2018 M4 Hand Brake Stupid Question (RePost)

[pfrederi]

Sorry posted in wrong forum, moved here.

Ok so I luv this car and the last thing I would want is for it to roll away and get damaged or damage someone elses vehicle. I have the DCT. I noticed a couple times after i parked and pulled up the handbrake the car started to roll a lil bit so i pulled it up even more. That might have been after i just got the car and it was in N maybe but i noticed it a few times.

My question is is there a limit i should not go pass when pulling up the handbrake?? I think the most i pulled it up might have been 5 clicks. I would hate to damage it by pulling it up too far. Or should i just always pull it up to the maxx to make sure it doesnt roll away.

Also is the DCT like a manual transmission where if you put it in Drive or Reverse to engage the transmission to help prevent it from rolling down a hill?? And can you park it in Reverse depending on how ur parked on a hill??

Sorry if thats confusing.

Thanks

[AlmondJayRoM3]

Originally Posted by pfrederi@hotmail.com

Sorry posted in wrong forum, moved here.

Ok so I luv this car and the last thing I would want is for it to roll away and get damaged or damage someone elses vehicle. I have the DCT. I noticed a couple times after i parked and pulled up the handbrake the car started to roll a lil bit so i pulled it up even more. That might have been after i just got the car and it was in N maybe but i noticed it a few times.

My question is is there a limit i should not go pass when pulling up the handbrake?? I think the most i pulled it up might have been 5 clicks. I would hate to damage it by pulling it up too far. Or should i just always pull it up to the maxx to make sure it doesnt roll away.

Also is the DCT like a manual transmission where if you put it in Drive or Reverse to engage the transmission to help prevent it from rolling down a hill?? And can you park it in Reverse depending on how ur parked on a hill??

Sorry if thats confusing.

Thanks

Not sure about the limit on the handbrake question but the DCT has a parking pawl like a normal automatic. It engages when the car goes into park when you turn it off.

[mdrobc13]

Auto Park when you turn off. Then pull handbrake for extra insurance. Have done it a few times since getting back into a DCT BMW that I've put it in neutral which is fine but car has an interlock electronically where you cannot lock the car while in Neutral. Must be in Park to do so. But once that is done AND the P-brake pulled you should be fine.

[pfrederi]

Ok Thanks I gues it may have been in 'N' when i tried to paerk it but still i dnt think it should roll even with just the hand brake.

So my additional question was can it be parked in Reverse in those instances where youre say parked facing downhill?? I used to do that in my manual M3 to help prevent it from rolling downhill.

Thx

[IVM3]

I don't think you can pull the parking brake too hard. To minimize any strain on the transmission, i
I would first pull the handbrake hard enough to keep the car from rolling, then turn it off to put it into park.

[SD ///M4]

The handbrake doesn't seem particularly effective on the M3/M4. My MiL has a sloping driveway and even when I pull up the handbrake before I shut off the engine in my DCT, it creeps backwards slightly before the parking pawl in the DCT engages.

My driveway has an even gentler slope and if I pull out of the garage, realize I"ve forgot something inside, put it into N and pull up on the hand brake to run inside, I almost always have to give it an extra tug to keep it from rolling.

[BananaSlug]

Originally Posted by pfrederi@hotmail.com

Ok Thanks I gues it may have been in 'N' when i tried to paerk it but still i dnt think it should roll even with just the hand brake.

So my additional question was can it be parked in Reverse in those instances where youre say parked facing downhill?? I used to do that in my manual M3 to help prevent it from rolling downhill.

Thx

That's how I park when I'm on a slope.

[Taco_Bueno]

Idk I've parked a couple times on a steep hill and yanked the shit out the brake just out of paranoia so if there's a limit, you'd really have to eat your spinach to find it

[GA335i]

Originally Posted by SD ///M4

The handbrake doesn't seem particularly effective on the M3/M4. My MiL has a sloping driveway and even when I pull up the handbrake before I shut off the engine in my DCT, it creeps backwards slightly before the parking pawl in the DCT engages.

My driveway has an even gentler slope and if I pull out of the garage, realize I"ve forgot something inside, put it into N and pull up on the hand brake to run inside, I almost always have to give it an extra tug to keep it from rolling.

I've experience the same while in the mountains. My normal routine is N, then park brake, then shut off car. But parked on a pretty steep incline with just the car in neutral and the park brake pulled all the way the car would still roll backwards until I shut it off and it goes into P.

[XsltAnalyst]

Handbrake in F8x is a good old regular cable operated parking brake system, so you can't hurt it by pulling it hard. I always set the handbrake just like I do in my MT cars.

If the parking brake doesn't hold around 5 clicks then it needs adjustment. I had mine adjusted during one of service visits around 30K miles.

Per owners manual it's a good idea to clean off the rust/dust from parking brake shoes occasionally by dragging it for a short distance at slow speeds.

[pecengarcon]

How easy it to adjust the Hand Brake - because I want to have a short stroke in the pull up..?

[pfrederi]

Thanks for the info guys. I didnt want to keep yanking away at it unnecessarily but id rather have that added assurance that its not going to move. push comes to shove ive put a wheel chuck in my trunk just in case lol. gotta protect my baby man. Besides ive experienced that over time yanking on the handbrake overstrecthces the cable and needs readjusting.

