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      05-26-2019, 12:33 AM   #23
vinnymac
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skalberti View Post
The pads are easy to change, but unfortunately BMW has made this a non DIY project. The reason is you used to be able to push your pistons in on the floating rear caliper, drop your pads in and go. Now the G body cars have calipers that have to be retracted with a computer. If you don't, your dash will light up with errors and alerts. I have a friend that has the software to retract the rotors for me so I did the job myself. It took me 1.5 hrs with a floor jack, flat screw driver, a punch and a 13mm and 17mm wrench. I've attached some pics for comparison. The black dust you see caked on the inside of the caliper is only after 3k miles.
Can you provide more details on the software to retract the rear brake caliper piston?
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      05-26-2019, 10:08 AM   #24
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This forum is awesome and this writeup with photos is an excellent example. Thanks!
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      05-26-2019, 10:11 AM   #25
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I purposely chose to not order m-sport brakes because of the dust and the noise. I have them on my other BMW and, while the grip is amazing, the noise and the dust are really a pain in the ass.

It's nice to know there is a solution for those who went for m-sport brakes.
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      05-26-2019, 01:42 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skalberti View Post
I was told this started in all the G chassis cars. I’m not talking about the pad wear sensor that clips into the top of the pad. There’s something in the caliper that tracks the pistons position within the caliper. When you manually move the piston, the car gets confused on the position of the piston and lights up your dash. You can manually move the positions, but there is a chance for damage BMW says, and then go to the dealership and have everything reset. I imagine they’ll charge you an hour of labor. Just keep in mind the car may not brake properly if it’s confused on the pistons position.
Official procedures:

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...kes/1VncxrqAfW

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...kes/1Vnd7I0B2k

When you need repair info (and other technical data) go here:

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/

Quote:
Originally Posted by vinnymac View Post
Can you provide more details on the software to retract the rear brake caliper piston?
There's no software to retract the pistons as you can see. Still use a mechanical tool.

It's not really all that complex. Just a matter of following the instructions.

Cheer,
Jim E.
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      05-27-2019, 02:12 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim E. View Post
Official procedures:

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...kes/1VncxrqAfW

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...kes/1Vnd7I0B2k

When you need repair info (and other technical data) go here:

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/


There's no software to retract the pistons as you can see. Still use a mechanical tool.

It's not really all that complex. Just a matter of following the instructions.

Cheer,
Jim E.
Thanks for posting this info.


I have replaced pads on every BMW I have owned and the G05 is the only one I have had issues with. I tried to do my rear pads and I could not get the rear piston to retract at all. I measured my OEM pads and compared them to the new PowerStop pads the new pads were .080" thicker. The rear caliper simply would not slide back on with the new pads.

I will have to get the rear caliper piston tool and try it again.
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      05-27-2019, 07:25 PM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vinnymac View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim E. View Post
Official procedures:

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...kes/1VncxrqAfW

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...kes/1Vnd7I0B2k

When you need repair info (and other technical data) go here:

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/


There's no software to retract the pistons as you can see. Still use a mechanical tool.

It's not really all that complex. Just a matter of following the instructions.

Cheer,
Jim E.
Thanks for posting this info.


I have replaced pads on every BMW I have owned and the G05 is the only one I have had issues with. I tried to do my rear pads and I could not get the rear piston to retract at all. I measured my OEM pads and compared them to the new PowerStop pads the new pads were .080" thicker. The rear caliper simply would not slide back on with the new pads.

I will have to get the rear caliper piston tool and try it again.
Use a pair of needle nose plier and put into two of the grooves kn the piston. Push in and turn at the same time.
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      05-27-2019, 10:49 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skalberti View Post
Use a pair of needle nose plier and put into two of the grooves kn the piston. Push in and turn at the same time.
So these are the type of pistons that need to be turned (rotated) while pressing them back in, is that what you are saying? Tough to do without the proper tool, unless you have three hands, I borrowed this tool from Auto Zone one time.

