After hunting for the issue, turns out one of the bolts for my R56 front brakes was not just loose, but entirely fell out today. (The worse nails on a chalkboard anybody could ever hear) It was one of the bolts that holds the carrier to the rest of the car. See one of the bolts from part #4: http://new.minimania.com/part/G2NMB4...8-59-Cooper--S

Would anybody be able to point me in the direction of where I could pick up just the bolt and not the entire assembly? Would the dealership carry just the bolt, or would I be able to find a bolt like this at Lowe's or Home Depot? I'm having a he11 of a time trying to find even what this bolt is called or the specs for it.

Thank you in advance!

 

Look up the part number on realoem.com, then go to ECStuning.com and do a search for that part number. Click add to cart, etc...

or go to your local dealer with the part number.

 

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...23&hg=34&fg=05

I'm seeing the bolt I need, but it's not clearly labelled: #2 bolt unlabeled (not the #5 bolt)

 

There is no #2 bolt. Are you sure it's not #5. That would be a M12x1.5x32

EDIT: It definitely #5, same bolt in your first link to mini mania.

http://new.minimania.com/part/G2NMB4...8-59-Cooper--S

 

Yea, looks like you need number 5 : Compare it to the one you are replacing. Part # 34116772428 size: M12x1.5x32

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/34116772428/ES2676317/



Thanks

 

Indeed it was #5! Thanks!

 

According to the manual, those bolts are supposed to be replaced when removed (yeah, right). The dealer should have them in stock. They are also supposed to have loctite on them. I just did my brakes this weekend and there wasn't loctite on the bolts (front or rear). Make sure you use some when you replace the bolt (81 ft/lbs on the bolt).

 

No way are those bolts routinely replaced. I needed a set for my brake upgrade kit (poor man's JCW) and neither local dealer had them in stock.

 

I reused mine too. Just brushed them clean and put a drop of Loctite on the threads and set them aside to dry while I worked on replacing the rotors.

 

Does anybody know about the other set of bolts (the ones that hold the caliper to the carrier) in terms of using Loctite & torque rating? Perhaps the issue I am having is when I replaced the brakes, I wasn't following these guidelines. (seriously, I figured that if I torqued it as hard as I could with my fat socket wrench, all would be fine)

 

So what happens if you reuse bolts w/o loctite ? What is the likelihood of an unhappy ending ?

 

I never used loctite on mine, just t'q'd to the proper spec using the same bolts

I've done front rotors for myself and several others and nothing has fallen off yet.

but I AM talking GEN1 cars here and the questions above have bounced between GEN by posts . . . OP says the problem is on R56 but sig line says he has 2004 S aka R53 . . . bolts are NOT the same


Haynes for GEN1 says nothing about not reusing the bolts or L'T on anything . . .


***************

if you do use Loctite be sure you use BLUE and not RED

RED generally requires HEAT to get it to break loose when you need to remove the fastener . . .

 

I had my brakes changed a couple of months ago and had the same thing happen to me. Although the shop I went to did a terrible job, so much so that I had to talk to the manager and get a full refund. They put rotors on wrong, damned caliper boot, damaged wheel hub, and also put pads on the wrong side (inside pads were on outside on all 4 wheels). But I was driving around and heard a weird scraping noise by the wheel. When I looked the caliper was sliding forward because the top bolt fell out. I'm joy sure it was because they did a terrible job or because they used the same bolts without any loctite. I just went to the dealer and the gave me 4 new bolts with loctite already on for free! They said they could put them on for free but couldn't because of liability issues. They did tell me that they replace them every time they change out the brake pads.

 

There was loctite on those bolts when I removed them and the manual says to use it as well. 35 ft/lbs.

 

the manual

WHAT MANUAL?

 

This is very good info. (And yes, I have a R53 w/ "poor man's JCW brakes")

Learning lesson for all of us:

-Use loctite on all 4 bolts for each brake caliper
-Torque to specs and don't trust your "arm torque wrench" for something so important.

Thanks all!

 

Yes, I decided that if I was going to work on my MINI that I needed the proper tools including torque wrenches to make sure that bolts were tightened correctly.