Just another suggestion for those that don't want to use the harbor freight tool to push in the pistons. Its a great package which I plan on ordering, but I just replaced my brake pads using one of these.

Costs only $8 from an auto parts store and works fine.

So, I did my rear pads this morning. And now my parking brake / e-brake light will not go off. The parking brake works - it stops the car when engaged and releases completely - but the light stays on. :( And my DSC light comes on solid after driving a couple of miles. I've cycled the e-brake a dozen times or so, and the light is still on.

One thing I noticed is that when putting the passenger's side caliper back on, the brake lines were pulling the calper a bit. I'd set the caliper in place, and the top of the caliper would pull away from where I'd set it.

Tomorrow, I'm going to pull the calipers back off again and see if possibly there's a line that's bound up a bit. I'm assuming that while the brake line is hydraulic, the e-brake is a mechanical affair which actually could bind.

I have no idea why the DSC light comes on after a few miles. It turns off when I turn the car off, stays off when I start the car up, and after driving 2 miles or so it comes back on.

Anybody have any brilliant advice? I've gotten fairly proficient at changing front pads, but this was my first time doing the rear pads - I ended up using the C-clamp method to get the piston retracted as I couldn't get enough "push" on the piston while turning it with a pair of needle nose pliers (it would spin but not retract).

I deserve an "RTFM" for the handbrake light issue. The manual says "if the light stays on with the handbrake released, check the brake fluid level". I had removed some brake fluid from the master cylinder before compressing the pistons (so I wouldn't push brake fluid over the top of the MC). When I was done, the fluid level was above the MIN mark, so I left it alone. But I guess the MIN mark doesn't make the light happy.

I added some brake fluid, and now the handbrake light goes off.

Time to see if it magically fixed my DSC light also.

DSC light is now normal too. Yay! My dash no longer resembles a Christmas tree. :D

Bump for this to be added to the How-to Sticky in Preformance mods so I don't have to keep searching Octane Guy's list of created threads.

Hi all.

I have just finished my job. It was a Bugger! But I will probably try it again.

The Rear Left Piston was stiff to push back, with a little persuasion we finaly managed it, I managed to slide the inner pad onto the piston, the side clips pushed the rubber boot out of the way as they went on, I made sure the front clip did not pinch the rubber boot as is went into place.

The Rear Right caliper did not want to come of with any amount of wiggling. In the end I had to use a block of soft wood and a hammer to knock it of. The wood was placed against the back of the old pad and not the rotor!

The Rear Right piston would only go in a few turns, It would rotate fairly freely but would not accept any amount of inward force once the 'nut' on the harbour freight tool was tightend.

In the end I had to release the bleeder valve, fortunatly I had some tubing and a pal so I gould go and get some dot 4 break fluid.
Once the tube was on the bleeder valve I opened it up and could pust the piston in, expelling break fluid as I went.

After re-assembling the breaks as above I reopend the bleeder valve and continued with flushing the break system.

I did not intend to do a break flush today but there ya go it's done now. The whole thing took propbably about 3 1/2 working hours, not including trips to get break fluid.

I could not belive it was the hydraulic system holding the piston out but it appears that it was. I think I will just make sure I am prepared to bleed any breaks as well as change the pads next time.

P.
:)

Hmm I was having similar difficulty getting any real compression of the pistion until I remember on my previous car hoiw much easier life was with the resivoir cap opened. Saved my having to bleed he system and I didn't even spill any fluid. Just a tought for next time or the next person maybe save a little work. But I usually need to bleed the lines anyways cause I have a habit of coooking up the DOT 4 (3 times a season on DOT 4 is still cheaper than once with DOT 5 but yes I probably will upgrade before too long).

What are torque settings for bolts which hold on

front calipers

rear calipers

thanks

BTW,
I recently did my brakes. No problem at all removing Torx bold, but I had periodically sprayed PB Blaster on them when I had the wheels off so they never rusted on.
I put rear pad which has springy wires that hold it onto the piston, on the piston before bolting the caliper onto the car. It was pretty easy that way.

I ordered, and received, "speedbleeders"

http://speedbleeder.com/size.htm

Correct size is SB1010S 4@$7.00

Plus silicone hose for $3.00

They promise to greatly simplify bleeding brakes. I haven't tried them yet. Am gonna get the stainess brakelines and put them on all together.

According to my newly received Father's Day gift of the Bently Service Manual, page 340-20, brake pad carrier torque values are 110 Nm / 81 Ft-lb front, 65 Nm / 48 Ft-lb rear and caliper to brake pad carrier (7mm Allen) is 25-30 Nm / 18-22 Ft-lb. Hope this helps as I'm waiting for my Green Stuff pads to come in for me to tackle both front and rear.

Cheers!!

Gotta work smarter!!
 

“Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make proud.” Read that somewhere and should've remembered it.