Pls confirm.
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      05-27-2019, 11:44 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty in Bgm View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by skalberti View Post
Use a pair of needle nose plier and put into two of the grooves kn the piston. Push in and turn at the same time.
So these are the type of pistons that need to be turned (rotated) while pressing them back in, is that what you are saying? Tough to do without the proper tool, unless you have three hands, I borrowed this tool from Auto Zone one time.

Pls confirm.
You don't have to have a special tool. Just push and turn with the needle nose pliers. Just be careful of the black seal around the piston. You don't want to tear that seal up.

What I'm skeptical about in the instructions posted above is, you have to press the brake to turn on the emergency brake. Yet, the instructions tell you before pressing the brake pedal, engage the electronic emergency brake. This is an easy job and can be done without hooking a computer up to it. Like I said in my initial post, you'll get a lot of dash errors that'll have to be cleared and the calipers reinitialized by the dealer. If you change your pads out and you turn on the parking first as per the posted instructions and don't get any dash lights, report back here.
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      05-27-2019, 11:51 PM   #31
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Put your needle nose pliers in any 2 of the 3 grooves circled. Push in and twist to retract the piston.
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      05-29-2019, 12:10 PM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sygazelle View Post
I purposely chose to not order m-sport brakes because of the dust and the noise. I have them on my other BMW and, while the grip is amazing, the noise and the dust are really a pain in the ass.

It's nice to know there is a solution for those who went for m-sport brakes.
If it is a PITA, you might be doing something wrong!
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      05-29-2019, 12:34 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skalberti View Post
You don't have to have a special tool. Just push and turn with the needle nose pliers. Just be careful of the black seal around the piston. You don't want to tear that seal up.

If you change your pads out and you turn on the parking first as per the posted instructions and don't get any dash lights, report back here.

That Piston design was on the rear calipers of my mazda too... not the easiest to work on but pretty straight forward once you get the process down. I too used needle nose to push and twist and it worked out just fine.

If setting the parking brake it is the solution to having to reset the errors, that would be the holy grail!!

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      05-29-2019, 03:53 PM   #34
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a little off topic, but would you guys use brake cleaner to clean the dusty calipers? I was told its not good for the blue paint. want to get your take since we are talking brakes
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      05-29-2019, 09:06 PM   #35
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a little off topic, but would you guys use brake cleaner to clean the dusty calipers? I was told its not good for the blue paint. want to get your take since we are talking brakes
I wouldn’t use break cleaner unless I had some really stubborn dust. Some wheel cleaner should cut through pretty easily and is not as aggressive an$ designed for painted wheels.

But, I have hosed down painted calipers many a time and it has not been an issue. So yes you can, but I would only due it when cleaning for a brake job.
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      05-29-2019, 10:17 PM   #36
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Originally Posted by dream54ing View Post
a little off topic, but would you guys use brake cleaner to clean the dusty calipers? I was told its not good for the blue paint. want to get your take since we are talking brakes
You don't need brake cleaner to clean them and make them shine, not at all. I simply use Meguiar's car soap just like I do on the body of the car, works great and the brake dust comes right off with very little washing pressure.
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      06-02-2019, 09:42 AM   #37
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Thank you everyone for the input.

I was able to complete my rear brake pad install yesterday without issues.

Using needle nose pliers to push and turn the rear caliper pistons back down worked fine. I also followed the procedures in the TIS link and activated the parking brake after the new pads were installed and prior to engaging the brake pedal. No error codes.

