Brake Fluid Leak - Drivers Side
 

OK, I just had the brakes done all around (rotors, pads, fluid flush) around 2 months ago. I noticed yesterday, the brake pedal felt spongy, wanting to fade to the floor at a full stop. I noticed I have brake fluid leaking just behind the front driver side wheel; about 12 inches back from the wheel well. Brake fluid tank is 1/2 full and dropping fast. I know the rear brake line is routed right in that area. What I don't understand is why a brake line would simply fail like that. Since it's enclosed up above all the plastic panels under the car and below the door, why would a brake line just decide to start leaking fluid? Any help would be appreciated. :confused:

i'm willing to bet it's coming from your controller unit (aluminum block where all the lines meet, under the coolant expansion tank).
w/out looking at it of course ;p
i really hope it's not that though, trust me i had to drive 2 miles on hilly roads with just manual switching and using ebrake ;) and to change it you have to pull out driver's headlight, a pita to change since space is limited and unlike every other car on the road the placement of it is horrible...
did i mention they run for 2k from dealer, about $600 from junk yards?

If someone just did a flush have it towed to them at their expense so that they can fix it. Odds are someone made a mistake and left something loose, and you do NOT want to be driving if the fluid in the master cylinder runs out leaving you unable to stop.

That is not taken loose for a brake flush, only the bleed screws at the calipers really. Hopefully it is just a matter of tightening the lines in the connector and maybe a quick bleed of that line from the caliper end.

I had leak in the same location, behind driver front wheel. Mine failed suddenly. Turns out the lines whent through an area where the plastic bottom protectors was holding water against the lines causing them to rust from the outside. My Local tech put in a patch.

I also have a failed master cylinder, but its not leaking. I have not yet bothered to replace it. At this point, i see no reason I should. Brakes work fine, just need a little extra travel.

That can indicate a failure on one of the circuits in the master cylinder, meaning you have less braking. Not a good idea to keep driving it. When the second circuit fails you have nothing to stop you except the car in front.

isn't the master just for power assist?

No, the master cylinder applies the brakes when you press the pedal. Two separate circuits, and when the seals fail in one it bottoms out and still works the other circuit. That is why the pedal goes further to apply the brakes. However, the corrosion that failed the first seal can also fail the second seal. Then you have no brakes.

The booster is for power assist, it is a separate component.

Msammy: did you fix this? I have the EXACT same problem and my indy mech says the salt and snow bundles up against the plastic and causes the line to rust out. He said he can patch it with pressure fitted lines, about a couple hundred dollars and he has done a few before.

Not Msammy here, but as long as your mechanic can get back to where the lines are solid on both sides of the rusted line, it isn't a big deal to replace a rusted section with a new piece of brake line. All he needs is the flaring kit and fittings.

He said it depends on if both are rusted or just one. Would it be better to use lines from the dealer or aftermarket preassure fitted ones for the fix?

BMW doesn't make brake lines, they buy them from a supplier and form them into the precise shape. The only advantage to buying them from the dealer is that they are pre-formed, so if it is a complicated shape it may be cheaper to buy it from the dealer than pay your mechanic to make a straight line fit, using a tube bender so that it isn't kinked. It should be your mechanic's call, he can see what the most appropriate fix is.

Ok thanks, i am dropping it off tonight, he will work on it tomorrow.

Will update then.

I had similar problem when my DSC Pressure Sensor was loose. It sits on the Big aluminim Block.

Well both lines and the connectors are rusted, i will post pics tonight but my indy mech said that it would be more work to replace the lines since the whole rear suspension would need to be dropped ($1500 job) to get the lines out/in. He is going to use pressure fitted and bend them as needed. I understand why now you can't just replace the oem lines.

Lines patched. $60 in metal tubing and $280 for labour. Not bad at all!

As promised here are the pics, stupid cdn winters i have to thank for these:

http://i51.tinypic.com/1z1d0kn.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/elba03.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/2lsadqg.jpg

More to do with the salt that your local government uses on the roads.

Shouldn't there be plastic coverings?

He toke the pic after he removed the plastic coverings, you can't see the brake lines otherwise....

Damn that is brake failure waiting to happen. And these are not easy to inspect since they are covered. I wonder how the moisture is getting in? Perhaps this is a design flaw in the underbody cover which allows moisture to get in and traps it there.

I've taken that cover off before to change the fuel filter. Its not a quick job to remove the cover. Some of the bolts are a real pain to get to.

Just discovered Brake line is leaking right under the driver side and the left rear wheel. The leak is looks somewhat significant from the drips on the ground but i want to take the plastic cover off and see it. Anyone removed the plastic cover before? how easy is it to remove it? Appreciate any input.

I had the same problem with my 2004 3.0 last year, both rear brake lines rusted through from the outside causing brake failure. My wife was driving at the time of failure and she was lucky to be local and made it home safe. She knew something felt different but didn't realize how serious this was! When I checked it out in my driveway, fluid poured out onto the ground when I pressed the brake pedal.

