How to Change the Brake Pads on My BMW 330Ci


1. Park the BMW on a flat, level surface. Loosen the lug nuts that hold the wheels on with a lug nut wrench. Raise the car with a floor jack and lower it onto jack stands at all four corners. Finish removing the lug nuts, remove the wheels and set them aside.
2. Disconnect the brake pad wear sensor located on the front passenger side. Spray brake cleaner on the brake caliper, brake rotor and nearby parts. Wipe them down with a clean dry rag.
3. Remove the plastic covers on the caliper guide bolts and then loosen the bolts with a socket. The bolts are located on the top and bottom of the caliper on the side facing the wheel well. Once the bolts are loose, push them out of the caliper with a screwdriver.
4. Pry the anti-rattle clip off of the caliper with a screwdriver. This is the larger clip that is attached vertically to the caliper. Slide the caliper off of the rotor. You may need to use a screwdriver to leverage the caliper off of the rotor. Tie the caliper with a piece of wire to a nearby suspension piece so that it does not hang on the soft brake line.
5. Remove the inner brake pad from the caliper piston and the outer brake pad from the caliper bracket. Disconnect the wear sensor cable from the inner brake pad. Compress the caliper piston with a C-clamp so that the new, thicker brake pads can slide over the rotor. Place one pad of the C-clamp over the piston and the other over the outside of the caliper and tighten the clamp until the piston is retracted into the caliper.
6. Clean all of the brake parts with brake cleaner and a clean rag. Install the inner brake pad by pressing the clip on the brake pad into the caliper piston. Install the outer pad into the slot in the brake pad carrier in the same orientation that the old pad was removed.
7. Slide the caliper over the rotor. Clean the brake caliper retaining bolts. Install the retaining bolts and tighten them with a socket. Reinstall the anti-rattle clip with a pair of needle nose pliers. Reinstall the covers for the caliper bolts. Reconnect the brake pad wear cable.
8. Repeat steps 2 through 7 for the other three corners of the vehicle.
9. Replace the wheels. Lower the BMW to the ground and reinstall and tighten the lug nuts.