Hey guys

Just swapped in new hoses, rotors, and pads on all four wheels. I went to bleed the brakes as usual, but like a moron I realized I let the reservoir go dry while changing the hoses out. Now, the driver's side rear bleed valve has no fluid coming out of it. In fact, I removed the hose from the brake line, and no fluid came out of there either. What gives? I'm guessing, maybe a substantial air bubble in the line (pressure bleeder couldn't get anything through, though) or the ABS unit shut the valve on that pipe because of the substantial pressure difference after removing the hose.

 

Pressure bleeding is by far the best method, with a hose style catch container, so air does not get back into the system.
If you have not done this before, get someone that has to help you, as it can be frustrating!
This goes on the brake resirvior

and this:
this one goes on the bleeder.

The old way is hard to do successfully, as if a large amount of air gets in, the abs system makes manual bleeding a tough issue.

 

Remember that if you chuck the brake pedal down the fluid will not run out.

 

I made the mistake of trying to flush and fill my R56 after changing rotors and pads. Ended up getting just enough brakes so I could take it to my independent Mini tech. Luckily he had the BMW computer software that could cycle the ABS system and get all the air out.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. I just got an OBD2 tool that can initiate an ABS bleed service, so tomorrow I'm going to take another whack at it. Should be fun.