[tannooba]

Hello,
2006 325i rear-wheel drive.

A semi-doable rear rotor replacement job turned horrible.
I tried the whacking method to loosen the rotor and it worked. It loosened. I was able to turn the rotor.

When I tried to remove it, I couldn't. It looks like it's stuck on the shoe, which I don't understand because moments earlier I was able to turn the rotor.

Now, I'm stuck with rotor that does not turn anymore, does not want to come off because the shoe is stuck on it somehow, and the holes aren't lined up anymore for me to put the tires back on and drive it to a shop. Horrible situation.

Any idea from this forum how to loosen the grip of the rear brake shoe without having access to the adjustment hole in the rotor?

Thank you for your help.

[Aceway]

Buy a 8" gear puller and yank the rotor off by force. Make sure parking brake is off.

[jwalker87]

I had that problem with the first rotor change on both of my e90s - get the biggest sledgehammer you have and just keep hitting it HARD from the back side. Assuming you have the parking brake disengaged .... it will come off eventually.

Be sure that the car is PROPERLY supported on jack stands, since you will be putting some major lateral force on the car. You're not reusing the rotors, so don't be afraid to beat on them!

[bmwbob89]

Don't use a puller. You will tear the hold down spring pins out of the backing plate. You need to wack it back on and then loosen the ebrake shoe adjuster. Your caught on the rust lip on the old rotor.

[tannooba]

Thank you all for the replies. I think bmwbob89 is right. I can feel it caught on to the shoe. I will try today to turn it back to line up with the holes and expose the adjuster, maybe by hitting a screwdriver inserted at the 9 o'clock position of the ventilators.

[PhaseP]

Originally Posted by bmwbob89

Don't use a puller. You will tear the hold down spring pins out of the backing plate. You need to wack it back on and then loosen the ebrake shoe adjuster. Your caught on the rust lip on the old rotor.

+1

[Efthreeoh]

Unless the car was driven a very long distance with the emergency brake on, I can't see how a lip of any significant size could form on the inside of the drum portion of the rotor. It takes tens of thousands of miles to get a lip worn into the edge of the rotor, so it would be the same for the drum surface.

The technique I use on rear BMW brakes is to (a) make sure the emergency brake is off, (b) lube the concentric lip of the hub with penetrating oil, (c) use a 18" long by 1-5/8ths wooden dowel (closet rod) and a 3-lb. sledge hammer. The dowel lets you get a good swing on the rotor. If the rotor is somehow hung up on the brake shoes, then the shoe must have some how broke loose from the backing plate. Other than that, try reseating the rotor and wire brushing the hub lip and reapply penetrating oil.

Or, "get a bigger hammer"...

[bmwbob89]

It's not from wear. It's a rust lip. Trust me you want to use the adjuster to make some room. It's a pain but backing plates are a much bigger pain. Might have to do with where you live. In New England it's a common issue.

[dpaul]

Originally Posted by bmwbob89

It's not from wear. It's a rust lip. Trust me you want to use the adjuster to make some room. It's a pain but backing plates are a much bigger pain. Might have to do with where you live. In New England it's a common issue.

+1

[Bimmer_Engineer]

Just for clarification, the issue here is that the e-brake shoe is hung up on the rotor???

[dpaul]

Originally Posted by Bimmer_Engineer

Just for clarification, the issue here is that the e-brake shoe is hung up on the rotor???

Exactly. A lip of rust builds up on the “drum” part of the rotor, effectively reducing the diameter. So you can easily rotate the rotor when the e-brake shoe is aligned with the part it normally contacts but the lip of rust jams on the e-brake shoe when you try to pull the rotor off the hub.

Not a problem in Southern California I suppose but totally ordinary in New England

Listen to bmwbob89

[PhaseP]

Originally Posted by bmwbob89

It's not from wear. It's a rust lip. Trust me you want to use the adjuster to make some room. It's a pain but backing plates are a much bigger pain. Might have to do with where you live. In New England it's a common issue.

+1 again.... another New England driver. Where shoes never make contact rust grows. Rust is bigger in volume than the iron/steel it is made up from, stating obvious....

[tannooba]

Chicago winters are ice and snow and rust like New England so rust might have built up. I tried to rotate the rotor again today, it would not move, the shoe is dead stuck on it. This is strange because when I first loosened it with a sledge hammer I was able to rotate it back and forth freely - the shoe was not stuck to it at all, I thought I was home free. Then I used the push bolt method from behind to try to pop it out and that's when somehow it got stuck. The bolts pushed the left side of the rotor forward but the right side stayed behind. That's when I felt something's wrong. I removed the push bolts and that's when the shoe got stuck. The e-brake is not on - the handle is down.

