In early February the brakes started pulling to the right. Flushing the brake fluid helped some. The pads and rotors were almost worn out so I decided replace them before the warning light came on. After shopping around I ordered the following from Rockey Mountain Motorworks.
I ordered Ate Power Rotors for the fronts from Bimmer Parts Co. The Motorworks order showed up in two days, so I did the rear brakes that weekend. Job would have gone smoothly except that I needed to run out to Sears and get 5mm and 7mm hex sockets. Don't even think about using cheap allen wrenches on brakes. While I had the rear wheels off I flushed the rear brakes again. I also took the time to really clean my rear wheels. What could have been a two hour job ended up taking all day.

After waiting 8 days for my front rotors, I sent off an email to Bimmer Parts Co. They emailed me back with an apology almost right away. They lost my order. To make up for it they didn't charge me shipping. Not bad. UPS for a pair of rotors must be close to $30.00
The next Saturday I found the cause of my pulling problem soon after I started on the front brakes. The left front caliper was shot. San Diego BMW wanted $406.00. Ouch! BMP has them for $239.00, but I'd have to wait for mail order again. I decided to give Eurasian a call since they are only an hour drive from my house. $129.63!!! Even though they were already closed, Steve checked stock, called me back and held one for me to pick up later that day. Eurasian just got on my good list. (909) 308-1744 Call them.
Two and a half hours later, I was back home with a brand new Ate caliper. Finaly that damn 535 was going back on the road. 30 minutes later the car wasn't going back on the road. Moronworks sent me the wrong front pads. After a minute of venting, I put the front tires back on and took the car off my jackstands. I didn't quite move a jackstand out of the way broke a bit of plastic trim. Never work on your car when you're tired or frustrated. The next day I put the car back up in the air, and put it back together with the old parts. Flushed the brakes for the third or fourth time. The right brake pads (from Eurasian this time) showed up Tuesday. Saturday, March 3rd I set off to do the front brakes again. This time things went smoothly and I did the whole job in about 2 hours. Brakes work perfectly. That's the good news. The bad news is that the brake pulling was masking a worn thrust bushing. I love my BMW...

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Copyright 2001 Andrew Fischer