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Braking pulls to the right

2K views 19 replies 2 participants last post by  Chrisconn04 
#1 ·
Hey All,

I have a 2007 E64 M6 with 46K miles on her. I have noticed over the past few months that when I break hard it pulls to the right (Passenger Side). I have not noticed any more brake dust on the Driver side or Passenger side of the wheels. The temperatures are about the same, as well. I did a brake fluid flush and no change. The suspensions seem to all look well. I will be checking out the driver side caliper this weekend or next and I will look at the passenger side, as well. Do you all think it is most likely the caliper sticking?

Any other thoughts will be great!

Thank you,

Chris
 
#2 ·
Yeah, my first thoughts were the other side caliper isn't engaging for some reason. I'd remove tire and caliper and see if it slides easily. make sure pads are not caked up with brake dust and not able to slide. if all that looks good, may be time to pull the hose off and make sure nothing clogged, which doesn't sound like it if you were able to get a succesful brake flush. are your brake pedals tight? not spongy? push to resistance and stay there at some final stopping point?
 
#3 ·
Yeah, my first thoughts were the other side caliper isn't engaging for some reason. I'd remove tire and caliper and see if it slides easily. make sure pads are not caked up with brake dust and not able to slide. if all that looks good, may be time to pull the hose off and make sure nothing clogged, which doesn't sound like it if you were able to get a succesful brake flush. are your brake pedals tight? not spongy? push to resistance and stay there at some final stopping point?

Thank you for the reply.

The brakes are not spongy and work well other than pulling to the right most of the time.

Today my mate and I were able to take a look at the front brakes.

With the front off the ground both tires spind fine. My buddy pressed the break and both tires did not move. Then he released the brake and both tires moved, as they did before.

Visual inspection pads are wearing the same on both sides. Disc are in great shape. No extra brake dust on either side. Nothing seems to be out of place.

Any other thoughts?


Chris
 
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#5 ·
if your brakes are checking out ok, you might look for loose suspension parts. like a tie rod or some other item that is allowing the car to pull when the brake engage. car is in motion, suddenly a backwards braking force causes loose suspension part to cause car to get out of alignment and car veers in that direction.
 
#7 ·
Around your milage, control arm bushings are known to get loose. I'd check those and tie rods for started, but look at everything up front.

 
#9 ·
Around your milage, control arm bushings are known to get loose. I'd check those and tie rods for started, but look at everything up front.

There was some play in the bushings. I will go ahead and replace both sides, would you replace anything else? Also, do you use OEM again or would you use any other brand bushing?
 
#8 ·
p.s. if it does turn out to be a suspension part, be sure to read the TIS on instructions. some such as control arms require car to be at ride height and under load before final torque is applied to bolts.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I use BMW if price is same, otherwise Lemforder for the most part. I think Lemforder is OEM supplier, and have heard TRW is as well. In fact, I think my coupe says TRW on something, may have been a control arm. was cleaning things up down there the other day and noticed by a quick glance. Its got 36K on it, so probably still factory.

You can replace those bushings with a special tool and not need to remove the whole control arm off car. At 48K I'm thinking your in no-mans land. If you were at 80K I would replace all suspension parts. I just rebuilt the entire suspension on my E60 which had 80K. Everything was not nearly as tight as the new parts, even tho I was not experiencing any issues. I'd say biggest bang for the buck was sway bar bushings and easy to do. But everything adds up to a tighter suspension. Be sure to note in TIS which bolts/nuts should be replaced as well.

My DIY thread:
 
#11 ·
Finally, got around to replacing the "radial rod" curved control arm on both sides of the car. I went with the BMW arm and installed the Turner Motorsport Monoball bushings into them. I am glad I replaced this part, as the knuckle was shot, which is crazy, as this car just hit 48K miles today. I also replaced the drop links in the front on both sides. The tire rods seemed fine and the "wishbone" straight control arm had maybe some play, but nothing crazy. The car drove nice you feel every bump now with how stiff it is. I do believe I need new struts and might go with the Bilstein B6 Performance, and the H&R Springs, but not right now, as there is still some life and my braking issue is still present.

My car when breaking will still pull to the right and now it feels like the caliper is sticking some. It might be a little hotter, but that is hard to determine, as it is in the 90's and this car is always hot. Should I go ahead and spend the $700 on a passenger's side "Right" brake caliper?

I was really hoping the Control Arm was going to fix my issue. No chance it can be the straight control arm/ tire rod? Most likely not.

Thoughts?
 
#12 ·
As far a calipers, buy remanufactured if you can. They will all be BMW. Much less expensive. Before you put them on, get some caliper paint and paint them. the remans don't always put a very good coating on. be sure to get the grease off before painting.

EDIT: I 'd try cardone or centric. I've been more impressed with them than negeon from recent purchases on on both bmw and toyota. negeon had the worst coatings and incomplete hardware. i.e. missing bleeder valve, small things. should have failed QA

I've heard the monoballs really make you feel the road. and also make steering quicker. how are you liking them?
 
#14 ·
I've heard the monoballs really make you feel the road. and also make steering quicker. how are you liking them?
So far they are nice you feel the road and everything on it. I did have fun tightening up the suspension will the car lower. Ha

It did not fix my pulling and now the caliper on the right side (Passenger) sticks more. I am going to rebuild them. I will be cleaning them and replacing the rubber shields, and changing out guides for ECS performance set up. I am also replacing the brake lines for the stainless steel lines. While they are off I am going to paint them red using the G2 paint kit and add the M logo from Suo Dec website.

I hope they look mint and work better when I am done.
 
#13 · (Edited)
just noticed your last question. yes pulling when braking could definitely be a tie rod. they are relatively easy to separate and test. separate tie rod #5 from what it is connected to (forget) so it is free


and wiggle its ball joint. it should be fairly stiff, and definitely not loose or rattling. you can start by jacking up the front on one side and grab the wheel and see if anything loose. just look for loose stuff, a lever of some sort will help.

ball joints/wheel bearings you can test by raising car, grab wheel and see if it is loose.

the other control arm, do a visual on the rubber.
 
#17 ·
RockAuto.com => rebuilt calipers (mentioned above)

POR-15 : just mentioning it because its good and cheap, the other system I have heard rave reviews. I don't think you can go wrong with either
 
#18 ·
RockAuto.com => rebuilt calipers (mentioned above)

POR-15 : just mentioning it because its good and cheap, the other system I have heard rave reviews. I don't think you can go wrong with either
I understand what you mean now. Thanks foe the website. Will try to see if what I do will fix the issue if not will try something else.

Thank you


Chris
 
#20 ·
With the rebuild of the brake calipers- dust covers, slide pins and housing- upgraded them to a brass housing. Also, did stainless steal brake lines in the front. Then finished this off with painting the calipers a nice red with the G2 paint. Car no longs pulls to the right and drives amazing.

Thank you for all of the help.

 
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