Electronic parking brake failed :(

[Chrispy]

So, yesterday I drove about 50 miles from home to drop my daughter off, and upon parking up I applied the parking brake as I usually do.  There was immediately a loud screeching / grinding noise as the parking brake came on.  "That didn't sound good" I thought.....  When I tried to release the parking brake to set off again, an error popped up on the iDrive saying "parking brake failure" and the yellow parking brake light came up on the dash.  First thought was to use the emergency release cable in the boot, but pulling this did nothing.  It allowed me to pull it up a good few inches and no matter how hard I pulled it would not allow me to pull it any further.

So, I had to call the recovery company to collect the car (using little trolleys under the wheels) and take it to the nearest garage, which as it happens was a BMW dealer about 50 yards away.  Very frustrating as it was a Sunday night where everything is closed and the dealer in question was visible from the front seat of my car. 

Has anyone had this before?  Based on the noise I'm thinking this is something mechanical that's failed as opposed to physical?

Not expecting it to be cheap to fix. 

[X5Sport]

It is a known problem and a number of folks have had it.  If the actual actuator has failed then BMW will just replace it - and they are over £700 last time anyone reported it.  There was a thread on here, and possibly YouTube videos in diy a repair.

Given the emergency release didn’t work, it might be a fault at the drum brake unit on one side rather than the actuator.

[Chrispy]

Yup had it confirmed. Actuator failed. Dealer wants £1350 to replace, all included (which will include diagnostic time I imagine). 2 days out of 3rd party warranty too. Sigh.

Trouble is the car is immobile at the moment and 50 miles from home so I have no real choice in the matter unfortunately. More than happy to DIY jobs on the car like brakes, suspension components etc (and even done exhausts in the past, on my back with the car on axle stands) but I'm between a rock and hard place on this one.

[Ashley]

Mine went on my 09 sd a few weeks ago too.  Luckily I had been up in Swansea dropping off my son back at Uni and had got home to Bournemouth before it went the very next journey.  My driveway is also very steep and not a straight run so it took two different pickups companies about four hours just to get it off the driveway and onto a flatbed.  Again is was down to slippy jims and brute force in the end.

Anyway I had extended warrant through warranty direct, but as it is classified as the handbrake then this is not covered by them,  They only told me this after it had gone to one of their approved garages.  So I ended paying out of my own pocket.  Luckily the garage wasn't too expensive and they were surprised the local dealers had the spare part on the shelves (Common problem!).  In all it was just under £1100 with the bulk being the unit.

[snrbrtsn]

I thought there was a Bowden cable in the boot area...
In the event of actuator failure this could be pulled and parking brake released

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6LLq2oB2Ovo

[Chrispy]

Ugh that sucks. The fact it's so common is annoying, especially as the component is so expensive alone. Nearly £800 plus the VAT.

I had Warranty Wise warranty until the day before and was kicking myself a little for not extending / renewing it but chances are it wouldn't have been covered anyway. They argued the toss when my O/S thrust arm needed replacing saying "bushes aren't covered" even though it was the ball joint bit of it that had worn out and no one had ever said the word "Bush". Then when they agreed to pay they said there was a Labour limit of £50 per hour and dealer rates are double that so I had that to contend with too.

Do miss running a nearly new car for proper warranty, or at least it being an AUC for the same reasons but hey ho.

Mine was the same, just getting it onto the flatbed took 2 guys a good while, with skates etc as the car simply would not budge, then the part had to be ordered in so I collected on the Tuesday after work (broke down Sunday evening) . Proper nightmare but it's done now and hopefully it won't fail again. Even if it does the part and work will be covered under warranty as it was a dealer that did the lot, with a genuine part.

[Chrispy]

Re the emergency release cable in the boot. I tried that. It did nothing, like it wasn't attached to anything as it came up about 3" before hitting a dead stop with no resistance before then. No matter how much force I used - the unit inside must have been properly mashed.

[X5Sport]

Guidance on line suggest that it will come up a fair distance and once the mechanical resistance is felt ‘considerable force’ is required before the brake is heard to release.  It implies that you need to pull it up much further and with a decent amount of leverage from a longer bar.  Not helpful if the tool provided isn’t up to it!

[Chrispy]

Well I didn't have the little orange tool - I read somewhere that it was discontinued after a certain age? In the boot was the wire next to the first aid kit and warning triangle with a loop on the end. All I had to pull on it was the little screwdriver so I put that through it and pulled up with everything I had. Nothing. Even the recovery guys tried the same to no avail. One thing that was interesting was pulling fuse 129 I think it was, as that seemed to "reset" the module, so the next time I pressed the brake button it groaned a little but still wouldn't let go. If that cable needed more force we're talking massive amounts. Like the sort only a long crow or breaker bar could provide. Was so frustrating as the thing meant to help in this situation just didn't work.

[pcdee]

When mine went I couldn't use the tool as the wire had a loop at the end.

Don't laugh.....I used a claw hammer and looped the end through and gave a yank and it unlocked.

Might just replace the tool with a claw hammer.....lol

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Chrispy]

Something with that kind of leverage would have been needed I think to get mine to let go.  It was proper seized on - the grinding/ groaning / squealing noise it made when putting it on as I parked up suggested it wasn't going to let go without a fight. Deadlifting the back end of the car via a screwdriver through the little loop was nowhere near enough.

Just out of curiosity, I take is there's somewhere to apply leverage using something like a claw hammer around that little loop?  I didn't really look in the dark with no tools to hand.

[pcdee]

I put a piece of wood under the hammer otherwise you'll damage the casing.

The cars in today getting a new actuator installed, the last one lasted 20 months.

I asked the service guy why has it gone so early.  He just said it's something internal and we don't open them.

For such an expensive unit you would of thought it'd be made well.

Once the beast is back I think I won't use the handbrake.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[X5Sport]

I have to admit that I rarely engage the parking brake on mine - for the same reason!  The transmission lock should hold in most circumstances anyway.

[pvr]

Same here, can't remember the last time I used it.

[Chrispy]

My God, 20 months?...... How much warranty comes with replacement parts / labour?  After having £1300 of wok done you'd hope that part and the effort taken to fit it would be covered?  That's almost small claims court material is that as it's clearly not fit for purpose.

No more parking brake use me thinks from now on.  Take it leaving it in park does no damage?  Having 2mm rolling radius difference in the tyres seems to kill transfer cases so I have no faith if I'm honest.  For a supposedly "rugged" vehicle they seem to be made of chocolate.