# Drove with emergency brake on. Now what?



## Dolemite (Jan 6, 2003)

So the other day I was driving my 2003 330i and noticed the car felt sluggish. I checked the emergency brake (at least I thought I did) to see if I was driving with it on, and it appeared to be off. I then drove for another 45 minutes till I arrived at a valet. I got out of the car and immediately smelled horrible burning. The valet said, "It's your emergency brake," reached inside and pushed the emergency brake lever down a smidge. Apparently the lever was indeed up a little bit, not the whole way, but maybe 1/4 of the way.

Did I just royally screw up my brakes? Should I take it in to be serviced? Or do I just pray that my brakes don't fail when a small child chasing a ball runs in front of me?


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

Didn't you notice the red emergency brake light on the dash ?


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## MysticBlue (Jun 20, 2003)

Your emergency brake is a drum brake seperate from the disc brakes, so you shouldn't worry about any problems with your regular brake system. If the emergency brake still holds the car parked on a hill, then it should be ok. At least 'till you take your car in for service for something else, then maybe you could have then take a look at it.


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## Dolemite (Jan 6, 2003)

Alex Baumann said:


> Didn't you notice the red emergency brake light on the dash ?


Alas Alex, I didn't notice it. :dunno:

Thanks for the advice MysticBlue.


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## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

You're suppose to do it once in a while to prevent corrosion and rust from building up.

If you feel a vibration or some "jittery"-ness while braking, you may have heated up the hub of the rear rotor enough to warp it...You'll need to replace the rear rotor then.


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## wookiehoth (Jun 14, 2003)

Dolemite said:


> So the other day I was driving my 2003 330i and noticed the car felt sluggish. I checked the emergency brake (at least I thought I did) to see if I was driving with it on, and it appeared to be off. I then drove for another 45 minutes till I arrived at a valet. I got out of the car and immediately smelled horrible burning. The valet said, "It's your emergency brake," reached inside and pushed the emergency brake lever down a smidge. Apparently the lever was indeed up a little bit, not the whole way, but maybe 1/4 of the way.
> 
> Did I just royally screw up my brakes? Should I take it in to be serviced? Or do I just pray that my brakes don't fail when a small child chasing a ball runs in front of me?


 :bustingup :bustingup :bustingup :bustingup :bustingup :bustingup 
Actually, I did that a few times myself with my old E36. It's going to do more harm to the parking/emergency brake more than it will do to the normal brake.


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

E46s have a light AND a beeper that goes off when the car is in motion with the e-brake on.


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## Dolemite (Jan 6, 2003)

Kaz said:


> E46s have a light AND a beeper that goes off when the car is in motion with the e-brake on.


If that's true, then I definitely didn't have my emergency brake on. I'm positive that I didn't hear a beep. Not only because it would have driven me crazy after 45 minutes of driving but because I had a passenger with me who would have heard it. Maybe because the emergency brake wasn't fully on, it didn't activate the warnings.

Whatever the case may be, my car seems to be running fine now.


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## dlloyd1975 (Sep 8, 2002)

Kaz said:


> E46s have a light AND a beeper that goes off when the car is in motion with the e-brake on.


They sure do. I was using the e-brake to slow myself down (as recommended in the owners manual for the break in--something I never felt comfortable doing in Europe), and noticed the light and the 'bing-bing.' Oldsmobile Aleros also have this as I found out when I slid a rental in an empty office parking lot.


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## Orient330iNYC (Jul 30, 2002)

it is possible to have the brake partially engaged and not trip the switch that triggers the light and beeping. one notch will do it.


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## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

This reminds me of something that happened to me in Las Vegas one time. I was there with my brother and parents and we had rented a car. My Mom asked me to be the primary driver on the car. Okay, no problem.

We got loaded up, and I tried to go forward out of the parking space and met some resistance. I checked the emergency brake and verified that I had released it. I didn't know why the car wasn't moving so gave it a little more gas, and ended up driving over a concrete "stopper"  

On another outing later in the trip we left the hotel and after a couple of blocks came to a red light. A beater Camaro came up next to us and I started laughing because there was so much smoke coming from it. Man, what a piece of junk! Then I looked down and saw I hadn't released our parking break! 

I am a very good and careful driver, but I botched it badly simply because I was unfamiliar with the rental car. Needless to say, after that experience I vowed never to buy a used rental car! :tsk:


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## SergioK (Aug 14, 2002)

The HACK said:


> You're suppose to do it once in a while to prevent corrosion and rust from building up.
> 
> If you feel a vibration or some "jittery"-ness while braking, you may have heated up the hub of the rear rotor enough to warp it...You'll need to replace the rear rotor then.


Aren't you supposed to do this in reverse though? My understanding was that this helps reset the drum brakes a bit since most of the time the car is rolling forward when an ebrake is actually used. :dunno:


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## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

sergiok said:


> Aren't you supposed to do this in reverse though? My understanding was that this helps reset the drum brakes a bit since most of the time the car is rolling forward when an ebrake is actually used. :dunno:


Actually both the manual and the TIS states to do this while moving forward, coasting to a stop...From about 5 mph yank up on the hand brake until you've come to a complete stop and do this 3-5 times.


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## Raffi (May 18, 2002)

The HACK said:


> Actually both the manual and the TIS states to do this while moving forward, coasting to a stop...From about 5 mph yank up on the hand brake until you've come to a complete stop and do this 3-5 times.


If you're Stuka, you can do this while driving sideways!


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## dlloyd1975 (Sep 8, 2002)

The HACK said:


> Actually both the manual and the TIS states to do this while moving forward, coasting to a stop...From about 5 mph yank up on the hand brake until you've come to a complete stop and do this 3-5 times.


So, will this get rid of the nice squaky noise that I hear when entering or exiting my car (it happens with the parking brake on, but not with it disengaged). I didn't think I was that fat.


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## Jon Shafer (Dec 15, 2001)

Here is the result of driving too long with your E-brake on:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?p=460468#post460468


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