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BMW 120D XDrive 2013 - Both rear brakes sticking? - GreenDanny85

Evening all, I'm hoping somebody here can point me in the right direction as I'm stumped on this one.

Driving home tonight, slowed to 40 to go through a village and felt a judder which I thought was the road, went to change gear and felt instant drag when clutching, continued and then noticed the smell of a stuck brake. Pulled over and worked the handbrake/pedal a few times and it seemed to free off slightly. Got home and checked all 4 wheels for heat and to my surprise, both rear rims were too hot to touch. I can understand one sticking, but both? No idea.

I've noticed a few times when setting off that it feels like the hill assist was holding for too long, but I'm starting to question now if this was possibly the brakes sticking. No harsh braking leading up to them sticking tonight, did notice that it didn't have the same pull as usual, but didn't think too much of it until the juddering started.

Not even been under this car yet, so don't have a clue what I'm looking for on this. Any general pointers would be majorly appreciated.

Cheers, Danny

BMW 120D XDrive 2013 - Both rear brakes sticking? - Big John

Probably time to get your rear brakes serviced. The longer you leave it the worse the damage/repair bill could be and it's potentially a major safety issue.

I think the BMW 120 has separate systems re footbrake(pads/disc)/handbrake (shoes/drum). Either foot or handbrake system could be the culprit re binding / generating heat but my money would be on the handbrake especially if it's an automatic and is rarely applied.

Edited by Big John on 01/10/2021 at 21:55

BMW 120D XDrive 2013 - Both rear brakes sticking? - GreenDanny85

Annoyingly it's a manual, couldn't justify the extra money for the automatic but now I'm starting to wish I had. The handbrake has been pretty poor since I got it a few months ago, butt I put that down to the naff design of the adjusters. Still don't understand why both would lock on at the same time though if it's an issue with the brake internals.

BMW 120D XDrive 2013 - Both rear brakes sticking? - Andrew-T

If this car has rear disc brakes (I am guessing that most BMs do) they are not usually exercised enough to keep running freely. Should just need a thorough fettling.

BMW 120D XDrive 2013 - Both rear brakes sticking? - edlithgow

The sort of car I'm familiar with has a handbrake cable going to a yoke which then splits the cable to the two brake drums.

On such an old school primitive car, both brakes starting sticking at the same time might indicate a frayed cable that was sticking inside its outer sheath and not releasing fully.

On a 2013 BMW I dunno.

Maybe a a computer virus acquired through the onboard data bus affecting multiple distributed processors.

Or crack propagation in the dilithium crystals (there are two of them, hence the di)

Or a warp in the space-time continium.

Or rust

Edited by edlithgow on 02/10/2021 at 09:43

BMW 120D XDrive 2013 - Both rear brakes sticking? - Rerepo

You have a faulty ABS unit. Very common fault on the 1-series. Its holding fluid pressure to the rear calipers causing them to bind. Cure is to replace the unit. You may also find they brakes applying themselves when the wipers are switched on (I am not making that up!).

BMW 120D XDrive 2013 - Both rear brakes sticking? - edlithgow

You have a faulty ABS unit. Very common fault on the 1-series. Its holding fluid pressure to the rear calipers causing them to bind. Cure is to replace the unit. You may also find they brakes applying themselves when the wipers are switched on (I am not making that up!).

I was making mine up (apart from the first one)

Yet I still didn't manage to be as ridiculous as reality.