Figured I'd put this out there for anyone who was interested in changing the front brakes on their own but weren't feeling very comfortable. I have a 2007 M35x but this should be the same for all M's. This should give you the general idea though.

*Disclaimer* - I am not liable for anything you do to your car. This is just a basic walkthrough.

I took the pics with my HTC EVO 4G LTE from Sprint. End of shameless plug lol.


Front Brakes

Task: Change The Front Brakes
Time: Took me about 15-20 minutes per side...first time may take a bit longer as you learn the process.
Tools/Supplies Needed:

• 14MM Socket/Wrench
• 7/8 Socket/Wrench
• Rotor(s) and Pad(s) - most people on the M forums recommend getting the BrakeMotive EBay kit. Search EBay for 'BrakeMotive M35 (or M45)'.
• Brake Fluid - You will need this when you do the bleeding of the brakes)
• Optional - Wire
• Optional - Anti-Seize
• Optional - Wire Brush
• Optional - Brake Cleaner

Process:

1) Put your car securely up on jack stands. In my case, I have a lift, so it's much easier.

2) Take off the tire. You will see this:



3) Now remove all four bolts as shown in the picture. This will allow you to remove the caliper and brake pad bracket, giving easy access to do some cleanup while we're working in here.

Update: People are reporting that the size of the 21MM bolts is actually 22MM. I cannot confirm or deny that (memory is hazy), just keep that in mind. Some of the tools I use are the stupid American sizes (such as 7/8, etc.)...so that may have also contributed to the confusion. Ideally, you should have a set of tools that has sizes from like 8mm to 24mm (personal recommendation).



4) Once the caliper is free, use some wire (or something else) to secure it against the strut like so:



You should now be left with this:



5) Before you can install new pads, you need to push in the brake cylinder of the calipers. There are two of them. I used a c-clamp and a piece of wood my dad had laying around.



6) At this point, you should be ready to put everything back together...but I suggest doing the following steps as well to make sure everything is good and STAYS good in the future.

7) Pull out the 'pins' from the pad bracket. Add some anti-seize to the pins on top of the grease that's already there. This is totally safe and I have been doing this on all my cars since day one.



8) Take all of the bolts you unscrewed and go at them with the wirebrush to loosen any dirt/rust. Then, once that is done, put a small amount of anti-seize on those as well. Once you're done with that, hit the rest of the area with a wire brush including your lug nuts, the center bolt, etc. and then finish it off with some brake cleaner to get it all clean. I went a step further and spray painted all the pieces (the caliper, brake bracket, and center of the rotor area).

9) Install the rotor, followed by the brake pad bracket first.



10) Now install the pads.



11) Now install the caliper over top of the pads. It should fit easily. Put it all back together and you should end up with this:



12) Before driving the car, make sure to bleed your brakes. The order is as follows:

1) Rear Passenger
2) Rear Driver
3) Front Passenger
4) Front Driver

(you have to go from the farthest wheel in regards to the master brake cylinder and work your way closer)

Use this guide: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/h ... rakes.html

13) All set.

14) Lastly, break in your brake pads properly. I use this quide.

Link

Figured I'd put this out there for anyone who was interested in changing the rear brakes on their own but weren't feeling very comfortable. I have a 2007 M35x but this should be the same for all M's. This should give you the general idea though.

*Disclaimer* - I am not liable for anything you do to your car. This is just a basic walkthrough.

I took the pics with my HTC EVO 4G LTE from Sprint. End of shameless plug lol.

Rear Brakes

Task: Change The Rear Brakes
Time: Took me about 15-20 minutes per side...first time may take a bit longer as you learn the process.
Tools/Supplies Needed:

• 14MM Socket/Wrench
• 19MM Socket/Wrench
• Rotor(s) and Pad(s) - most people on the M forums recommend getting the BrakeMotive EBay kit. Search EBay for 'BrakeMotive M35 (or M45)'.
• Optional - Wire
• Optional - Anti-Seize
• Optional - Wire Brush
• Optional - Brake Cleaner

Process:

Place holder for rear brakes. Ran into some issues with the rear bolts stripping so I decided to 'sleep on it' and tackle the back tomorrow.

1) Put your car securely up on jack stands. In my case, I have a lift, so it's much easier.

