Excellent video, a few point that may help others. Caliper slide bolts are 7mm allen on bmw calipers and 6mm on aftermarket. Bleed nipple is 9mm spanner/socket on bmw and aftermarket 8mm. Never put copper slip on wheel bolts, it causes over torque and not something you want working loose either just clean with a wire brush. Lay down an old towel and or cardboard to catch any drips of brake fluid and don't get on paintwork/skin as corrosive. Avoid copper slip as with the amount of heat in brake components will bind brakes eventually. Ceramic brake grease is better and a much higher temp range. Most slide pins will need wire brushing to get build all up off and prevent prematurely binding. Always position bleed kits higher than bleed nipple to encourage air bubbles to expel and avoid air entering caliper before it's retightened. Only just nip up bleed nipple and clean and recheck for leaks after pulsating pedal. Very fragile and will shear off and snap if over tightened. Only use dot 4 or 5.1 brake fluid. Also as rear wheel drive, just leave in 1st gear with handbrake on and no need to chock wheels then. 👍
Excellent video thanks so much. Just replaced the sticking calliper on my sons Z4. Never done one before but now feel like experts thanks to your video. Cheers
Update.....i resolved my problem by stripping down the brakes to the point where you would change pads, extending the piston by pumping the brakes , using flat head screwdriver gently peel back the rubber boot spray some penetrating fluid and give it a bit of a clean ,grease (I used high temp silicone grease). Compress the piston back in ,Then extended the piston again by pumping the brakes ,clean piston, again compress hopefully now it will feel easier to compress if not repeat , rebuild/reassemble brakes , this has worked for me , also my hex was 8mm not 7mm ( mines genuine BMW caliper)
Do NOT let a steel screw driver near the rubber boot or the piston surface. If you scratch the surface of the piston it will be done, itll start leaking, start damaging the oring and eventually it will fail badly
Question: a week ago I got my brake pads replaced no rotors just pads. Ever since then my steering wheel has been shaking horribly while driving and while braking. Is it possible that the mechanic seized my caliper due to not installing the new pads correctly? I returned and they said my brake hoses were bad. They replaced those and still …shaking. I’m not sure if he took the brake fluid cap off before compressing the caliper. But my car didn’t shake at all before he put the new pads in.
Sorry you’re having problems with your car. If the caliper is seized then it will get very hot, if you go for a drive then you can normally feel that the alloy wheel itself will be warmer to the touch than the others, mine was actually smoking from the heat. Or you can try jacking up that wheel if you have one and see if it spins freely. It may also be that the wheel needs rebalancing, one of the weights that stick to the inside of the wheel may have come off at some point causing the juddering. Hopefully you get it sorted and let me know if you find out the problem.
Great video, I have a seized caliper on my z3 so going to give this a bash at the weekend. What colour are your alloys? I am looking at doing mine gunmetal silver but yours look a tad lighter. Looks great.
Should go well, apart from mine is a 1998 2.8 so guessing it won't go as straight forward and a few swear words maybe said 😂. Thanks for the video. Will have a look at that colour as mine is also silver. 👍
How important is it to bolt down the slide pins to spec? I dont have that small of a torque wrench Great video, by the way, super simple to follow along
Thanks, glad it helped. When it comes to brakes I’d make sure they are done up tight if you don’t have a small torque wrench. Just remember that you will want to take them off again when changing out pads or discs so don’t go superman on them.
I need help, my rear brake pads look like theyre still brand new after 2 years they arent engaging i think, and the fronts ive had changed in 2 years once
Thanks, glad it helped. Not necessary to bleed the other 3 but if you have the tools out and time to spare it would be a good idea to bleed the whole system if it hasn’t been done for a couple of years.
Thank you for your comment. Yeah in hindsight that would have been a good idea to show a refurbishment but I use the car everyday and needed to get it back on the road as soon as possible so I found it quicker to just replace the caliper. I refurbished a caliper in this video if you’re interested ua-cam.com/video/Xh671tRvDiM/v-deo.html and William Murfitt does a caliper refurb video for a Z4 too.
Why wouldn't you just pump the piston out, clean it up, grease it and push it in and out until it moves freely - put it back together - sorted - no need for buying new calipers, bleeding or a 2nd video. I've had a 3.0 Z4 for nearly 20 years
Thank you for your comment. Yeah in hindsight that would have been a good idea but I use the car everyday and needed to get it back on the road as soon as possible so I found it quicker to just replace the caliper. I refurbished a caliper in the way you described in this video if you’re interested ua-cam.com/video/Xh671tRvDiM/v-deo.html The 3.0 is the one I want to get eventually, then I’ll most likely keep it as long as we are allowed to drive petrol cars!