Thanks again for all the good info. Im now more informed.

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by GA335i

I've experience the same while in the mountains. My normal routine is N, then park brake, then shut off car. But parked on a pretty steep incline with just the car in neutral and the park brake pulled all the way the car would still roll backwards until I shut it off and it goes into P.

If you turn off the car while in any gear, it will automatically put it in P without having to hit the On/Off button twice. No need to put it into N when you park it.

Normal routine should be: stop, pull up parking brake while in gear, push On/Off button, then get out of the car and lock it to turn off all of the electronics.

If you have it in N when you press the On/Off button, it will not go into P until you push the On/Off button a second time or until you lock the car.

[XsltAnalyst]

Originally Posted by pecengarcon

How easy it to adjust the Hand Brake - because I want to have a short stroke in the pull up..?

It's pretty straightforward, should be same as F30.

Basically jack up the rear, remove one lug nut from each rear wheel. Or just take off both wheels since it just makes things a lot easier.

Then with the handbrake fully down, use the long flathead screwdriver to adjust the brake shoes. Keep expanding shoes until the shoes start to grab (wheel is hard to turn), then back off few clicks. Repeat same on the other side.

Go inside the car then test the handbrake. Adjust the shoes as needed if the parking brake is too tight (less than 4 clicks and/or rear wheels not spinning freely with parking brake fully down) or too lose (more than 5 clicks)

[CanAutM3]

As opposed to a manual transmission where the clutch is normally clamped at rest (through spring loading), the DCT clutches are normally open, meaning force (from oil pressure) needs to be applied for the clutches to clamp. So when the engine is not running, both clutches are open. So keeping the DCT in gear will not prevent the car from rolling when the engine is not running because the engine is not connected to the drive wheels. This is why the DCT needs a parking pawl like an automatic transmission to lock the transmission output shaft. It is normal for it to roll a little before it engages.

As for the parking brake, I found it needs a hefty pull for it to engage properly. It is also normal for the car to roll a slight bit after you've pulled the parking brake and release the foot brake for all of the parking brake components to properly load up and lock the wheel.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by SD ///M4

If you turn off the car while in any gear, it will automatically put it in P without having to hit the On/Off button twice. No need to put it into N when you park it.

Normal routine should be: stop, pull up parking brake while in gear, push On/Off button, then get out of the car and lock it to turn off all of the electronics.

If you have it in N when you press the On/Off button, it will not go into P until you push the On/Off button a second time or until you lock the car.

Are you sure about this?

Both my M4s (2015 and 2019) would not allow me to lock the car if they were left in neutral. They would even annoyingly honk the horn if I would attempt to lock the car while in neutral.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by pfrederi@hotmail.com

Ok Thanks I gues it may have been in 'N' when i tried to paerk it but still i dnt think it should roll even with just the hand brake.

So my additional question was can it be parked in Reverse in those instances where youre say parked facing downhill?? I used to do that in my manual M3 to help prevent it from rolling downhill.

Thx

FYI, on a manual car, the transmission will hold the car just as well in 1st or reverse regardless if it is parked uphill or downhill.

[pfrederi]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

FYI, on a manual car, the transmission will hold the car just as well in 1st or reverse regardless if it is parked uphill or downhill.

Thx. I was asking if it would and how it would work in a DCT transmission. I didnt think it would go into park with a DCT transmission in 'R'.

Thanks

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by pfrederi@hotmail.com

Thx. I was asking if it would and how it would work in a DCT transmission. I didnt think it would go into park with a DCT transmission in 'R'.

Thanks

I just wanted to point out that on a standard MT, there’s no difference between 1st and reverse to hold the car as you insinuated.

As I posted earlier, keeping a gear engaged on a DCT, be it reverse or any other gear, will not prevent the car from rolling because the clutch is not engaged. So yes, P is always required to prevent the car from rolling. DCT will automatically go to P if the engines is shut down in either D, S or R. It requires a second push of the start/stop button (with the foot off the brake) to put it P if the engine was shut down while in N.

[pfrederi]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

I just wanted to point out that on a standard MT, there’s no difference between 1st and reverse to hold the car as you insinuated.

As I posted earlier, keeping a gear engaged on a DCT, be it reverse or any other gear, will not prevent the car from rolling because the clutch is not engaged. So yes, P is always required to prevent the car from rolling. DCT will automatically go to P if the engines is shut down in either D, S or R. It requires a second push of the start/stop button (with the foot off the brake) to put it P if the engine was shut down while in N.

OK Thx

[CookMaster]

So I’ve owned both manual and auto cars, but the bmw standard for emergency brakes has been 4-5 click to lock. I recently had my brakes adjusted because it required 8-9 clicks to lock. The dealership actually did this adjustment without charge.

[///MCollection]

Before adjusting the adjuster in the internal drum you should pull up the handbrake boot and lock out the auto adjuster by pushing the hook through by means of a long flat head screwdriver. Then adjust the part in the drum to locked them back of 6-7 clicks then re engage the auto adjuster.

The movement when you apply the parking break and take your foot off is just slack in the shoes as they are pinned to the back plate with sprung pins.

Hope that helps