E30 Zone

Hi all,

Pushed the car into the garage on Boxing Day as it wouldn't start, so got that little problem sorted today. (Fuel pressure regulator)

However, my smile disappeared when I went to reverse out and....left rear brake is jammed on

I hardly laughed at all.

Probably my fault, I forgot to take off the handbrake when it was parked (it's still only been 2 weeks though!)

My next big problem is access, typical that it so happened I parked close to the wall on that side so I could get in and out of the car easier! So now I can maybe just about get the wheel off!

Any ideas boyos?

In all seriousness have you tried giving it more beans to get it going. It happened to mine last year after I forgot to take the handbrake off before leaving in in the garage for 6 months.

A few attempts and it broke free.

Get a rope on it and pull it out with another vehicle. That'll either release it or remove it from the garage so you can work on it.

Haha yea I assumed initially it was just a bit sticky but it definitely isn't budging.

Well I also didn't want to go too hard and end up breaking something completely

Eff_One wrote:
Well I also didn't want to go too hard and end up breaking something completely

Disc brake or drum brake?

I guess either way the shoes have rusted to the drum,so the worst thing to happen is a problem removing the drum or the combined drum/disc.

I would remove the wheel and belt the drum with a big birmingham spanner until it gives in and either breaks or the shoes release.

It's disc brake mate.

Eff_One wrote:It's disc brake mate.

Unlikely to be a stuck caliper,but it will do no harm to remove the caliper before getting serious with the birmingham spanner,that at least,eliminates the footbrake.

No other way,that I can think off,to free the handbrake drum shoes other than belting it.Disc/drum unit is a casting,so will shatter....health and safety will ask why you were not wearing eye protection.
Given reasonable luck,a few smacks will be enough to free the shoes off.

Ok, I'll get a better look tomorrow and hope it's something simple like that!

Cheers!

Happened to my son in law at 5 AM yesterday morning on his 330i E46! He freed it of in the afternoon by taking the wheel off and knocking seven bells out of the drum/bell with a large hammer.
Hasn't been checked yet, but the theory is that the expander is completely devoid of any lubricant and the surfaces rusted together overnight.

Brianmoooore wrote:Happened to my son in law at 5 AM yesterday morning on his 330i E46! He freed it of in the afternoon by taking the wheel off and knocking seven bells out of the drum/bell with a birmingham spanner.
Hasn't been checked yet, but the theory is that the expander is completely devoid of any lubricant and the surfaces rusted together overnight.

EFA.....

Resolved! Managed to get the wheel off, hoked at the brake pads for a bit and they freed up

As Brian says, I'd get the wheel off and with some WD40 and the little straw attached blast loads into the handbrake mechanism from behind the wheel/plate. I'd do this rather than trying to free it by force.!