Hi guys,

I was changing my pads and rotors and it seems like my passenger front rotor is seized onto the hub. I tried spraying it with some wd-40 and letting it sit, tried hitting it with a mallet, but nothing...I can't get it to budge. Anyone have any advice? Otherwise tomorrow morning I'll be taking it to a shop to see if they can take the rotor off for me. So sad Thanks!

~Lawrence

 

I haven't gone into the brakes yet on my newly acquired 545; however, I have had issues like you describe on many of my other cars. First, be certain that there are not any screws holding the rotor to the hub. There were two scroews on my Mercedes. Once you confirm that there are not any screws attaching the rotor, then the issue is corrosion in the gap between the rotor bore and the hub. There are several things you can try:

1. WD-40 is okay, but not as good a penetrating oil as you can get out there. The best that I have found is called Kroil. They have a website from which to order, and some of the retail auto parts are starting to carry it. But, till now, the product was only available to mechanics through a jobber. If you find the product, spray down the rusted area and give the the wheel overnight to soak in and dissolve the corrosion. Then use a ball pein hammer to break the rotor loose.

2. Don't use a mallet to break the rotor loose.....you need a 1 or 2 pound ball pein hammer. You need to take a good swing at the rotor on the outside surface.....then spin the rotor 180 degrees and give that side of the rotor a good hit. Then do the same procedure to the inside surface of the rotor. It is surprising just how much force is needed to break some of these rotors loose......but, they will come loose! You should be ready to replace the rotor rather than turn down the rotor since you can damage the rotor hammering it off.

3. If you intend to re-use the rotor, then you need to put a torch to the joint that is rusted. The rotor bore will expand enough from the heat to breat the joint and then you should be able to tap the rotor to get it to pop off.

4. If you find a lot of rust, then you should throughly sand down the interface and either paint the area or coat it with a thin film of anti-seize.

Hope this helps.

 

Hey, thanks a ton for the info! Looks like I'll need to get a hold of all that stuff. I definetly was not planning on reusing these rotors and I do have new ones I'm putting on.

 

You forgot most important thing to remove frozen parts: Cussing--apply liberally.

Might have to soak for a day or two; spray every 3 or 4 hours, or as often as possible.

Use 2 lb ball pein and 2 lb regular hammer. Put ball pein somewhere on rotor; pound with other hammer.

Don't forget the cussing. If outside temp is hot, drink a can or two of beer.

 

Ahhhhh!!! it was so simple!! I just fogot the beer! > Trust me, last night I applied the cursing very generously, I let it soak and just covered the rotor in it, but nothing.

But thanks for all the suggestions guys, I guess mine wasn't TOO bad because I just had at it again and off it came with a hammer swing. I guess since I had sprayed it with the wd-40 last night, it had some time to soak. It took about 3 hammer swings to the backside of the rotor, on the friction area, to come off. Again, I only hit that area since I have new rotors I'm going to put on, per everyone's advise of course. THANK YOU! It's done........

 

Don't forget the high temp anti seize on the mating surface of the brake disc and wheel hub when you reassemble!

 

Sometimes finesse is overrated.

 

Same thing happen to me last night on my 2006 530xi. What I did is lowered the car a bit with and the weight of the car helped release the tire.

 

Excellent suggestion.

Also, I have found over the years that I have had to soak some parts with penetrating oil for more than one day. I have even sprayed bolts every few hours for 2 or 3 days.

 

I heard WD-40 ain't the trick.

I bought this stuff called Liquid Wrench. Had the rotors off in less than five minutes. Pop it a few times (at the mounting holes) with a hammer. Cursing is optional.