I’d replaced pads on disks and drums before and wasn’t ready to pay the Netherland BMW folks ~$300 for front and rear service. Surely, I could do this job with the correct tools, of course, and I already had the EBC reds replacement pads. So, after waiting for ~35 days for the Harbor Freight caliper tool for disk brakes kit to get into my APO, I buy the front and rear wear sensors from the local BMW shop. Brake wear light had been on for ~500 miles but no wear noise/squeaking until two weeks ago. I’d studied up extensively from Bentlys, Haynes, and here in order to be prepared. The photos in this thread were very helpful except that I had to replace my wear sensor indicators, which were the only real problems I had during the whole job. Unfortunately, neither Bentlys nor Haynes even describe the process for the wear sensor. Easily 60% of my time was spent dealing with the sensors alone. Otherwise, my time was eaten up dealing with an inadequate floor jack and ensuring I didn’t loose too much brake fluid. Typically, when I lift Maggie, my Mini, I lift a side and had not lifted ends before. Just figuring that out with the garbage jack and stands I had cost me time. The next hardest procedure was in ensuring that I did not damage the rubber caliper boots whilst recompressing them. Starting with the right front, removal was just as per the write up in the thread, except that I really had to prise the sensor out of the pads before I could fully remove the pads. Since I was replacing them anyways, I was none too gentle, however, I wanted to be careful to not damage the ABS sensor line which lays alongside the wear sensor line. Tracing the line up behind the splash guard, I was too lazy to remove it and was able to reach in behind it to switch ends. Getting to the rears, I had to fight getting the old sensor off because, unlike the front, there were zip ties, a weird chassis clip and a buried mount on the chassis for the connector. The cable runs from the back of the caliper, behind the strut and up to the frame rail above the splash guard. A little more laziness and fear of really screwing up, I did not take the bottom side molding off. I don’t know if the job would’ve gone faster doing so but I won’t the next time I replace the pads, now that I (kinda/sorta) know what I’m doing. Since the connector is way up under the rail and behind the ABS connector, I spent about 15 minutes doing some serious hand origami getting that connector to release. Once it was off, the new one clicked in OK and both sides were easy, per the thread notes.

All in all, not too bad. I’ve learned that I need a better floor jack but am more than ready to do this job again. Also, now that the job is done, I've found several threads by OctaneGuy that cover front and rear wear sensors. Sheesh! If I’d’a known that! Hope this helps the next guy.

Cheers!!

Excellent write-up. One of the easiest brake jobs I've ever done.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...04909_copy.jpg

The pins on the Harbor Freight tool aren't perfect, but they are good enough. I've found that the key is getting the pins into the holes on the caliper and then backing out the adjustment nut so that the tool is very firmly held in place... Then you turn the handle to compress the piston by 1/4 turn, back the nut out again, compress the piston 1/4 turn, back the nut out again..... repeat until fully compressed. Take your time and don't get greedy, trying to compress the piston with 1/2 turn or the pins will come out of the holes and you will spend a lot of time resetting everything. It's a bit fussy, but the price of the tool makes it worth it (when compared to the $300 BMW version).

I don't know, the Harbor Freight tool worked perfectly on mine. The pins never slipped out of the piston holes and the only thing that slowed me down was the seal. Everything else went like butter ... to my surprise :)

Squeaking
 

Thanks for all the detail and the pics. Over last weekend I replaced the rear pads and rotors. The rotors came from BMW and I purchased mintex pads from Moss Motors. The car has been driven 275 miles and there is a slight squeak as it comes to a stop. Should the inside pad be clipped to the caliper some how? What could the problem be? :confused:

Check post #33
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...6&postcount=33

Squeaking continued
 

Now that was a quick response, from the picture it looks like you slide all three clips around the caliper. Ill redo them in the morning before work, thanks.

Yeah, I'm still at my shop working..lol. Restoring some computer files.

Yep, the clips just slide on to the piston. I killed a pad before realizing this had to be done--because it just dragged against the rotor--never retracting.

Richard

Clips
 

Do all three clips fit around the rear caliper? The calipers are retracted to the point where i had to pull back the rubber to see the grove. The top clip was easy to attach but the others were a struggle. Any advice on attaching the ones on the sides?

The answer is so stunningly simple that you will wonder why you didn't figure it out sooner. Well that's how I felt, lol. Just slide the pad down so the wires fit into the grooves. Try it, it works. =)

Richard

Yep... There has to be a better picture somewhere on how to attach the inside rear pad to the piston. Think of it as 'inserting the pad into it's final location in the caliper' instead of 'inserting the pad into the caliper and then pressing it against the piston'.

Once you do it the first time, it's obvious how it works... the problem is getting git right the first time! :D

OG, That's actually a pretty good pic:

http://c3club.org/builder/img/brakepads/DSCN4845.jpg

In this pic, imagine holding the pad above the piston and sliding the pad straight down so that the wire clips on the back of the pad engage the groove cast into the piston.