Thanks again everyone.
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      06-02-2019, 01:39 PM   #38
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Originally Posted by Marty in Bgm View Post
You don't need brake cleaner to clean them and make them shine, not at all. I simply use Meguiar's car soap just like I do on the body of the car, works great and the brake dust comes right off with very little washing pressure.
Are you able to get at the calipers for cleaning without taking the wheels off?
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      06-02-2019, 01:48 PM   #39
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Are you able to get at the calipers for cleaning without taking the wheels off?
Nothing is better than removing the wheels if you want to get at the whole caliper but doing that each time you want to clean the car is a PITA so I reach as much of the caliper as I can, then start the car and move it just a half wheel rotation and that normally allows me to reach the rest of the caliper through the openings in the wheel. When detailing the tires, I do the same so I can get the tire juice on the part of the tire that was against the ground. Then when I'm in the mood and have enough beer around, I remove the wheels so they get a proper wash and wax on the inside and so do the calipers and wheel wells. A proper detail takes me at least four hours.
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      06-02-2019, 02:11 PM   #40
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Originally Posted by Marty in Bgm View Post
Nothing is better than removing the wheels if you want to get at the whole caliper but doing that each time you want to clean the car is a PITA so I reach as much of the caliper as I can, then start the car and move it just a half wheel rotation and that normally allows me to reach the rest of the caliper through the openings in the wheel. When detailing the tires, I do the same so I can get the tire juice on the part of the tire that was against the ground. Then when I'm in the mood and have enough beer around, I remove the wheels so they get a proper wash and wax on the inside and so do the calipers and wheel wells. A proper detail takes me at least four hours.
Thanks for the tips! I don’t believe my vehicle came with any tools for removing the wheels since I didn’t get the spare tire. I guess I should invest in a proper jack and lug wrench. Those look like big Allen bolts holding the wheels on. I don’t have the manual handy but I’m it says what size.
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      06-02-2019, 03:54 PM   #41
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Not sure off hand, 17 maybe 18MM but someone will probably chime with with the correct size. If you want to remove them you can use a floor jack if you have one and if not, you'll have to buy a jack. I like hydraulic floor jacks because you don't have to lift or carry them, just roll them and they're fast to jack up and release but you can use scissor jacks too which are the type that come with most cars.
Sometimes, I just jack up each corner while the car is in my garage to clean the calipers because its easy to rotate the wheel to where ever I want it.
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      06-02-2019, 06:00 PM   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vinnymac View Post
Thank you everyone for the input.

I was able to complete my rear brake pad install yesterday without issues.

Using needle nose pliers to push and turn the rear caliper pistons back down worked fine. I also followed the procedures in the TIS link and activated the parking brake after the new pads were installed and prior to engaging the brake pedal. No error codes.

Thanks again everyone.
Great news Vinny! Did you do your front calipers too? Maybe the parking brake is the solution to those pads too!

Last edited by Supraman66; 06-02-2019 at 06:12 PM..
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      06-02-2019, 06:39 PM   #43
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Quote:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vinnymac View Post
Thank you everyone for the input.

I was able to complete my rear brake pad install yesterday without issues.

Using needle nose pliers to push and turn the rear caliper pistons back down worked fine. I also followed the procedures in the TIS link and activated the parking brake after the new pads were installed and prior to engaging the brake pedal. No error codes.

Thanks again everyone.
Great news Vinny! Did you do your front calipers too? Maybe the parking brake is the solution to those pads too!
Yes. The front pads were very easy. Pretty standard Brembo calipers.

Pop out two retaining pins, remove the old pads and drop in the new pads. It took me longer to take the wheel off and then put it back on.
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      06-02-2019, 09:59 PM   #44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vinnymac View Post
Yes. The front pads were very easy. Pretty standard Brembo calipers.

Pop out two retaining pins, remove the old pads and drop in the new pads. It took me longer to take the wheel off and then put it back on.
That is awesome. So just to clarify, because I am dense, if you replace your pads and activate the parking break before you step on the break pedal, you will get no warnings and not have to go to the dealer.

Thanks! I might be looking at some new pads myself. Are you happy with the new pads? As dustless as SKAlberti (obviously you don't know that but he said his are pretty dust free).

Great thread, thanks for the insights.
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