Showing posts with label bmw e36 m3 repair brake switch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bmw e36 m3 repair brake switch. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Another M3 Repair

Today I decided to take my M3 into work this morning, since my most recent repair on my Scion failed. The Scion is okay, but there is a part that's hanging off, and I need to do a mixture of epoxy, putty, and double-sided tape to make it good as new. So I hop in the other car and I only make it a few block before the "Check Control" light starts flashing. I take a look at the display and it says "Brake Light Circuit Error." Awesome. I figure that not having brake lights is a bit more dangerous than a cosmetic problem, so I turn around and switch cars at home. Looking around on the Internets, I find that this error is fairly common with my car (there are a disturbing large number of common problems with BMWs), and it usually means that there is a problem with the Brake Pedal Switch. I take a look at some DIY pages on how to replace the part (fortunately the switch only costs about $35), and I see that they all say that removing the switch is a bitch. Now, almost every job on the M3 has at least one task that everyone says is a goddamn pain-in-the-ass, and just about every time they're right. Well, I came close to following one of the DIYs that mentioned that breaking off a small clip at the front of the switch makes removing the part a lot easier. I broke off the clip, but instead of coming out, it just stayed wedged in there. I ended up wresting with the part with vice-grip pliers for about a half hour before it finally disintegrated enough to be removed. Hopefully putting the new part in will be easier and hopefully it will actually resolve the issue. I freakin' got to get rid of this car...