It's easier to see in this pic because the piston is fully extended (you must have really worn those old pads out!). Once you compress the piston, the groove tends to get shrouded by the rubber dust boot. You can still squeeze the dust boot to see and engage the grooves, but just be careful of the boot... it can be damaged fairly easily (learned by experience on my old car).

What not to do when changing pads and rotor...rear.
 

Well maybe a side note for those that didn't get the Harbor Freight tool right away.

I tried needle nose pliers rotating and pushing til I got pinch blisters on my hand.

Here is what not to do:

DO NOT ROTATE PISTON TO THE LEFT. It comes out VERY quickly, I ended up running to HF and getting the tool. I also tried the little cube but that didn't have the right locating pin width.

I forced the piston in while using just the HF tool to turn it as I blocked it against my hand and part of the underside of the car. I then got the piston in enough to get the push plate from the tool in the caliper.

Right side of brakes (leisurely) 5 hours. The left side 12 mins.... :thumbsup:

The detailed write-up was great, even for a first timer like myself. That little cube for the pistons didnt fit so i went to my local kragen to RENT the piston compressor tool. It did however cost me $120 to rent it, but when i returned it, my money was refunded. Saved me a bunch instead of buying my own kit. Hope this helps

I have just compleated my brake job and i didn't use the brake tool i got the little square thing from autozone for $9 and it worked perfect just turned it and it went in i dont know about the whole pushing thing i just cranked it back down (pushed a bit but more just to keep the tool on the piston) mine is a 2005 so i dont know if they changed something but you dont need the 150 mini tool or the 30 harbor freight tool just the $9 autozone tool :thumbsup:

it does fit just not the way you think it should the side with the 4 weird shaped pegs work you just use 2 of them it dosnt sit straight in there kinda lopsided but it worked great and for 9 bux! (would cost about that in gas to get and return the tool)

Thanks for the Writeup
 

I have an MCS04 and will be ready for a brake job in a year or so. I was impressed with the thoroughness of your thread. In anticipation I bought the brake compression tool. As an avid DIYer, I inquired abt the shop manual and was given a prohibitive price (around $3K). Is the Bently manual fairly comprehensive?. Also, would not a plain 7 mm allen wrench work (with a sml pipe for leverage?). Anyway, thanks for the great article. geo

Thanks and welcome to NAM (first post!).

The Bentley manual is definitely worth the money. Any of the tools I showed in the writeup were just what I had on hand and felt worked for my situation. You should by all means use whatever you have to improve upon the process. I did this writeup quite a few years ago and it was mostly to help me remember what I did for future brake jobs! :lol:

Richard

as an FYI for people that messed up like i did. I didnt put the clip on the psiton at first and after a track day when i went to slide the clips onto the piston the wires broke off from being smashed. Luckily i had my original pads and it was easy enough to remove all three clips and install them on my hawk HPS pad

The gift that keeps on giving... this article has been up for years but it still gets used... it's time for me to do my first MINI brake job... two '03s waiting in the driveway... but first, off to my local Harbor Freight store!

Very grateful to find such a helpful article and website.

Harbor Freight in Memphis has these kits for $19.99 !!!!

HF sales
 

Yep - if it isn't "on sale" this week....it will be next week....

don't forget...HF has the DYNAPLUG now too, and the SLIME kits with pump....

I just did my Clubman rears and my caliper pistons didnt have those holes. It had a pattern with no holes....a solid center with 4 or 5 'rays' leading to the outer edge. Fortunately I didnt need to push the pistons back in anyways but there must be a special tool for the new setup.....hopefully:sad:

How can a clubman need brakes already?

I was tired of the brake dust battle so I put Carbotech pads on it and it has worked out GREAT! Better stopping and no dust!

He/she didn't have to compress the pistons, so I'd bet that it was to replace the stock pads with some higher-performance or less-dusting aftermarket pads... swapping new pads for new pads.

It figures... I just plunked down list price two weeks ago. :sad:

HF is that way--they have sales all the time--sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose...but that tool is one of the rare HF tools that won't break the first time you use it, lol.

Yesterday I heard an awful scraping sound, pulled over, and realized that the sound was coming from the rear rotors. I pulled the wheel and found that the passenger side pad was worn down to the backing plate. The inner pad was fine--wasn't even worn down to the sensor.

Took me about 30 minutes to replace the pads and get back on the road. The HF tool worked great! It's not perfect--you have to align the pins, tighten the tool, crank the piston in a bit--it gets loose again--align the pins--tighten the tool, and crank it some more--making sure the piston boot doesn't get tweaked or torn.

Richard

awesome write up.....please post more projects as you come across doing them

damaging abs components
 

is there any danger of damaging abs speed sensors when changing the brakes? what should i be looking for and how do i avoid damaging it?

Thanks! Certainly will!
Not that I'm aware of. Of course if you're aren't confident in your ability to change your pads, you probably shouldn't be doing it. I've given as much detail as necessary for any 1st gen MINI owner to change their pads.