Rear brakes JE

[TheJoker]

Hi guys,

I was going to fix "that scratching sound from the rear" before taking the car in to deal with the other problems. I got the rewinding tool for the rear brake pistons, but they told me that there's two different pads.
Back in the bat-cave I'm now looking at Euro Car Parts' website and there is indeed two different kits.
This is what I found for the disks:
------
ATE     n/a     104745370     BRAKE DISC REAR ESPACE 96- AVANTIME
Rear Disc       £28.60    
EICHER    n/a    104745371    BRAKE DISC REAR ESPACE 96- AVANTIME
Rear Disc       £19.95
------

And for the rear pads I got this:
------
JURID OEM     n/a     101440190     REAR BRAKE PADS (15.2MM) GO/JE/VE/SC/CO/PA 83-
      £20.35    
EICHER    n/a    101440191    REAR BRAKE PADS GO/JE/VE/SC/CO/PA 83-
      £11.45    
FERODO    n/a    101440192    REAR BRAKE PADS GO/JE/VE/SC/CO/PA 83-
      £15.44    
ATE    n/a    101440195    REAR BRAKE PADS GO/JE/VE/SC/CO/PA 83-
      £14.90    
JURID    n/a    101745580    REAR PADS REAR PADS
      £26.51    
S/S TO 101    n/a    101745581    S/S TO 101745371 S/S TO 101745371
      £28.99    
FERODO    n/a    101745582    FERODO BRAKE PAD SET FERODO BRAKE PAD SET
      £26.51    
ATE    n/a    101745585    S/S 101745375 S/S 101745375
      £24.00
----------

I had the wheel off yesterday, and the disc diameter is 265mm or thereabouts. The thicknes was down to almost 10.4mm. But how do I recognise what's on the car, and which one of those I need to order..? 

The whole thing was just rusted and seized... I can see myself sitting there over the weekend with a wire brush and loads of grease and cleaning rags...

[Martin Tyas]

In most cases Euro Car Parts offer the option of parts from OEM suppliers and "Will Fit" parts from other manufacturers at lower prices.
Both fit and do a job but you have the option to go for quality or price.

ATE are OEM suppliers to the likes of BMW. The ATE disks and pads I got from Euro Car Parts for my 5 Series are identical to those from BMW... except half the price and have proved to be 1st class.

I therefore also got the ATE rear disks for my Grand Espace from Euro Car Parts and would have got ATE pads had they had them in stock at the time but got Textar instead which are also German made.

Usually using Euro Car Parts drill-down menu helps you get to a list of components all of which fit that make, model, variant and year vehicle but sometimes vehicle manufacturers switch suppliers of bought-in components such as brake calipers mid-production based on price/availability... or both... and that can lead to confusion with different pads being fitted to the same model of car produced within the same year of manufacture so you sometimes need the VIN to ensure you get the correct part.
If there is any doubt give them a call instead of ordering on line and quote your vehicle VIN number and registration number. They have cross reference information that will pin-point the correct part for your particular vehicle.
The added benefit if you've checked with them first and the parts turn out to be wrong when they arrive then you at least have the come-back on them rather than being stuck with parts that don't fit.

From that list of pads I would go for either the Jurid (that are original equipment on many Espaces) or ATE... but that's just my opinion from my experiences for what it's worth.

Martin

p.s. If you're ordering from Euro Car Parts for delivery to home rather than collecting from a local branch then you get free delivery only when ordering on-line. So if you are in doubt as to which pads you require then the tip is to call them, get them to check which pads are suitable for your particular VIN, take the guy's name, thank him very much and then order on-line rather than by phone which would incur a delivery charge

[TheJoker]

Thanks, once again, Martin!    Got them ordered, some £85 delivered (including free postage from over-the-phone-order).
I'll try to take some pics and post them when I'm doing the work.

[Martin Tyas]

Well done for getting them carriage-free from a phone order 

For further info based on my past experiences.

• The piston wind-back is clockwise
• There's no need to open the bleed nipples to wind back the pistons but if you leave them closed to avoid the need for bleeding afterwards then don't forget to syphon off some brakle fluid from the master cylinder or allow for spillage as you push in the pistons and wash it off quickly afterwards
• I use BMW Plastilube (sachets of synthetic grease) instead of copper grease to lube and protect moving parts on the calipers as I find that it lasts between pad changes and is more tolerant to high temperatures than even HT Copper Grease
• If they are the same as the ones I got then the pads will have a 3M backing as an anti-rattle measure so no need to Plastilube or copper grease the back of the pad ~ just peel off the backing paper
• The disks will have a thin film of anti-corrosion coating on them so make sure you clean them with methylated spirits or similar de-greasing agent before the pads are allowed in contact with them
• You may not want to bother doing this but I cleaned the anti-corrosion film off only the non-friction and non-mating surfaces and then spray painted the disks with Plasti-kote barbeque paint from B&Q. As you've found from your exploratory look, brake parts get hit hard with rust due to the exposed location and the heat so I used the high temperature paint (heat resistant up to 425 celcius) to help give them a bit of protection. Leaving the anti-corrosion film on the friction surfaces lets you more easily scrape off any over-spray before cleaning with meths

Hope that helps and sorry if it's preaching to a seasoned DIY mechanic.

