Brake caliper
 

I had my front discs and pads exchanged at firestone. They always give great service and much cheaper than...
After a few weeks it felt like the left tire was coming of. this happened 3 times in two months. I found out that my left brake is blocking. Very hot wheel and discs are colored red.
Now the guys at Firestone want to tell me that the calipers go bad and that is my problem.i.e. no waranty.
Has anyone ever heard of caliper going bad? I have an 04 x5 70k

Thank for the help.

Jeroen

A seized brake caliper could mean a couple things: bad brake fluid and hasn't been changed or water has entered the system causing the piston to rust. I've had this happen on my other Bimmer. Had to buy a new caliper, swap it out and rebleed the system with new fluid myself.

Jeroen,

If the caliper is seized, you are out of luck. GL trying to prove Firestone is at fault.
Calipers seize b/c of rust and/or excess heat. If the pad / rotor aren't working correctly or the pad is really worn down (metal on metal), then the heat builds and the caliper suffers.

If you're handy, get a caliper at a junkyard and put it in yourself. If you're not, DON'T take it back to Firestone IMO.

Those chain shops (Meinke, Firestone) can be really bad news--unethical, incompetent. I would go to a local independent shop.

Before buying a new caliper or rebuilding this one you may want to try to clean it first. Others may chime in but here is what worked for me several times on both cars and motorbikes to fix dragging calipers issues. After removing the pads press the brake pedal to get the brake piston out to its almost max. BE CAREFUL NOT TO GO too far though not to pop the piston out of the caliper. Clean the caliper and piston with brake cleaner. If needed sightly sand the piston sides with a LIGHT application of 800 sand paper or ScotchBrite pad and clean it again with brake cleaner. Then lubricate the sides of the piston with some drops of brake fluid and push it back completely by using a clamp. I use the old pads in between the piston and the clamp to avoid damaging the piston when I push it back. Put the new pads and mount everything back together.

So they inspected it after you took the ride back?...and when they say "gone bad" did the explain why, because that woudl make it clearer. I would have to imagine that they inspected the fluid, leaks..etc. otherwise it's like taking a guess at something to make me feel better.:dunno:

how often do you have your brake fluid serviced?

I just had a caliper freeze on my M3, the steering wheel would vibrate terribly, then stop, so it was off and on, but the mechanic where I had it fixed did say the rotor was red and hot just like yours is, they also told me to replace both calipers at the same time, just because the pressure would equal out with both new.

To get the caliper form BMW they were $600 each, but I got mine from www.autopartswarehouse.com paid $230 each shipped, I got ones made by ATE, ATE is the oem supplier to BMW, the ones I got had the M logo on them but it was "filled" in, but you could still see it.

I would search online, like the site above, www.autohausaz.com and do a google search for BMW parts, find the cheapest price, watch out tho the Cardones are remanufactured, if you find the exact same ones on autopartswarehouse on another site cheaper then use the live agent, tell them what you found, the link, part # etc, they will match and beat the price.

I have seen the inside lining of the brake hose go bad and act as a one way check valve, causing the caliper not to release properly. Easy check, crack open the bleader and see if the rotor is free.

one more thing to check out ,
these are single piston floating calipers so have the floating part ( i forgot the proper name ) it`s the part that actually holds the pads in place , have that cleaned and lubed.
find a decent mechanic to do both sides . the brake fluid should be changed every two years .