[cruxxe]

Well, I'm not a big do-it-yourself, but I used to work on my Camaro back in the day so I thought why not give a brake job a shot.

I ordered the Bentley repair manual, parts from getbmwparts.com, and I'm set to go.

Here's the list of shit that went wrong.

1) Poor selection of tools. 3 trips to the autoparts later I think I have everything I need. I should of just bought a damn metric socket set and get it over with. Poor reading ahead on my part; should of read forum guides.

2) Tried to install rear rotor on front; cracked roter. Seriously. I just want to admit this to someone because I'm a dumbass for doing this, and all I had to do was compare the rotors to discover that they're not all identical. Flames welcome.

3) FINALLY finish the driver front. Getting dark. Go to slam dunk the passenger side. Floor mount to jack up car is MISSING. WTF. All the others are there, but nope; not the passenger front. My jack won't fit to the center jack point. Going to have to buy ramps...I think.

I'm quitting today. Going to try this again later. Off to hang myself, cya.

[cruxxe]

Question: If the plastic piece at the jack location is missing, is it safe to jack it up at the same point?

[phistyle]

cool story bro

[RaceBlood]

well, at least you will have new brakes when its done...eventually.

[avocet]

That sucks, but your learnin. And you haven't screwed up too bad! Lol. Dont worry, I f#cked up so much crap on my cars over the years it's not funny.
Do not just jack up from where the pad should be. You
might beable to use a small piece of wood, but be careful. You don't seem too experienced with this stuff, so slow down and methodically go about the job.
Having a jack slip could be costly at best and catastrophic at worst.
Read up, and understand the job beginning to end before you start. Doing brakes is an easy job with the right tools and mindset.

[DnA Diesel]

I see you're from Texas, so you may have a harder time finding them, but hockey pucks shaved down on the sides make a good jack point replacement.

[cruxxe]

Thanks for the support guys. I'm not going to get a chance to tackle the passenger side until Tuesday so plenty of time to think it through.

I was going to use a piece of wood since hockey pucks aren't really available around here (did see them for $30 at Amazon; might check Walmart) where I'm missing that jack support piece. I'm quite a bit hesitant to do that though; don't want to make things worse.

I also thought about maybe prying off one of the rear ones since I'll be waiting for a new rotor anyway, but I haven't found to many people that have posted their experiences with replacing them. I'm thinking they just pop off with enough force, but to re-use?

I couldn't find the part at Tischer to replace the one I'm missing, so I'll need to call Tischer on Monday and see if they can point me in the right direction.

Side note: I'm a little bummed on the Bentley repair manual. It didn't really detail socket sizes and I had to keep coming back to the DIY guides. I hope it'll come in useful later, cause it was pretty expensive.

[ENINTY]

Okay, this is no big deal. Just take one of the jack pads from the other side of the car that you are not jacking up and snap it in place of the missing one. All four jack pads are the same and just snap on and off.

Here is the P/N for the jack pad.

21 SUPPORT LIFTING PLATFORM 4 51717237195 $13.80

The pads can come off if road debris hits the underside of you car, so buy a whole set of 4 and keep them the next time you find one missing...

[cruxxe]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

Okay, this is no big deal. Just take one of the jack pads from the other side of the car that you are not jacking up and snap it in place of the missing one. All four jack pads are the same and just snap on and off.

Here is the P/N for the jack pad.

21 SUPPORT LIFTING PLATFORM 4 51717237195 $13.80

The pads can come off if road debris hits the underside of you car, so buy a whole set of 4 and keep them the next time you find one missing...

Awesome; thank you!

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by cruxxe

Awesome; thank you!

Even though I recommend getting the Bentley repair manual, I think it lacks in a few areas as well, but it is better than not having any documentation at all. Sorry, I didn't read you last post all the way, I now see that you did consider using another pad.

If you are going to work on your car, then get a decent metric tool set from Craftsman (not the crap the sell at autozone). The E90 uses a lot of specialty fasteners like Torx and E-Torx bolts, Allen-head bolts, and get a good set of 1/4 drive sockets and extension bars and 1/4 universals.

Also get a BMW scan tool; you need a BMW scan tool to maintain the E90. The thing always throws codes that don't illuminate the Service Engine Soon (SES) - OBDII light. If you are near 100,000 miles start checking for water pump slow speed codes.

[cruxxe]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

Even though I recommend getting the Bentley repair manual, I think it lacks in a few areas as well, but it is better than not having any documentation at all. Sorry, I didn't read you last post all the way, I now see that you did consider using another pad.

If you are going to work on your car, then get a decent metric tool set from Craftsman (not the crap the sell at autozone). The E90 uses a lot of specialty fasteners like Torx and E-Torx bolts, Allen-head bolts, and get a good set of 1/4 drive sockets and extension bars and 1/4 universals.

Also get a BMW scan tool; you need a BMW scan tool to maintain the E90. The thing always throws codes that don't illuminate the Service Engine Soon (SES) - OBDII light. If you are near 100,000 miles start checking for water pump slow speed codes.

I'm really thinking about cleaning up this brake issue and then selling privately to break as even as possible, and getting a CPO 08-09'. I made a big mistake when I bought this car and went through Carmax. Won't ever do that again.

I forgot to mention; when I removed my old driver side front rotor I noticed that it had a lip along the end - where you see the pad where on it. Does this mean that these have been turned in the past? The new rotors are smooth from contact surface to edge-of-rotor.

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by cruxxe

I'm really thinking about cleaning up this brake issue and then selling privately to break as even as possible, and getting a CPO 08-09'. I made a big mistake when I bought this car and went through Carmax. Won't ever do that again.