Martin

[TheJoker]

Hope that helps and sorry if it's preaching to a seasoned DIY mechanic.

It does indeed help! I'm not "seasoned" but I do know my way across, nevertheless I can still do with a reminder and a few tips. I was thinking of painting the disks, but was going to skip it, but depending on when I get the disks and how much time I have, I might just go ahead and do it now. Bright red anyone..?!   

I've also got a few bits I should pick up from the BMW garage for the bike, so I might ask for the Plastilube. 

A related question; What's the best way to jack up and "axle-stand" the rear of the car? I found a spot just in front of the rear wheel where I used a trolley jack, but then I didn't find any good spot to stick the axles stands at the rear. It's way over 50cm to the ground behind the axle when the car is jacked up. I'm thinking I have to jack the car up further forward and use the spot I used to jack it up for the axle stand... Anyone got any good tips on this? 

[Martin Tyas]

Bright red anyone..?!   

Each to their own 

The BBQ paint from B&Q is only available in black  and is touch dry in 20 minutes and fully dry in 2-3 hours.

If you do try Plastilube I'd suggest getting 5 or 6 sachets.... it won't go off if you don't use it all this time and as it comes in foil sachets you can fold the top over on any part-used sachet and save for next time.

Regarding the axle stand points ~ I remember seeing a diagram of the rear chassis support points in the old Renault Dialogys software I have..... trouble is it needs ancient versions of Java, Quicktime and Acrobat to run properly and my kids were home from university at Easter, screwed around with the PC that I had it on and I haven't been able to run it since. If I get time to get it running again then I'll post a PDF of the location for front and rear chassis support stands for you

Martin

[TheJoker]

Don't worry too much about that Martin, I'm sure I can prop "Ol' Bertha" up somehow.
I was going to get "£5 or so, worth of Plastilube" if I get around there.
I know you can get exhaust paint in a bunch of colours, but I think black is a winner actually. I'm sure the BBQ paint is cheaper too! 

Thanks once again, Martin. 

[TheJoker]

Got the disks and pads today and as the weather is nice and dry I took the bike for a spin to the BMW dealer and got some lubrication  It's Würth saBesto Brake Paste, comes in a sachet that looks like a wet-wipe. 5.5g, bargain at £1.00 + VAT 
I also got some Red exhaust paint,.. I couldn't resist it, I'm sure it's going to annoy some boy-racer... 
Let's see if I can find some time to wash and paint the disks soon.

[Anders Dinsen]

Let's see if I can find some time to wash and paint the disks soon.

I SURE hope you are going to paint the calipers - not the discs

[TheJoker]

no no.... the disks...  but not the friction area.  It's a first for me too, but as the car stands so much, and I saw the state of my current disks, I want to prevent some corrosion. Let's hope this works.

[TheJoker]

OMG, this isn't red, it's more red-orange. HAHAHAHA! This will look funny. 

[Anders Dinsen]

OMG, this isn't red, it's more red-orange. HAHAHAHA! This will look funny. 

- why not paint the whole car that colour?

[Sparky]

OMG, this isn't red, it's more red-orange. HAHAHAHA! This will look funny. 

- why not paint the whole car that colour?

[TheJoker]

HELP!

I'm doing something wrong as I can't get the caliper onto the pads/disk.
I've rewound the piston several revolutions clockwise, and it doesn't seem to do anything..?! 
I also tried to make a 'piston-pusher-tool' out of a thick piece of metal and an M10 bolt... but the metal got bent before it managed to push the piston back.

What's a guy to do..? 

[Martin Tyas]

I also tried to make a 'piston-pusher-tool' out of a thick piece of metal and an M10 bolt... but the metal got bent before it managed to push the piston back.

Just pushing it back in will not work as it does with front brake pistons.
The rear brakes/pistons self compensate as the pads wear to take up the slack for the handbrake mechanism.
The pistons have therefore to be rotated whilst they are being pushed in. Thankfully it seems like your metal backing plate bent before something else gave way.
Are you sure that you've been sold the correct rewind tool?
Does it have pegs that locate into the corresponding recesses in the piston face?

Martin