Brake Systems 1.0 / Motor Mounts 1.0

Brake Systems 1.0

The 1992 BMW 325i has four wheel disk brakes in addition to a parking brake.  The parking brake is internal to the rear rotors which have an integrated parking brake drum.  The 325i was placed on jack stands, the wheels removed, the brake lines drained, and all of the brake calipers/pads removed for inspection.  Next time a small flat head screwdriver should be used to separate the rear right pad sensor wire from the pad. Attempting to instead remove the sensor by pulling on the wire lead now requires that the part be replaced.  The left front wheel does not rotate freely and it has a grinding noise. All of the wheels must rotate freely to minimize the load on the future battery pack.

The front brakes look good, but the rear pads are to bare metal..  The rear rotor thickness ranged between 9.12 mm and 9.20 mm and Bentley suggests a minimum thickness of 8.4 mm, so these are good to go.  The front vented rotors are slightly above the minimum suggested by Bentley of 20.4 mm, so these will need to be replaced in the near future.  Mounting screws on the rear brakes were then removed and the rotor/drum loosened with a mallet and pulled from the drive flange.  Internally the passenger side parking brake shoes were worn out and all the parts completely rusted, but interestingly, on the driver’s side there were no shoes or internal mechanism !!  Only the parking brake actuator was hanging from the backing plate !! Apparently, in a previous “brake job” the technician elected not to return or replace any of the parts inside the drum !!   Instinct has been to check out each system, and now it is clear that this strategy is a must as the build moves forward.  A hardware rebuild kit and replacement brake shoes will be ordered next week along with backing plates since they both show damage at the spring retainer bolt holes.
 

Motor Mounts 1.0

The replacement OEM rubber engine mounts arrived this last week from RM European (http://www.rmeuropean.com/search.aspx?keyword=603820).  The damaged and old ones are out and the new ones are in. 

 

                         Picture DSC04988 showing top (left) and bottom (right) mounting points.

 

 

Picture DSC04989 showing side view of Corteco 603820

 

The original engine mounting brackets have been cleaned and painted, and an attempt to install them will be made after the drive train is lowered into the motor compartment and bolted to the drive shaft.  On that topic, a phone conversation with Pioneer Conversions last Friday suggested that the assembled motor/adapter/transmission may be ready for pick up on 9/18/2012.  A true milestone when it arrives!