I don't get it.

All I needed was to rotate it a bit to line up the holes and access the adjuster. I'll try again today with lots of wd-40.

Thank you all for pitching in.

[tannooba]

I cannot get this thing to rotate.

https://youtu.be/UZa9Hi_YNpl

[Buug959]

This may sound extreme but you are replacing the rotors anyway. Take a grinder and cut the hat so you can get to the adjuster. Be careful not to cut into the hub. From your video it looks like you have enough play to be able to do this without too much trouble.

[PhaseP]

Originally Posted by tannooba

I cannot get this thing to rotate.

https://youtu.be/UZa9Hi_YNpl

Did you try hitting with a hammer on a big flat screw driver or something like that which you place on the air channels of the rotor to rotate it? Like more extreme than what you do at your video, instead of pushing and pulling like that, hit with a hammer to rotate it?

Something looks like got loose in there.... hopefully not broken.

[tannooba]

Finally, it’s off. I used a gooseneck wrecking bar inserted in the vents at the 3 o’clock position, hit it with a hammer it started to turn, little by little I lined up the holes. Put the brakes and wheels back on and tightened the bolts. Took it for a ride hoping that would reseat the shoes and what not. Drove it back, took the wheel off and shook the rotor off the hub with my bare hands it came off.

I noticed that one of the springs of backplate broke off. Now im on to this project. I may have to buy the whole assembly.

One thing I can share with this community is that each situation is different. Whacking the rotor with a sledge hammer may lead to unintended consequences. So be careful when you hit it. Hit with deliberate force but not a destructive one. That’s easier said than done but if you can walk this fine line you can achieve success.

Thanks to all for the valuable advice.

[bmwbob89]

If the backing plate is damaged you might be able to just flatten out the spot and that will hold the spring/pin in. If not I went to Napa and searched through their pile of fasteners and found a washer that worked. Just put it on the backside of the backing plate and viola. This was on one of my E46's but should work on E90 too. I look through my receipts and see if I can come up with a part number.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/search...ualified=false

[KnockingDiesel]

Originally Posted by tannooba

Finally, it’s off. I used a gooseneck wrecking bar inserted in the vents at the 3 o’clock position, hit it with a hammer it started to turn, little by little I lined up the holes. Put the brakes and wheels back on and tightened the bolts. Took it for a ride hoping that would reseat the shoes and what not. Drove it back, took the wheel off and shook the rotor off the hub with my bare hands it came off.

I noticed that one of the springs of backplate broke off. Now im on to this project. I may have to buy the whole assembly.

One thing I can share with this community is that each situation is different. Whacking the rotor with a sledge hammer may lead to unintended consequences. So be careful when you hit it. Hit with deliberate force but not a destructive one. That’s easier said than done but if you can walk this fine line you can achieve success.

Thanks to all for the valuable advice.

Originally Posted by tannooba

Finally, it's off. I used a gooseneck wrecking bar inserted in the vents at the 3 o'clock position, hit it with a hammer it started to turn, little by little I lined up the holes. Put the brakes and wheels back on and tightened the bolts. Took it for a ride hoping that would reseat the shoes and what not. Drove it back, took the wheel off and shook the rotor off the hub with my bare hands it came off.

I noticed that one of the springs of backplate broke off. Now im on to this project. I may have to buy the whole assembly.

One thing I can share with this community is that each situation is different. Whacking the rotor with a sledge hammer may lead to unintended consequences. So be careful when you hit it. Hit with deliberate force but not a destructive one. That's easier said than done but if you can walk this fine line you can achieve success.

Thanks to all for the valuable advice.

Went through a similar situation, all advice led to a bigger hammer, before I used a sledgehammer I tried another method. Using a medium pry bar to put some force on the rotor and tapped the perimeter lightly, increasing force slowly, it moved slightly. Put a light amount of penetrating oil and reapplied pressure and tapped around. Rotor fell off with minimal effort. Sometimes it takes finesse and not brute force

[tannooba]

forced finesse if that's a term... lol

And, to reply to bmwbob89's reply about the one loose backplate spring... I pushed it in and twisted it in place. seems to be holding after driving around for a while. If it broke off again I'll fix with your suggestion - very resourceful
- thank you.

[tannooba]

Now that the back rotor problem out of the way I have another issue: A red "Break" alarm on the dashboard. I'm pulling a 62D6 error code. I'll start another thread for that.

[tom9192]

+1 for putting the rotor back on and loosening the adjuster screw all the way. I had this exact problem last weekend while changing my rear rotors. I lived in the NE for a few years where it got a good salt bath. It would wiggle a bit, but you could feel the springiness of the parking brake shoe holding it on.