ABS removal - problems?

[Zayyan]

Would taking the ABS ECU out mean the brakes just work like a car which never had ABS?

I don't like the system at the moment as it kicks in far too early, the pedal has no feel and I'm sure I can stop in the same distance without it.

[calder]

basically yes, you can remove either the ecu or the abs relay (or both) and the brake fluid will pass through the abs pump as if it wasn't there. I've been doing this for the last two years for track use. I must get roudn to removing the abs pump altogether as its a pita to get it working again to pass the MOT.
I guess the abs system has to fail safe to behave like a standard non-abs car otherwise you would be in trouble if it failed at some time.

[fuzzy]

i was asking this a while back but didnt get anywhere . how do you remove the pump, is it a matter of taking the pump out and joining the pipes together or do you have to run new pipe work to the wheels from the servo?

[calder]

hi fuzzy, umm, haven't actually done this yet, it's a case of try it and see.
you could replace all the pipes but i would think that this would be quite a bit of work and i'm no good at pipe bending.
My plan is to buy a load of bits - brake pipe, connectors and a "Y" or "T" piece and just join the pipes together across the gap when the abs pump is removed.
Rear looks straight forward as its straight across, front is a little more tricky as it has one inlet pipe (from the master cylinder) and two outlet pipes (to front right and front left). A "Y" piece shoudl do the job here.
I'm not sure exactly what male/female joinign pieces will be needed, the male threaded parts on hte pipe that go into the abs pump may be a taper thread so there may not be female threaded parts to go on a short length of pipe to suit. I.e these fittings may not be the same as the ones that are on the end of the pipes that go into the flexible hose to the calipers. It may need more chopping around.
Worst case may be to get braided hoses made up by someone like Goodridge.

[Zayyan]

Cheers for the info, this will be coming out today

Glad it's just the ECU that needs taking out as it's easy enough to pop back in when I come to sell the car

[fuzzy]

you can buy lenghts of braided hose with the end seperate with little olives just like plumbing in your house from demon tweeks and they are very easy to put together,last time i done this i didnt know what ends i needed so i told them what car its for and the knowledgable man at DT got the right bits for me. i asked at an mot station if it it would fail the mot if i removed the abs and he says no,if its there it needs to work but if its removed then he cant test it. so this is another job on my to do list

[apdiogo]

If your ABS feels like it is not working properly, there might be something else wrong with it.

I also removed the ABS from my E36 M3 racecar and found the rears locking up much sooner than before, I had to fit a brake bias valve in-line to the rear. Am still bit confused about this, since I ran the car with ABS off, but pump still plumbed in and had no problems.

My 2 cents.
Cheers

[Martinaston]

If you want to turn off the ABS the easiest way is just to undo the main power feed at the battery and the three plugs behind the glove box. Saves unbolting all the trim.

As for the pipes a non abs master cylinder has three outputs as a safety feature so you don't loose both front brakes at the same time as you would with a T piece.

[DanThe]

So you guys dont rate the ABS?
Ive just bought a 325 for breaking and was thinking about fitting the system on mine. Im doing an M50 conversion and thought it would be handy.
Never driven an E30 with ABS before either

[fuzzy]

im with zayyan on this, i feel it cuts in to early as well plus ive been advised to remove it by a couple of different garages to "regain full control" of the car because of the conversion ive done. plus its one less thing to worry about at mot time

[DanThe]

So I could be bringing myself more grief than well-being?
I had a 325 without the ABS and was locking the fronts up quite regulary
205 tyres

[pacerpete]

A normal driver in normal road conditions will always stop quicker with ABS than without whilst still maintaining full vehicle control.
ABS braking was one of the major safety breakthroughs in automotive history , why would you want to bin it ? . If your brakes feel crap your car obviously has a problem.

[A1BMW325iSport]

diff opinions there, well my view is that abs is great if its working properly, for normal driving i can't see any reason to remove the system

[fuzzy]

track use, not normal driving for me

[Brianmoooore]

It's a fact that a competant driver can slow a car faster without ABS than with it. The big "but" is, when driving on the road and having to suddenly emergency brake, by the time you've woken up to what's going on, the ABS will have made a better job of it.
Also, on the kind of single track roads I spend a lot of time driving on, one front wheel is often on a loose surface. The ABS can then proportion the braking effert appropriately to each front wheel. Something that can't happen without ABS.
On the subject of MOTs. - Your ABS doesn't have to work for MOT - only the warning light.
I was told a while back, that with the advent of the new computerised MOT, the computer will know from the database whether your car should have ABS, and if so, will insist on the light test. This was from an MOT tester, but before the new tests were introduced, so could be wrong.

[fuzzy]

"competent driver"....that rules me out then

[calder]

Brian's right, the MOT doesn't actually test ABS funtion, only the light sequence on ignition. For this to work you would have to either have the ABS working or put in some wiring to run the light off something else.
I would also always want ABS for road driving for the unexpected when your not paying attention.
For track use like mine and Fuzzy's i guess its your own choice.
For me it removes some unwanted kgs off the front left corner and stops the hassle for MOT - if it aint there they can't test it.

[DanThe]

Think id best fit it then
Previous experience of no ABS should be enough to go on