Changing both rear lines at the dealer cost me over $1000.

Someone mentioned on here that they were able to get BMW to pay for the labor portion of the bill which was probably 90% of the bill. Has anyone else been successful getting BMW to help out???????

I've never had an issue like this on any of my previous vehicles.....and I hold onto cars for ten years.

It just happened to me today.
I dropped my family at a camping party and was heading home,but I felt an excessive pedal travel at the first stop sign I felt that here I ran into problems.
I was able to make it home safely,X was still stopping with the pedal in the floor,so when I get out I see a fluid line on the driveway.
If it wasn't because of a Sunday,I would right away go and buy a different ride,not necessarily BMW.
Since April I am fixing that and that,last evening I was changing freaking level sensors,why...why on Earth they keep having these crappy hex ,or whatever you call it,heads bolts that strip the head right away?The first one took about 2 hours to get changed.The front one had a broken harness,it took around 1 hour and a half to solder/seal the connection(somebody tried fixing it before with no luck).At least I was able to fix it right.So Finally I have no freaking SELFLEVEL INACT..Had it for 4 months,got sick of it.Now my right side is lower,before it was a left side.
And before that a cooling system nightmare,which is not finished yet.I still have to swap the secondary thermostat and X rings for the heat exchanger.
Endlessssss.
And now brakes...front rotors changed last year along the calipers,left caliper failed 1 month later the warranty expired....
Struts,control arms,tie rods etc etc etc and much more to be done yet.
Transfer case's chain is loose,I can hear it slamming.
Is there an end?
I am thinking of going back to something less complex,really,this is really overwhelming.It's our only ride,I wish I had a spare car,in that case I wouldn't mind take my time to DIY the way it should be done and not an indie stile,fix one-->break three...

So,both rear brake lines are being replaced.
They were rusted where they are bracketed to the body.
Anyway..12 years of canadian winters and salt(or other crap they spray),it was about a time.
Now,myself,I am gonna pay more attention to those things from now on.
I am ordering all brake hoses and get them replaced too.
Labor is promised to be around $300 mostly because of plastic cover removal,parts are $50 bucks...labor is pricey.
I can't wait to get it back,new bushings and some new ball joints are waiting in the box :)

If you ever want to donate it. I'll take it off your hands, fix it and appreciate it. Keep that in mind.

Also here's a trick for when you strip bolts... I did that once on my last car,,,, Volvo.

Trick is! If you strip it.... Grab a locking vise grip and lock the bolt! Now you can unscrew it using the wise grip.

http://img.tapatalk.com/6265de5a-1693-1cac.jpg
That's the tool.

Good luck

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Thankfully I was able to get it undone.
But you are pointing me into right direction,I should get one of those(or a couple in different sizes)
NAh,I am keeping my it,this SOB has a lot of life in it yet.Most of the things I changed were changed the expensive way,Everything related in the system and always in pair(if that was the case).
So major stuff is pretty much done.
The monthly cost if I put the sale price,taxes and repairs + maintenance comes close to Honda civic lease monthly payments.But it's not a civic :)

Yea I don't know. Vise grips are a last resort. But sometimes that is exactly what's needed. Assorted plumber pipe wrenches are a plus as well.

Just had to have rear brake lines replaced, 06 X5 3.0 with 98K miles.

Dealer was doing final check before car goes off certified warranty and found brake lines corroded at fittings. Cost $1000 at dealer. Have to drop rear suspension, labor is bulk of expense. NOT covered by extended warranty....

I am wondering why they needed to drop the rear suspension?

Not sure, when I asked why the high labor hours, it was stated that the rear suspension needed to be dropped?

When I had mine done last year, the tech showed me how the lines were routed. The lines to each rear wheel run on top of the rear suspension assy., and the only way to replace them entirely, is to drop the assy. My dealership will not try to repair broken lines, they will only replace them with new (liability issues I suppose). And he showed me how the connectors between sections of line were the first things to rust, and he said it was very rare that they would separate without breaking. I work for the dealership, so I know they weren't giving me the run-around. The service manager told me that they have done over 100 X5's for the same problem, and apparently, the X5 is the only model with this problem. I wasn't happy about the cost, but I understand why they had to do all that labor.

Holy crap. I would seriously bend new lines, and flare them somewhere to connect to the original.

If it wasn't for the unusual circumstances under which I bought it, I would have. I have repaired/replaced brake lines many times, and have all the tools to bend, flare, and double flare lines. But, because of the way i bought this X5, I couldn't do the work on my own (LONG story), so I had to let the dealer fix it so it would pass the NYS safety inspection before I took it home. At least the brake lines are ONE thing I don't have to worry about going bad on this ride.

Very true. Anyway having brakes is good. Enjoy, keep the shiny side up.