Yeah I suppose it is a little but I had a seized caliper and I fixed the problem so if that’s your end goal then the video serves its purpose? 🤷🏼♂️ I was going to repair it but I needed the car on the road. If you want to see how to refurbish the calipers there is a video by William Murfitt where he shows taking it apart and replacing the seals and pistons. Let me know how you get on.
I sometimes use copper grease but usually fit them dry, done it on hundreds of cars over the years. Any form of lubrication on the threads affects the torque so your 130nm isn't going to be accurate. They're actually 120nm plus/minus 10nm by the way. Done many cars with just a breaker bar no torque wrench, tight is tight.
Check out William Murfitt channel, he shows you step by step how to refurbish them. I had planned to refurbish mine but I needed to get the car back on the road quickly so I had to replace it instead.
Excellent video, a few point that may help others. Caliper slide bolts are 7mm allen on bmw calipers and 6mm on aftermarket.
Bleed nipple is 9mm spanner/socket on bmw and aftermarket 8mm.
Never put copper slip on wheel bolts, it causes over torque and not something you want working loose either just clean with a wire brush.
Lay down an old towel and or cardboard to catch any drips of brake fluid and don't get on paintwork/skin as corrosive.
Avoid copper slip as with the amount of heat in brake components will bind brakes eventually. Ceramic brake grease is better and a much higher temp range.
Most slide pins will need wire brushing to get build all up off and prevent prematurely binding.
Always position bleed kits higher than bleed nipple to encourage air bubbles to expel and avoid air entering caliper before it's retightened. Only just nip up bleed nipple and clean and recheck for leaks after pulsating pedal. Very fragile and will shear off and snap if over tightened. Only use dot 4 or 5.1 brake fluid.
Also as rear wheel drive, just leave in 1st gear with handbrake on and no need to chock wheels then. 👍
Thanks for the additional information, I’m sure people will benefit from this comment, including myself!
I’ve pinned your reply as it will really help people watching the video, thanks again.
@@db192 no worries, happy to help a fellow Z owner 👍
Extremely glad to read the comments below the video. Thank you!
Thanks for the tips!
Excellent video thanks so much. Just replaced the sticking calliper on my sons Z4. Never done one before but now feel like experts thanks to your video. Cheers
Thank you I’m glad it helped you repair your Z4.
Pro tip you can press the brake pedal down and hold it in place before disconnecting lines, it will prevent any fluid leaking except for a few drops.
Thank you for the tip
I like this guy
Update.....i resolved my problem by stripping down the brakes to the point where you would change pads, extending the piston by pumping the brakes , using flat head screwdriver gently peel back the rubber boot spray some penetrating fluid and give it a bit of a clean ,grease (I used high temp silicone grease). Compress the piston back in ,Then extended the piston again by pumping the brakes ,clean piston, again compress hopefully now it will feel easier to compress if not repeat , rebuild/reassemble brakes , this has worked for me , also my hex was 8mm not 7mm ( mines genuine BMW caliper)
Nice update, glad you got it sorted!
It was 7 mm for me
Do NOT let a steel screw driver near the rubber boot or the piston surface. If you scratch the surface of the piston it will be done, itll start leaking, start damaging the oring and eventually it will fail badly
great video, this will help me tomorrow
Glad it helped, let me know how you get on
Super‼️
👍😉😀
Question: a week ago I got my brake pads replaced no rotors just pads. Ever since then my steering wheel has been shaking horribly while driving and while braking. Is it possible that the mechanic seized my caliper due to not installing the new pads correctly? I returned and they said my brake hoses were bad. They replaced those and still …shaking. I’m not sure if he took the brake fluid cap off before compressing the caliper. But my car didn’t shake at all before he put the new pads in.
Sorry you’re having problems with your car. If the caliper is seized then it will get very hot, if you go for a drive then you can normally feel that the alloy wheel itself will be warmer to the touch than the others, mine was actually smoking from the heat. Or you can try jacking up that wheel if you have one and see if it spins freely. It may also be that the wheel needs rebalancing, one of the weights that stick to the inside of the wheel may have come off at some point causing the juddering. Hopefully you get it sorted and let me know if you find out the problem.
Do the rotors need turning?
Betterer 'n; betterer, buddy boy.
Great video, I have a seized caliper on my z3 so going to give this a bash at the weekend. What colour are your alloys? I am looking at doing mine gunmetal silver but yours look a tad lighter. Looks great.
