Page 1 of 11 BMW 745Li E65/E66 Rear Brake Pad Replacement By Jerry Incollingo (Jerry 745Li) This guide will detail how to change the rear brakes on late model BMW E65 / E66 s. It was performed on a 2003 745Li and should be similar for all models from 2002 to 2008. The approximate time to complete this project is one to two hours, based on your experience changing brakes. You will need the following: Wheel Chocks Jacks Stand 7mm 3/8 driver or #17 3/8 Torx driver 3/8 Socket Wrench Channel Locks Brake Grease / Anti Squeal Lubricant Brake Pads Brake Wear Sensor (needed if your idrive is telling to change the brakes) C-Clamp Figure 1
Page 2 of 11 Important: Safety First! You can be injured or even killed if the vehicle ends up on top of you. Do not rely solely on the jack to hold the vehicle in place while performing maintenance. You should wear eye protection as well. (I m the guy who get s picked on by the neighbors for wearing ear protection while cutting my lawn and eye protection for weed whacking). That said, let s begin: 1. Start by parking the vehicle on a flat, level surface. 2. Place your wheel chocks under each of the front tires 3. Loosen the wheel bolts on passenger back wheel using the tire iron included with the vehicle. It is located in the trunk, under the carper on the left side. Use care when loosening the bolts as you can scratch or ding the rim 4. Using the BMW jack raise the vehicle enough to remove the wheel. The jack is located in the trunk, on the right side below the fuse compartment 5. Using a jack stand as a supplement to the jack, place it under the cross brace near the rear of the vehicle. Because I could not fit mine under I used two 4x4 blocks of wood and located them near the jack. If someone knows the proper location to support the vehicle once lifted please let me know so I can update this documentation. Important: Stuck Wheels Many people have reported stuck wheels after removing the wheel bolts. This is usually due to corrosion around the center hub of the rotor where it meets the rim. I have found the best method to remove the stuck wheel is to remove the wheel bolts, jack up the vehicle, squirt WD- 40 into the lug holes and let it soak. Then, using a sledge hammer, gently hit the tire, not the rim, from the inside underneath the vehicle (See Figure 2). You should be able to move the rim outward a bit. Then, push it back from the other side and hit it with the sledge hammer again. Continue to do this until the wheel is free. Figure 2 6. With the wheel removed from the vehicle inspect the rotor. If there are any grooves in the rotor or the lining seems too thin you should replace them as well. I will not detail rotor replacement in this guide. See the guide on Front Brake Replacement for details
Page 3 of 11 on rotor replacement in the bimmerfest.com DIY section for the E65/66. 7. Remove the two dust caps from the caliper pins (See Figure 1) 8. Remove the guiding bolts by using your 7mm 3/8 hex driver (See Figure 1) a. If the 7mm Hex driver does not fit use a #17 3/8 Torx driver 9. Remove the brake pad clip by squeezing inward with your channel locks. The clip will pop out as you squeeze it (See Figure 3) Figure 3 10. Remove the wear sensor from the inside brake pad by pulling it outward. It is very easy to break the plastic sensor, so if you are not replacing the sensor use extra care when removing it. The sensor is located on the passenger side only. (See Figure 4)
Page 4 of 11 Figure 4 11. Remove the sensor by disconnecting it at the junction holder. First, gently pull the entire white connector out of the junction box. There is a plastic tab that you push in while pulling out to separate the socket housing. (See Figure 5) 12. Don t remove the whole sensor at once, rather, start at the socket housing and remove the old sensor connector first. Plug in the new sensor connector and follow the wire from the old sensor and replace it with the new sensor wire as you go. This way you won t have to remember how the wire was routed if you had removed it all at once 13. Once you have completely routed the new sensor wire tuck it out of the way until you are ready to connect it back into the brake pad
Page 5 of 11 Figure 5 14. You may now remove the caliper and old pads. Most likely the caliper will be too tight to remove easily. If this is the case place you C-clamp around the caliper with one part of the C-Clamp on the back of the outside brake pad and the other part on the rear of the caliper itself. (See Figure 6) Tighten the clamp slightly and you will see the pad begin too loosen. Now pull the caliper away and remove the old pads. Note the orientation of the pads so you can put the new pads in correctly 15. Rest the caliper on the top of the front axel while you prepare the new pads. Take care to ensure it does not fall off. You may want to use a metal coat hanger to secure it to the axel (See Figure 7)
Page 6 of 11 Figure 6
Page 7 of 11 Figure 7 16. Apply the disk brake grease to the back of the pads using a Q-tip or your finger (See Figure 8) 17. Also apply a small amount of grease to the two guiding bolts. As the brakes wear down the whole caliper slides along the guiding bolts, so keeping them lubricated is important
Page 8 of 11 Figure 8 18. Using your C-clamp, push the round piston in the caliper back as far as it will go by pacing the threaded part of the C-clamp into the piston and the back of the C-clamp on the caliper. (See Figure 9) Slowly tighten the C-clamp to push the piston back. Take care not to pinch or damage the brake line. Some people remove the master cylinder cap in the engine compartment to before moving the pistons; however, I found this was not necessary
Page 9 of 11 Figure 9 19. Once the piston is pushed back insert the brake pads into the caliper 20. Replace the caliper over the rotor 21. Replace and tighten the two guiding bolts 22. Replace the dust caps 23. Replace the clip by tilting it inward and pushing it back in place. (See Figure 10) 24. Take this opportunity to clean the rim inside and out before replacing it on the vehicle 25. Repeat these steps for the drivers side 26. Start the vehicle and depress the brake pedal several times to restore pressure to the rear brakes 27. Take it for a drive and listen for any squealing or any other problems 28. Reset the idrive rear brake counter by doing the following: (borrowed from E65/66 Front Bake Replacement & Computer Reset, thanks to paulmurphyhomes on bimmerfest.com) a. Start the vehicle
Page 10 of 11 b. Press and hold the trip meter button until a menu lights up in the speedometer display c. Press the trip meter button to scroll to "Rr. Brake" d. Press and hold trip meter button until a menu lights up in the tachometer display e. Press the trip meter button to scroll down to "RESET Rr. brake" in the menu in the tachometer display f. Press and hold the trip meter button. g. Remove the key and your computer should be reset Figure 10
Page 11 of 11 Clean those rims!