[turbojg]

So I went to replace my factory brake pads on my 2024 M4 cx with IS2000 pads. I started with the rear brakes as I figured they would more difficult than the fronts. I am aware of the mechanical and the electronic ways to retract the park brakes but opted for the electronic as I had purchased the OBD module and BimmerLink software and felt it would be a good opportunity to get to learn it.

I got everything connected and proceeded to 'activate' the 'ParkBrake' function. I heard some clicking noises in the rear brake area but the software came back with it wasn't successful and I needed to" activate service mode". I was aware of a "diagnostic mode" but not a "service mode" so I tried pressing the 'engine start' button 3 times with my foot off the brake. I then tried activating the 'Park Brake" function in BimmerLink again 2 or 3 times and then I finally heard a whirring sound and some clicking and the BimmerLink came back with a 'successful" message. So I disconnected BimmerLink and the module and figured I'd replace the pads the following day.

So got the rear brakes swapped and had read that I needed to operate the 'Park Brake Button" inside the car before applying the foot brake and that applying the foot brake pedal first would generate an error. So the first thing I did was to apply the Park brake with the car's console button. When I did, nothing happened and the park brake light didn't come on.

I then proceeded to reconnect BimmerLink to check for error codes. When I did I found the errors I included below. I deleted the errors and when I did another scan they came back. So in returning back to The 'BimmerLink Park Brake' function I saw a 'Deactivate' button so I clicked on it. I heard some noises in the rear brake area but the errors remain and I cannot clear them and the cars 'Park Brake' button still doesn't work. Anyone have any ideas what is going on?

Info memory
Date: 1/20/24, 6:29 PM
VIN: WBS43AZ08RCP28297
01 Crash Safety Module
7 errors
803280: PDC cannot be activated
010012: Diagnosis master - info - fault memory blocked 803285: aPDC cannot be activated
803181: CTA active without activation
803180: CTA cannot be activated
803283: PMA cannot be activated
010020: Speed - signal incorrect
06 All-round vision camera
1 error
800BF4: Violation of task run time
10 Central gateway module
1 error
101008: Non-resolvable ambiguous routing - SG not in the SVT target table

[TopJimmy]

I think you made it way harder than needed and confused the car where your EPB is. Try this:
In car set the EPB switch to off.
Disconnect battery.
Unplug EPB cable.
Unbolt the EPB actuator and use a Torx bit with your fingers to tighten the center bolt until the EPB grabs the disc.
Unscrew the bolt until it lets go of the disc.
Reassemble and re-plug, then connect battery.
Go in car and set the EPB switch to on.
The EPB should engage and be fine.

If above doesn’t work you probably need an ISTA session to recalibrate the EPB…

[forcefed]

Originally Posted by turbojg

So in returning back to The 'BimmerLink Park Brake' function I saw a 'Deactivate' button so I clicked on it.

You were supposed to do this after you changed the pads not press the brakes or the epb button.
Those things that you read on here were for people who don't use bimmerlink and simply unscrew the rear calipers.
Either try jimmy's solution or go to the dealer for them to fix it.

[turbojg]

TopJimmy,

I think part of my problem came in when I kept getting error messages in BimmerLink to "activate service mode" and failing. Once I finally got it to work I was a little frazzled and didn't see the "Deactivate" button. I disconnected the OBD connector as I was to install the pads the following day. I just assumed that when the console EPB button was activated (after changing out the pads) it would move the pistons forward to the pads and stop as it normally would.

You said... "Unplug EPB cable." - Would that be the cables that go to each park brake motor? I'm assuming I can disconnect them at the junction box in the wheel house?

What is the "service mode" BimmerLink" was telling me I needed to activate? I was in "standby mode" (pressed the brake pedal and pressed the 'start' button). Should I have pressed the 'start' button three times and put it in diagnostic mode. After watching videos that was one thing that wasn't clear to me. I even tried starting the engine but when I pressed the "Activate" button in BimmerLink it killed the engine. Even when I went into 'diagnostic mode' I still had to try pressing the 'Activate' button in BimmerLink several times before it arbitrarily worked.

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by forcefed

You were supposed to do this after you changed the pads not press the brakes or the epb button.
Those things that you read on here were for people who don't use bimmerlink and simply unscrew the rear calipers.
Either try jimmy's solution or go to the dealer for them to fix it.

