Parking brake on BMW e34

The parking brake in the Bmw E43 uses drums integrated into the rear wheel brake rotors. The brake shoes shouldn't need to be replaced in the life of the car. Adjustment is sometime needed to compensate the wear. Failure syndromes: • Parking brake braking only one wheel. • Slides and 180's difficult to do.

Parking brake adjustment

Flat screwdriver. Open end wrench. 1. Remove the boot of the parking brake then loosen the parking brake cable nuts until the cables are loose. 2. Lift the rear of the car and secure it with stands. Remove one bolt from each wheel. 3. Turn the wheel until it aligns with the parking brake adjuster (a cylinder with lots of notches located into the rotor). The adjuster should be located above the ABS sensor. 4. For both wheels: using the screwdriver, turn the adjuster until the wheel cannot turn then turn back about 8 notches. 5. Inside the car, use the parking brake several times then pull it up 4 notches. Tighten the cable nuts until you feel a slight resistance turning the wheels. 6. Turn on the ignition and check the functioning of the parking brake warning light. 7. Reinstall the parking brake boot and the wheel nuts.