[DriveS]

I did this 2 years ago, but they started to stick again...

When you pull away and you can hear squeal from the rear brakes....this is likely the issue.

Obvious design flaw. The mechanism becomes jammed with crud and doesn't allow the pads to back away from the drum properly....hence the squeal.

To fix...take the drum off, remove the 2x bolts held with springs. Now you will be able to see the contact points of the mechanism.. Polish the crud off with sandpaper and apply ceramic grease (see in picture 2). The most important contact point is at the bottom, where the piston contacts the bottom of the pads. This needs a file to clean the hardened crud off... then apply grease.

Put it all back together. Might as well clean the main pad contact points and grease them too.

There you go...2 years of squeal free rear brakes.

[Ennoch]

Those parts just look so thin and flaky! I've yet to have the need to delve into anything on the BMW but compared to my 19yr old Honda and 18 yr old Impreza it all just looks so thin and low quality. No wonder modern cars just don't last in these areas.

[MY340i]

thanks

[Firelizard]

Thanks for this ! I have also done this job recently to fix squealing handbrake pads. Symptom is squeal when first moving away after releasing the handbrake. The pads bind on the drum and cause a high pitched squeal. I applied grease to each of the 3 brake shoe contact points with the back plate, but the problem persisted. I realised when checking the operation of the handbrake release mechanism that the shoes were not properly returning to their off position. Some WD40 on the handbrake expansion mechanism and those points where it expands the shoes and where the shoes contact the backplate around the cable mechanism fixed it. This can be done without removing the shoe retaining springs (which I have always found to be fiddly to replace), but you have to jiggle the shoes around to work the lubricant in and release the crud.

[TurboWeasel]

I've been getting that on mine this winter as well. When it first started doing it, the binding was bad enough to cause a hot brakes smell from the back after a 40 mile journey. It also hit the mpg quite substantially, and also caused enough load to confuse the gearbox at low speeds.

Anyway, yanking the handbrake on and off 6-7 times after setting off twice a week seems to cure it in the short term. I'll be following this guide for sure if it becomes too much of a nuisance

I suppose it's an easy fix. On my previous car with integrated handbrake calipers, once this happens, it's new calipers time. Thankfully BMW stuck to drums for the parking brake!