Braking too hard can cause damage to car? And weird noise coming from right rear wheel.

[MVP]

I was driving behind a Z4 M when I saw a heavily modded 645i to my right. I guess something about it caught my eyes and I rubbernecked a bit. By the time I looked back at the road, I was terribly close to the M which has already stopped on a red light. I had to slam on the brakes as hard as I could and the steering wheel shook violently but fortunately I managed to make the stop right before I rear ended him (I am talking about perhaps 10 cm away from impact). I will definitely be more careful on the road after this incident but somehow, I feel the car a little limp after braking so hard. I am wondering if I am simply worrying over nothing or if I risked damaging anything significant by slamming my brake to the fullest?

Another question I have is regarding a weird rubbing sound whenever I make a right turn. It sounds like it came from my right rear wheel but I have taken the car to the dealership several times but they can't find anything wrong with it. They also can't seem to give me an explanation either but every friend that has been in my car can verify the noise so I know I am not insane here (well, at least not over the car :P).I have had the car since new and there doesn't seem to be anything that warrants the wheel to make such a rubbing noise as far as I am concerned. Does anyone have a possible suggestion to what might have caused the problem?

Thanks.

[Clyde]

Originally Posted by MVP

...I am wondering if I am simply worrying over nothing or if I risked damaging anything significant by slamming my brake to the fullest?

There should not be a problem. "Slamming" down on the brake pedal and holding it down is the correct way to perform an emergency stop
Some cars even detect sudden brake pedal movement and increase brake pressure, since many drivers will not push the petal hard enough in an emergency -- I don't know if the M5 has this feature.

Originally Posted by MVP

...I have is regarding a weird rubbing sound whenever I make a right turn.

Are you sure it's not your differential?
Noise from the differential is a very common issue.

[M-individual]

Originally Posted by MVP

and the steering wheel shook violently

That doesn't sound right to me. You may get a little bit of shaking as the back end of the car gets light under heavy braking. Sure your rotors aren't worn?

You should not feel any difference to the brakes after one emergency stop. M6 brakes aren't the best of the best when you track the car but under normal driving conditions (including emergency stops) they do their job very well and are not affected at all.

PS: you may have been thrown off by the fact that you felt ABS kick in. A lot of people are worried that something is wrong with the brakes when ABS starts to work because they get this grinding noise and feel from the brake pedal. That is perfectly normal though.

Go to a place where you can practice a couple of emergency stops (= slam the brakes and keep them slammed until you come to a full stop) and see how the car reacts. You will be able to analyse and experience it way better if you do this premeditated.

Cheers,

M

[logpak23]

in the manual it says to occasionally put the brakes under load to keep them running properly, so dont worry about slamming on the brakes at all.. +1 on the fact that you should go to a safe location and try to slam on your brakes and get a feel for them.