Soft Brake Pedal and air sound

[pete323]

My brake pedal in fairly soft in my e30 316 compared to my 98 e36

Are the pedals on e30`s soft? (Travel far)

Also when sitting idle when you press the brakes there is an air (hiss) sound from passanger side

If you turn engine off and pump pedal this sounds for around 4 times then pedal gets hard and there is no sound
When you restert the engine with foot on brake the pedal goes down a bit and it makes the Hiss noise

Is this normal?

[Templ8e30]

My e30 doesn't have a soft pedal but I have goodridge braided brake lines and dot5.1 fluid which has firmed the pedal up. I'd change the fluid and see if that cures it.

The hissing is normal, that's the vacuum in the brake servo. After about 4 pumps of the pedal with the engine off the vacuum is used up and the pedal goes hard as there is no servo assistance. When you restart the car the vacuum is replenished and the pedal will move down as the servo comes back in to operation.

Cheers,

Iain T

[pete323]

My e30 doesn't have a soft pedal but I have goodridge braided brake lines and dot5.1 fluid which has firmed the pedal up. I'd change the fluid and see if that cures it.

The hissing is normal, that's the vacuum in the brake servo. After about 4 pumps of the pedal with the engine off the vacuum is used up and the pedal goes hard as there is no servo assistance. When you restart the car the vacuum is replenished and the pedal will move down as the servo comes back in to operation.

Cheers,

Iain T

Thanks for your help