Definitely easy enough to do at home, hope you get it sorted. The wheels are painted anthracite grey, they look good with the silver paintwork.
Should go well, apart from mine is a 1998 2.8 so guessing it won't go as straight forward and a few swear words maybe said 😂. Thanks for the video. Will have a look at that colour as mine is also silver. 👍
How important is it to bolt down the slide pins to spec? I dont have that small of a torque wrench
Great video, by the way, super simple to follow along
Thanks, glad it helped. When it comes to brakes I’d make sure they are done up tight if you don’t have a small torque wrench. Just remember that you will want to take them off again when changing out pads or discs so don’t go superman on them.
I need help, my rear brake pads look like theyre still brand new after 2 years they arent engaging i think, and the fronts ive had changed in 2 years once
Sounds like the calliper will need replacing.
Great and straight to the point video, do you have to bleed the other 3 wheels as well if only changing 1 caliper?
Thanks, glad it helped. Not necessary to bleed the other 3 but if you have the tools out and time to spare it would be a good idea to bleed the whole system if it hasn’t been done for a couple of years.
Thanks bud! Now change your brake fluid ;)
Glad it helped, I have lined the brake fluid lined up to do over the winter. It’s well overdue!
Wheel bolts should never have any kind of copper paste on them. It will mess with the torque on the bolts.
thank you just got ripped off by a mechanic for the exact same job
No problem, hopefully you can save some money in future.
So you didn't actually fix with basic tools you swapped out the caliper for a working one with basic tools
Thank you for your comment. Yeah in hindsight that would have been a good idea to show a refurbishment but I use the car everyday and needed to get it back on the road as soon as possible so I found it quicker to just replace the caliper. I refurbished a caliper in this video if you’re interested ua-cam.com/video/Xh671tRvDiM/v-deo.html and William Murfitt does a caliper refurb video for a Z4 too.
@@db192 I did actually look across your videos for a refurb follow up
Came to watch how to fix a seized caliper but that wasn't actually in the video???
Why wouldn't you just pump the piston out, clean it up, grease it and push it in and out until it moves freely - put it back together - sorted - no need for buying new calipers, bleeding or a 2nd video. I've had a 3.0 Z4 for nearly 20 years
Thank you for your comment. Yeah in hindsight that would have been a good idea but I use the car everyday and needed to get it back on the road as soon as possible so I found it quicker to just replace the caliper. I refurbished a caliper in the way you described in this video if you’re interested ua-cam.com/video/Xh671tRvDiM/v-deo.html
The 3.0 is the one I want to get eventually, then I’ll most likely keep it as long as we are allowed to drive petrol cars!
Got the same problem on my 07 z4
Hope this video helps if you’re planning to save some money and do it yourself!
You lucky, I've changed to second hand caliper ant had thr same problem still
That sucks, always a risk with used parts. Have you replaced with a new one now?
@db192 no not yet I'm thinking to replace the brake hose first
Bad idea loosening your bleed valve, there's no need to remove the bleed screw
Good tip there
Thanks for the click bait, you didn’t fix the calliper… you replaced it
Yeah I suppose it is a little but I had a seized caliper and I fixed the problem so if that’s your end goal then the video serves its purpose? 🤷🏼♂️ I was going to repair it but I needed the car on the road. If you want to see how to refurbish the calipers there is a video by William Murfitt where he shows taking it apart and replacing the seals and pistons. Let me know how you get on.
You do opposite wheel bolts, you don’t just go round to the next one.
Do I not show this at 5:07? I’m not sure what you mean.
Don’t work on ur own car if you don’t know how to tighten wheel lugs bruh…
Wheelbolts should be fitted dry…… and 130nm is necessary. Not 100nm.
I sometimes use copper grease but usually fit them dry, done it on hundreds of cars over the years. Any form of lubrication on the threads affects the torque so your 130nm isn't going to be accurate. They're actually 120nm plus/minus 10nm by the way. Done many cars with just a breaker bar no torque wrench, tight is tight.
German cars..... Dear God.
Which brand of car do you prefer?
Useless video.. I thought you were going to show me how to unseize the caliper with basic tools… replacing the caliper it self is obvious…
Check out William Murfitt channel, he shows you step by step how to refurbish them. I had planned to refurbish mine but I needed to get the car back on the road quickly so I had to replace it instead.
Here’s the link ua-cam.com/video/jTi3-LQ3lMg/v-deo.htmlsi=-OaNweynMgOocnH5