Originally Posted by rice_rocket88

I got my E60 off without a hitch.. but recently ran into this same problem with my wife's 2013 CX-9. The problem was indeed the parking brake shoes were hanging up. what a horrible PITA, and I was told Mazda has almost no clearance with the pads.. bad design.

I also went with the harbor freight puller, but I didn't know if the 8" puller would go around a 12.8" rotor so I bought the 5 ton hydraulic puller. This cost me $80 with a discount coupon I think it's 67.99. This tool was like the jaws of life and it got it off.. I still had trouble picking out the parking brake shoes still.. but there was no way I could have muscled or banged these rotors off.