today the brake malfunction light came on

[chonko]

Originally Posted by morecowbell

My sales guy is a douche and the only thing he said to me about the E-Brake is "Don't use it". I then asked where the manual release was if it failed...and he replied "if I told you not to use it, why would you need a manual release".

Can anybody tell me where it is?

The manual release is located at the rear left hand side of the car in one of the compartments in the boot(trunk).
If you go through the manual, you will find instruction on how to do it. Sorry, I'm work or else I would have quoted the particular page for you.

Edit:
Page 63 in your manual.

[rh71]

Elvism, what is the production date / month of your '08? And have you ever had a firmware update at any point? Supposedly a March '08 bulletin addressed this.

And yes there've been tons of threads on this including the workaround of using it only after the engine is off. I've found though that it slips a bit on an incline causing undue weight on the brake if you use it after, as opposed to while the engine is still on. I've been trying to make it happen on purpose at my convenience.

Is your dealer going to put the latest firmware on?

[chonko]

Originally Posted by morecowbell

Being that my car was built 3 weeks ago, I'd assume I have latest software...no?

I am sure you are fine.

[elvism]

my X5 was built on week 45.. i got my vin on 10/26/07 and took delivery on 11-17-07

[chonko]

Originally Posted by elvism

my X5 was built on week 45.. i got my vin on 10/26/07 and took delivery on 11-17-07

It seems yours was built around the same period as mine.
I can't remember exactly the date but it was built in November 07 and I took delivery of it 1st week of Dec 07.
Have you gotten it reprogrammed with the new software?

[elvism]

Originally Posted by chonko

It seems yours was built around the same period as mine.
I can't remember exactly the date but it was built in November 07 and I took delivery of it 1st week of Dec 07.
Have you gotten it reprogrammed with the new software?

its getting reprogrammed today.. service guy told me its going to take a few hours to do.

[smarty]

Originally Posted by elvism

my X5 was built on week 45.. i got my vin on 10/26/07 and took delivery on 11-17-07

My X was built probably around a month after yours and I had this problem before. I took it to the dealer and the software update was done. I haven't had this problem since then.

[chonko]

Originally Posted by elvism

its getting reprogrammed today.. service guy told me its going to take a few hours to do.

Did they diagnose it as a software problem or you had to mention it to them?
Did you figure out how to manually unlock the hand break just in case?

[rh71]

Mine was built 2 months after yours but haven't had the problem though it looks like I'm just as vulnerable. I am trying to cause it to happen everytime I arrive home (the most opportune time). Does it ever get stuck without restarting the vehicle? For instance, I pull into the driveway, and while the engine is still on, I pull the ebrake, then release it... does it ever get stuck that way or does it only get stuck the next time you start the vehicle and try the release?

[elvism]

Originally Posted by chonko

Did they diagnose it as a software problem or you had to mention it to them?
Did you figure out how to manually unlock the hand break just in case?

they told me it was a software problem.. i also figured out the release button since i had bmw assist on the phone