Newbie with a question

[emil]

Hey everyone,

I just picked up an 89 535i and have been doing a bit of work on it. I changed the thrust arms and bushings (lemforder of course), sway bar end links, and brake pads. Unfortunately, now the brake disc splash shield (metal plate behind the disc) is rubbing up against the back of the brake rotor. I was thinking of just replacing the plate, assuming that it may be bent somehow. Is this a difficult job to do? Do I have to pull the wheel bearing, or just the disc?

Or... does anyone here have a solution to getting the bottom of the splash shield from contacting the backside of the brake disk? I adjusted the rotor a bit earlier and it temporarily fixed the issue, but the shield just slid back to the spot where it was rubbing before.

Thanks!

[emil]

Oh, I should also add, the rotor locating screw for this corner is missing... could this affect the disc shield's alignment?

[Bin_jammin]

I'm a mechanic, and this happens pretty frequently. Just jack up your car and pull the wheel, grab the dust shield, and bend it away from the rotor. If you're limber you can do it without pulling the wheel.

[Ferret]

You might have a busted shield screw that's allowing the shield to flop against the back of the rotor. That or its rusted through.

Sadly, yes you're going to have to pull your wheel bearings to get access to the shield screws.... however an '89 e34 will probably be coming up on needing new bearings anyways. If you pull the wheel bearings you have to bin them and replace with new.

[emil]

the shield doesn't flop around easily though. If I give it a good pull/hit with a rubber mallet from the top, it reseats itself in the proper place and there's no grinding up against the rotor. I can mount the wheel and it sounds good for a little while. Unfortunately, after a little driving it seems to just move back to where it grinds. It's very stiff in both positions, so I'm not quite sure to think.

The rotor is missing the locating screw, and when I moved the rotor around a bit, it appeared to have knocked the shield back to where it is supposed to sit.

So, to reiterate, it's not loosely flopping around; it's quite stiff in either position, whether it be right up against the disc rotor or in the correct place. Regardless, it goes back to rubbing up against the disc so I have no idea.

[filip00]

well, for one thing....if your disc doesn't have the centering screw, it doesn't matter. the 5 screws for the wheel hold it in position.


and about that shield behind the wheel, i dunno, i'd just try to bend it to a suitable position, i believe that's the "problem", and it's made of aluminum, so no problem bending it.

[Ross]

Like filip and bin say, just bend it back in position.

[emil]

Well, the problem was fixed with a light blow to the top of the shield with a rubber mallet. Something popped back into place, and all is well and good. Now to figure out the source of the rattle under the car... only occurs when the car is under load, so I'm suspecting it's the driveshaft center support bearing. Might as well replace it anyways!

Anyhow, here's a picture of the car before I bought it:



it gets to share the garage with my euro 635csi:



Cheers,
-Emil

[filip00]

wow, the 6er looks beautiful!