2) Take off the tire. You will see this:



3) Now remove all four bolts as shown in the picture. This will allow you to remove the caliper and brake pad bracket, giving easy access to do some cleanup while we're working in here.



4) You should now be able to take apart the caliper from the brake pad bracket and should be left with this. You can put the caliper like this to keep it from hanging from the brake line:



5) Before you can install new pads, you need to push in the brake cylinder of the calipers. I used a c-clamp and a piece of wood my dad had laying around.



6) At this point, you should be ready to put everything back together...but I suggest doing the following steps as well to make sure everything is good and STAYS good in the future.

7) Pull out the 'pins' from the pad bracket. Add some anti-seize to the pins on top of the grease that's already there. This is totally safe and I have been doing this on all my cars since day one.

(front caliper pins shown from when I was doing the fronts)



8) Take all of the bolts you unscrewed and go at them with the wirebrush to loosen any dirt/rust. Then, once that is done, put a small amount of anti-seize on those as well. Once you're done with that, hit the rest of the area with a wire brush including your lug nuts, the center bolt, etc. and then finish it off with some brake cleaner to get it all clean. I went a step further and spray painted all the pieces (the caliper, brake bracket, and center of the rotor area).

You should have a nice clean setup like this:



9) Install the rotor, followed by the brake pad bracket first.

10) Now install the pads.

11) Now install the caliper over top of the pads. It should fit easily. Put it all back together and you should end up with this:





12) Before driving the car, make sure to bleed your brakes. The order is as follows:

1) Rear Passenger
2) Rear Driver
3) Front Passenger
4) Front Driver

(you have to go from the farthest wheel in regards to the master brake cylinder and work your way closer)

Use this guide: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/h ... rakes.html

13) All set.

14) Lastly, break in your brake pads properly. I use this quide.

Link

This is a great post, pictures are very helpful. Can you comment on how you plan to bleed the brakes, maybe a picture or two showing what you are doing? Thanks.

Unfortunately, my dad will be bleeding them while I pump the brakes so I won't have any pictures. I've actually never done it (always been the pumper)...but here is a link on how to do it:

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/h ... rakes.html

I still havent had to change the brakes on my car. Brakemotive seems to be the way to go for rotors so that will be the route I take when the time comes.

What pads did you use and where? I know there are certain website that offer them at a lower price.

Figured I ask that question since this can be a one stop thread to get all info needed to change brakes.

I got the complete Brakemotive kit (pads and rotors). This is my second set and until the price jumps up on them, I'll continue to use them. I like these pads...they don't seem to dust much (although I do wash my car pretty frequently as I have an unlimited pass at the local car wash) and they are quiet.

hey ilya,

thanks in advance for the recent wave of How-to's youve been posting! but id like to ask since i will also be replacing pads and rotors on all 4 corners of my 35x (also with the brakemotive kit) i noticed you said you stripped your rear bolts, how do i avoid this? and if i run into the same problem, u have a part number on the new bolts? how much different is replacing the fronts, from the rears?

thanks

cji4130 wrote:hey ilya,

thanks in advance for the recent wave of How-to's youve been posting! but id like to ask since i will also be replacing pads and rotors on all 4 corners of my 35x (also with the brakemotive kit) i noticed you said you stripped your rear bolts, how do i avoid this? and if i run into the same problem, u have a part number on the new bolts? how much different is replacing the fronts, from the rears?

thanks

You're welcome. If it wasn't for such HowTo's on other car sites I've been on and my father teaching me (I'm 25), I wouldn't be able to do most of this stuff. Just paying it forward so to speak. When I was 16 I always told my dad I'd never bother learning cars because I was going to work in IT (I do) and pay someone else to do it (yeah, I don't make as much as I thought I would as a kid lol).

My father and me ended up getting the rear bolts off by using a chisel and a hammer and beating on it to force it to 'spin' (once you create a groove in the bolt with the chisel, further poundings loosen it). But, if you strip them, I recommend going out and buying a $25 Bolt Remover kit like so...may help you out.

This is the kit I'm referring too and here is a video explaining it:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... s+%26+Dies

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZP05y32aJw[/youtube]

There really is no rhyme or reason why it happens, but when it does...there is usually a variety of ways to get them off. Sometimes they work, sometimes you have to do something else to get it off.

i am also 25 BTW, my dad hates these cars, hes a mopar guy. lol

hahah, yeah. My dad is old school Ukrainian, so he tends to know a little bit of everything. Dude is the most handy man I have ever met, unfortunately, I'm only 10% as handy as him.

