Emergengy Brake

#1

I recently purchased a 1988 325is, and the E brake is stuck in the up position. Can anyone share some advise on how to release it or disconnect it. Thanks

#2

I just took mine out–quite easy. It would be nice to have I just felt it would be too much time to try to fix.
Just do not try to unload from a trailer without someone around, esp. if one of the ramps come off!!

#3

the brake boot has a few metal clips holding it in place. Just pull up on it and slide it off. The cable can be disconnected or adjusted at the bottom of the handle. you should be able to see why its stuck as soon as you take the boot off.

#4

Remove the boot and loosen the two nuts at the end of the adjustment cables. That should release any tension on the handle and allow you to lower it.

If the e-brakes remain stuck after that, you will probably have to dig into the e-brake assemblies on the rear hubs. There is a good description of how to disassemble the e-brakes in the Bentley manual. If you do dig into the e-brake assemblies, I suggest you do it one at a time so you have a complete assembly to look at for reference. The parts that the cable pulls to expand the shoes go together a certain way and they fall apart when you pull the pin holding them to the cable.

I recently had to remove my e-brake assemblies to pull the trailing arms. The hardest part was getting the pins that hold the brake shoes back in the slots behind the shoes.

#5

thanks