I forgot to mention; when I removed my old driver side front rotor I noticed that it had a lip along the end - where you see the pad where on it. Does this mean that these have been turned in the past? The new rotors are smooth from contact surface to edge-of-rotor.

BMW's rotors are pretty soft to begin with so it is normal to see that kind of wear. How many miles are on your car. Do you know if this is the first, or second brake service on it.

All I can say, is my '06 325i has been pretty reliable. I'm now at 164,000 miles and drive mine 800 miles a week. With the info in this forum, there is not much you can't know about keeping and maitaining your car.

[cruxxe]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

How many miles are on your car. Do you know if this is the first, or second brake service on it.

I'm at 78k. Unfortunately the previous owner didn't document anything so I'm not sure if this is the first.

Selling is still really up in the air. I owe about 12.8k on it now at 2.99%, payments are at 408/month. It's not a horrible payment but maintenance is kicking my ass with having a newborn. That's why I wanted to do this brake job myself. I was quoted $1100 from an Indy shop, $1400 at the dealer.

I was able to get parts from Tischer for about $630, plus another $100 in tools I needed. New rotors for rear is going to run me about $100 more for the mistake (learning lesson I guess), but I'm still saving money. I'm not sure how much I can do myself though; brakes is about the tip of the iceberg.

If anything goes wrong with this car I'll really be up a creek.

[cruxxe]

Had some help with watching my son today, so decided to tackle the passenger front. 45 minutes (better than 6 hours)! The back jack plate popped off fairly easily, and now I"ll keep it in the trunk for future use. ONE big thing I noticed.

The sensor was missing.

I'm not talking just the sensor to the connector at the wheel base, I'm talking the sensor, to the base inside the car; it's gone. WTF?

I installed everything without it, but what am I supposed to do now?

[spiike32]

if you're doing a brake change... why in the world would you drive up on ramps? just go to the dealer and get another jack pad

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by cruxxe

I'm really thinking about cleaning up this brake issue and then selling privately to break as even as possible, and getting a CPO 08-09'. I made a big mistake when I bought this car and went through Carmax. Won't ever do that again.

I forgot to mention; when I removed my old driver side front rotor I noticed that it had a lip along the end - where you see the pad where on it. Does this mean that these have been turned in the past? The new rotors are smooth from contact surface to edge-of-rotor.

Lip is normal. I have it on my front rotors which are the second set of rotors on my car. I'm at 72K.

[MCOChuck]

Originally Posted by cruxxe

Had some help with watching my son today, so decided to tackle the passenger front. 45 minutes (better than 6 hours)! The back jack plate popped off fairly easily, and now I"ll keep it in the trunk for future use. ONE big thing I noticed.

The sensor was missing.

I'm not talking just the sensor to the connector at the wheel base, I'm talking the sensor, to the base inside the car; it's gone. WTF?

I installed everything without it, but what am I supposed to do now?

Pretty sure there's only a sensor on front drivers side and rear passenger.

[cruxxe]

Originally Posted by MCOChuck

Pretty sure there's only a sensor on front drivers side and rear passenger.

Ah, then that makes sense now. Phew! I thought there was something else wrong with my car.

I'll probably get the new rear rotors in next week sometime so for now, I'll just have to be content with new front brakes. Last thing I need to do is to clear the brake code, which Bentley says to hold in the keybox in the accessory position for 30 seconds.

I tried that before closing up yesterday and it's still on, so going to research a bit more and make sure I'm doing it right.

When it says accessory position, I'm assuming it means pushed in and held.

[apc3libras]

Reading this thread makes me scared to do anything myself because I haven't done too much DIY in the past, but I really want to start. I just have no tools, ramps, etc.

BTW, do you think the Bentley manual is worth it?

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by avocet

That sucks, but your learnin.

This.

I don't know how many DIY jobs I botched over the years.... But each time I botched one, it ensured I never did it again. Just keep your head up and plow through it.

[cruxxe]

Originally Posted by ragingclue

This.

I don't know how many DIY jobs I botched over the years.... But each time I botched one, it ensured I never did it again. Just keep your head up and plow through it.

I hear ya - just through that whole rotor odeal; damn. I sat there awestruck when I realized the mistake. It's tough to go through but I agree - I'll never do that again. Ever.

apc3libras - The book is pretty big. Highschool textbook big. I'm sure there's stuff in there I'll eventually find useful, but for this particular brake job it didn't really tell me socket sizes and tools needed. The pictures and directions are very clear however, and I did use it to disassemble everything, but if you've ever done brakes it's pretty obvious what you'll need to do.

In the beginning of the book there is a breakdown of changes over the years, which I found pretty cool to look at. If you plan on keeping the car, I think it's worth it and if you keep it in decent condition, I'm sure it'll be worth something when you decide to sell.

[apc3libras]

Originally Posted by cruxxe

I hear ya - just through that whole rotor odeal; damn. I sat there awestruck when I realized the mistake. It's tough to go through but I agree - I'll never do that again. Ever.

apc3libras - The book is pretty big. Highschool textbook big. I'm sure there's stuff in there I'll eventually find useful, but for this particular brake job it didn't really tell me socket sizes and tools needed. The pictures and directions are very clear however, and I did use it to disassemble everything, but if you've ever done brakes it's pretty obvious what you'll need to do.

In the beginning of the book there is a breakdown of changes over the years, which I found pretty cool to look at. If you plan on keeping the car, I think it's worth it and if you keep it in decent condition, I'm sure it'll be worth something when you decide to sell.

Thanks for this. Will probably get the book and some tools for Christmas so I can start doing some of the easier stuff.