Regardless, good luck! It's not so bad. Just make sure you use some PB Blaster on all your nuts and bolts before doing anything. I didn't have any so I relied on WD-40.

I have never installed my own brakes..... But your post makes it seem too easy! Thank you for the post, I am new here and this has inspired me to do the work myself. Keep posts like this coming!

Glad I could help.

As of right now, there is going to be more HowTo's coming:

1) Suspension Installation
2) Front and Rear Differential Fluid Change
3) Stabilizer Links (front and rear)
4) Maybe Coolant and Transmission Fluid Change (haven't decided if I'll tackle this or just give it to someone).

2006M45SCanada wrote:I have never installed my own brakes..... But your post makes it seem too easy! Thank you for the post, I am new here and this has inspired me to do the work myself. Keep posts like this coming!

I feel the same way!! ^

Great post and Thanks!!

IlyaKol,

Thank you for all the highly detailed instructional posts you have added! I have a question regarding the calipers when you changed to the brakemotive rotors. Did you have to add anything or modify anything on the calipers like a drag reducing clip or do our stock calipers fit the brakemotive rotors without any additonal mods to the calipers?

Thanks

Larz, the Brakemotive kit comes complete with all hardware (clips and silencers) but you may use all stock hardware if it's in good shape just use rotors and pads!

Larz, what Bodyguard said. I used my OEM hardware.

so has anyone done ss lines on their car before?? i bought a brake kit and it came with them and just wondered if it would really make a difference....also if i do the ss lines in the front should i do the rears as well or will i be fine just doing the front?? the lines on the car look fine so idk if i really want to tackle the job...

For a daily driven car...I don't think it's that big a deal...but that's just me.

Thanks IlyaKol and Bodtguard !

IlyaKol wrote:For a daily driven car...I don't think it's that big a deal...but that's just me.

Exactly ^ only people I've seen do SS lines have upgraded top akebono bbk kits. Stock lines will do just fine!

thanks for the reply...i will save myself the hassle of changing the lines...on a side note i have a front set of ss lines if anyone is interested....lol

Great writeup. Lastly IMO the brake pad break-in process is important after all is installed. That will give you the best grip on your pads.

hahakenny wrote:Great writeup. Lastly IMO the brake pad break-in process is important after all is installed. That will give you the best grip on your pads.

Oops forgot to add that (just did). Thanks for reminding me.

Here is the link I use for anyone interested.

Link

Do this Brakemotive kit stay this shiny?

Yes. They are zinc coated so they don't rust immediately. Mine stayed nice for thousands of miles.

EL PERRON wrote:Do this Brakemotive kit stay this shiny?

Obviously not where the pad touches the rotor , that area will rust if your car is exposed to rain/snow. The pad will clean the rust off but there will be rust drips on the rotor hub. I have my kit on the car for about 8 months and they look pretty bad already. They are good brakes for the price and deffinetly better than oem but my next set will probably be the black zinc coated set or I will paint the brakemotive prior to install

going to do the brakes on sunday!! thanks ilya for the pointers!!

well i could not for the life of me get the 21mm bolts out!!!tried with an impact gun and with a 4 foot long breaker bar!!did not budge! so i will just bring it to the dealer and let them deal with it! @Ilya thanks again for the pointers...your instructions were spot on i just did not have the patience to do this myself!

Yeah, being that you're up here in NY with me, not surprised. When I was doing my suspension it took me a long time too, even with air tools.

Love NY. NOT.

This is a great DIY article - thanks! I'm using a printout as I work through the project on my car, an '06 M35X.

The instructions don't seem quite the same for the '06 (???). I have 22mm bolts instead of the 21mm you for your '07. I also have a bracket that secures the brake line connections by the front discs, and I have to remove that bracket to get to the 22mm bolts; otherwise the brake lines are in the way of the bolt heads.

In any case, I have seized 22mm up front and seized 19mm in back (and seized up 14mms in back), so I'm off to get some six point sockets and a breaker bar while the WD-40 seeps into the nooks and crannies. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can get these bolts unscrewed without destroying something. Hopefully the G+ image link below works.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/117087038 ... 1004/posts