so I could manipulate the adjuster. I just could not see it and adjust it with accuracy through the tiny hole. But thank you for the terrific instructional video. Much appreciation for your time and efforts!

Jason, your instruction never gets old. Thanks buddy.

Thank you for the video. It took me 1 and a half hours to complete this job, seems to work just fine.

just adjusted mine today on my E30. parking brake works perfect again. great tutorial. saved myself $$$. thanks again for the informative vid @50skid !

Many thanks, nice and clear. This explains why my friendly garage only charged me $13 to adjust the parking brake.

Thanks Sir. You have saved my day. Your way of explaining it is just perfect. Chapeau!

Thanks for making your e46 vids. Very useful information and I will be using this as reference for my adjustments this weekend. Thanks again 50s kid.

You Sir are a legend this has to be the best explained video! Thank you.

This matches the BMW TIS instructions to a T. Great video!

Perfect video. Well explained, well shown absolutly no questions left.

Truthfully they should never need adjusting because the shoes should never come into contact with the revolving discs. The reason why they need adjusting is that lazy mechanics over tighten the hand cables so causing the shoes to come into contact with the revolving discs. Through years of experience working on BMW’s I found it best to slacken the adjuster five clicks and I would then adjust the cables to six to seven clicks on the handbrake lever when you pull it up. I would check the cable balance side by side by allowing the car to roll backwards and pull the handbrake up slowly and make sure that both sides of the rear of the car rose at an identical rate. If one side rises more slacken the side that rises more.

50's Kid: Thank God you're not a lazy Gen X'er or Millennial cause if/when one of them would do this video, they wouldn't bother to remove the brake rotor to reveal the adjustment wheel/spring mechanism and now I don't need to 'visualize' it in my mind! Good stuff! Thanks Kid!

Disk brake grease is good also a good anti-squeal compound on the pads help dampen vibrations.

Great vid, many thanks just did mine the shoe material had completely came off the metal just swapped them and adjusted my handbrake thanks to this tutorial 👊👊👊

Thanks 1000 times, been watching your vids since i purchased my 02 e46 coupe, your advice, knowledge, recommendations have been phenomenal. Ive done countless repairs with the help of the videos you posts. Very thorough. Thanks a 1000 times. Boston, Ma, says Hi!

Best DIY I've seen on this Jason!

Huge thanks from Bordeaux, France !

Thanks voor making this video. My handbrake has to go 4 or even 5 notches too stop the car from moving on a slope. Gonna do this DIY shortly.

for that brake chatter you need the oem brake shoe/pad shims they are those metal retainers that come with the pads. I think that'll do it or look brake pads that come with good ones!

I'll do this this weekend. I pull my brake lever all the way up and on a steep incline the car will slowly roll back if not in gear. Thanks for the info.

I will definitely work on this tomorrow. Thanks for all the tips. Totally informative and helpful.

Thanks 50s kids! I love your videos. I’ve fixed mine. Works well!

Well done! Thanks for showing how to properly do this with easy instructions!

Jason is a legend

Surprised at the number of shops that won't do this after changing your discs.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I am fixing many things in my 328 thanks to your videos... thank you very much for your good will to teach us

One of my E46s needs exactly this! Thanks man!

Squeeking is made by brake pads. Just get a softer composite or just a different brand and you're good. If you got the right combination it won't make noises even when you put zero lube on it :)

I had an hard time trying to do this, my adjustment mechanism isn´t like yours, mine is pointing upwards. I had to remove the rotor to see what was happening. Plus your cables are missing a ring that holds the other nut in place.

Bro just saved my life

Thank you for such a good tutorial

Many thanks buddy!! Clear and concise. Top video!!

Your videos are awsome.

Thank You for video! I was struglle 4 hours and no way to put back The spring😅

Thank you so much for the informative videos , you explain everything in such great detail . If ever I need to know how do do something I often watch your videos . Great job thank you .

you could use copper grease for the noise on the parts where the metal was worn!

Thanks for this. Super clear stuff.

What an easy and well explained video. Thank you so much.

50’s kid HERO!

clean and quick job,,,awesome mechanic and helper you are👌

Your the man, you make the best videos

Very well done, 50s

Thanks man it worked👍 Although I didn't hear any clicks. I just took a guess

Thank you much 50skid thanks to you i was able to tackle this job today😬

This kid needs to do this !! thanks uncle!!

love your videos bro. keep up the good work. question, will this work on a 2003 e46 m3? and secondly why 10 clicks?

Man, you are teaching me stuff.

Thank you before this my e brake Would barely engage at the very top click now it engages correctly

Brilliant video.. very helpful as always. 👍

Thanks alot for your detailed DIY .. that was really helpful

Great job,thanks for this video

Love your videos, very detailed

You made this real easy!! Thank a ton!

Great job! Going to do this over the weekend.

Brilliant!! Very helpful and well explained. :)

Thanks man helped me do it on my 01’ 330i e46, I did one side perfect but had troubles its the other side when i change my breaks ill perfect the tricky side

🙌🙌🙌 thank you, worked on my car!!

Beautiful video man. Quick, clear, precise Thank you :-)

Great video like always. Just in case I looked the calibration in the e46 manual and it's correct 👍

You are the bomb. Again, saved me large $. Thanks!

Outstanding tutorial! What I wanna know is how does your wheels spin so easily?! Even with rotor off mine have resistance in neutral?

For everyone out there, you do the same for the E90 models

I used to have possibly the same problem with rear brake noise. Reason was shitty brake pads with short and weak springs which attaches to the piston on the inner brake pad. It also made the same dents as you have possibly during the rattle. It got fixed by changing brake pads (the were like new by the way) for more expensive ones. Also had once brake noise from one of the park brake pegs which got loose and kept spinning in the drum. It happened because the hole in splash guard where it attaches rotted away. Unfortunately replacing the splash guard is a big thing so I'm hoping my fix by using hammer only will do the job until I find the way to replace the splash guard without taking the bearing and everything off.

Im a real fan!!

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. Very helpful to me.

Super helpful ! Thanks

Hey, great video. Thanks. But there is confusion as to what 10 clicks is exactly, because we can't hear a click sometimes or our screwdriver slips and makes a sounds we think is a click... More accurate way for set looseness for the wheel/drums at rest. after we get to what we think 10 clicks is... Put the wheel back on. Turn the wheel with two hands, and let it go. It should close to one full turn if it is set correctly. If it only goes half way, loosen the star adjuster, using one lug hole open and the flat-head screwdriver now that the wheel is on, until it makes very close to one full turn. If it turns more than one full turn, tighten the start wheel... Now, you won't have to be worried that your wheel is dragging.

You are missing your caliper hardware that should go over where you are seeing the wear brother. Great video!!

You are the best

Is there something you can do if your shoe adjusters are totally seized, short of replacing the whole parking brake mechanism?

I just did this job on my e46 2 days ago, locks at 3 clicks , but I find it doesn’t hold as well as before clean and adjust ! I’m guessing they will bed in with time ???