1999 BMW 328i (E46) – Rear Brake Servicing Part 1

Hey Everyone,

so continuing on with the BMW project, the next thing on the to-do list was to service the left rear brake that was dragging on the car. The process we took to service this brake is relatively similar to what we presented last year with the Mk.4 Jetta. And like with that pair of videos, we have split them up similarly, with Part 1 focusing on disassembling the brake and servicing the piston, and part 2 dealing with cleaning everything else up and putting it back together. So there’s probably only a couple key points with servicing the rear brakes of this E46 sedan that is different from what we’ve shown before, both of which are talked about in the video.

1. There isn’t much space to maneuver the caliper to be able to work on it easily. For whatever reason, the brake line is routed around the rear axle and control arm assembly in such a way that there’s essentially no slack in the line. While we did remove a bolt out of one of the suspension bushings in an attempt to route the caliper through to the left side of the fender, we had no luck with that.
2. The Parking brake isn’t part of the caliper. We were both a bit surprised by this, instead it is the older type that essentially operates like a little drum brake on the inside of the rotor. It’s highly corroded on this car, so a future video will document the replacement of this critical part so that we can get this car on the road this spring.

Enjoy the video, and check out Part 2 for the conclusion!