Rear Brake Pad Replacement
 

I plan to replace the rear brake pads on my '09 E70 35d soon. Just to check, the process is similar to that for the E53. Regarding the electronic handbrake, is there a special process to release it and keep it off or is it just a matter of manually releasing it in the boot? Thanks in advance for any advice given.

I replaced my own pads and there was nothing special about it compared to other BMWs I've owned. I left the "hand brake" off and had no problems at all.

That's what I thought but does your handbrake not apply automatically when you remove the key fob?

The only time it's left applied in my truck is when using Auto-H before parking and not turning it off first.

When just regularly driving around town, the emergency brake does not get applied automatically when turning off my truck.

Thanks for the advice. Will give it a shot

Like Cravin said, the handbrake doesn't automatically get applied, and even if it did, it shouldn't keep you from replacing the pads since on most BMWs, the handbrake engages a set of "shoes" behind the rear brake rotors. That would keep you from replacing the rotors but not the pads.