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View Full Version : DIY bleed the clutch and brakes?


shifterkart33
05-09-2011, 08:38 PM
The clutch pedal was getting a little soft and then the brake pedal got a little soft a few days later so I figured it's probably bad hydraulic fluid and air in the lines.

I have a Bentley manual and the procedure looked pretty straight forward so I got out my Motive Power Bleeder and went to work.

Unfortunately when I open the clutch slave cylinder all I got was a bunch of air and a little bit of fluid. Now the clutch pedal is dead. I've tried it several times and all I get is air. The fluid is topped off in the reservoir but it's like the air is bypassing the reservoir.

Anyone have any ideas before it's towed to the dealer?
shifterkart33
05-10-2011, 08:08 PM
I figured out the clutch bleeding problem with a little help from a search on e90post. The pickup point for the clutch system fluid seems to be very high in the reservoir. I don't like to put fluid in the Motive PB because of the mess so I tried filling the reservoir all the way to the top and that worked for a few seconds but then the air came again. So I topped off the reservoir and put brake fluid in the Motive. This worked!

With that said, if I do it again I'll fabricate something to replace the BMW special tool 21 5 030 to compress the slave cylinder piston. Then I'll remove the slave cylinder and bleed the clutch with the bleeder facing up to get every last bit of air out of the system.

The brakes went much better although there was dirty fluid and a lot of air. I would have expected that except for the receipt from Advantage BMW Clear Lake which shows they claim to have changed the fluid in Dec 2010 :mad

About two quarts of DOT4 should do the trick to go from dirty to clear fluid in both systems
Hollywood D
05-11-2011, 03:22 PM
Motive power bleeder kicks ass. I don't like to put fluid into it either. I just top off the reservoir a lot and an careful not to let it drop below the line to the clutch.

If you get air into the clutch lines try pushing the clutch pedal a few times to work out the rest of the air after you bleed it with the bleed screw.