Handbrake Under Par - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

Pip · 4th February 2005, 20:14

I know in this day and age most people seemed to have given up using the handbrake but I have to say mine is pretty pathetic. I live in a hilly area where there is nearly always traffic and often have to do hill starts.

The pads seem to be fine and I have tightened up the nuts on the cable on the handbrake itself but it still does not seem as 'strong' as my E34 was. Is this a common problem?

My girlfriend would happily sit on the clutch seemingly forever. Women

.

Pip

Ashok Arora · 4th February 2005, 20:18

Yes a very common problem Pip. Most owners park and leave their car in gear just to be on the safe side.

My loose handbrake was fixed during my recent Inspection II - we'll have to wait and see how long it stays "tight".

Try doing a search; there's a lot of info on the subject posted.

Pip · 4th February 2005, 20:41

Thankyou Ashok 'The Guru'.

Pip

mottati · 4th February 2005, 20:58

they are adjustable, you can tighten it up, i 'think' the instructions are at bmwtips.com
Mike

01M5 · 5th February 2005, 02:08

One thing that my dealer did (and told me to do again) is to drive at a low speed and pull up on the parking brake for a moment to help clean them off. Mine were tight but not holding. Doing this fixed the problem.

5th February 2005, 02:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by mottati

they are adjustable, you can tighten it up, i 'think' the instructions are at bmwtips.com
Mike

It is a pretty "big" job unfortunately. Dave Z once posted detailed instructions on this board.

Cheers, Daniel.