The BMW service document I have, in a pictorial, it shows (and emphasizes that it has to be done in this order) "operate/engage electromechanical brake" and there is an arrow pointing to the switch near the shifter. Next it says to depress the foot pedal several times so the brake pads are in contact with the discs.

I believe you are correct that the first thing I should have done was to 'deactivate' the Park Brake Function in BimmerLink. Reason being I didn't see the 'deactivate ' button in BimmerLink until after the fact and it (for obvious reasons) wasn't mentioned in the BMW document.

I retracted the park brakes in BimmerLink (rather than mechanically) because I wanted to learn - So I guess I'm learning!

[turbojg]

What the heck does this error have to do with the brakes????????

06 All-round vision camera
1 error
800BF4: Violation of task run time

[kgelfen360]

Originally Posted by turbojg

What the heck does this error have to do with the brakes????????

06 All-round vision camera
1 error
800BF4: Violation of task run time

It was probably there before u did break pads.

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by kgelfen360

It was probably there before u did break pads.

I tried clearing it but it comes back.

BTW - None of the errors show up in the "Permanent Memory" but only in the "Info Memory" and "Error Memory". What does that mean?

[TopJimmy]

turbojg ,
Yes, I meant to disconnect the cable where it connects to the EPB, to get it out of the way so you can easily access bolts and not tug the wire.

Yes, you wanted the car ON (not started, so you can use your App to trigger EPB into service mode (to retract). You also wanted the car ON to end the service mode (moving brakes back to working position).

Try your app first…retract…then set back to normal for use. Then turn car off 5min. Start car, set EPB and release. If not, shut off car, disconnect battery negative terminal for a half hour (don’t close the trunk!). Reconnect and start car again. Try setting and releasing EPB.

If no luck…dealership time.

[kgelfen360]

Originally Posted by turbojg

I tried clearing it but it comes back.

BTW - None of the errors show up in the "Permanent Memory" but only in the "Info Memory" and "Error Memory". What does that mean?

I haven’t checked on my M3 but I’ve had that same code on my X5 for years. Not sure what it is.

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

turbojg ,

Yes, you wanted the car ON (not started, so you can use your App to trigger EPB into service mode (to retract). You also wanted the car ON to end the service mode (moving brakes back to working position).

Try your app first…retract…then set back to normal for use. Then turn car off 5min. Start car, set EPB and release. If not, shut off car, disconnect battery negative terminal for a half hour (don’t close the trunk!). Reconnect and start car again. Try setting and releasing EPB.

If no luck…dealership time.

I did have the car 'ON' (start button with no brake) cause I thought it needed to be on to connect to the app. I also just read somewhere else that BimmerLink should put the car in "Diagnostic mode" on it's own. I just don't understand why I had so much trouble getting BimmerLink to activate the function. When it failed to activate it displayed of conditions that had to be met to get the car into "Service Mode" and they were all met. That's where the real issue came in as I thought it would be simple and I had some time before my wife had supper ready. By the time I got it to activate I was late for supper and frazzled so I never saw the 'Deactivate button".

I have some stuff going on the next couple days but when I get out to the shop I will try everything you said and let you know how it worked.

At this point I'm not sure if the engine will even start as I was afraid to step on the foot brake until I was able to get the car's park brake button to work. I hope it does in case I need to drive it to the dealership.

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by kgelfen360

I haven’t checked on my M3 but I’ve had that same code on my X5 for years. Not sure what it is.

I would really appreciate if you could check and let me know.

[turbojg]

Just wanted to give an update on this...

I did as TopJimmy suggested - I ran BimmerLink and cycled through 'Activate' and 'Deactivate' to be sure it was deactivated - disconnected the battery - removed the motors and manually turned the park brake actuator so the brake pads touched the rotors and backed off until the rotors turned free - reassembled everything - let the car set with the battery disconnected overnight - took the car off the lift - reconnected the battery, started the car and took it out for a test drive.

Everything functioned perfectly with no errors. The funny thing is that the park brake switch would not function until I had the wheels on the ground, all doors and hood closed and the charger removed. Unfortunately I did all these things at the same time so I don't know if one thing or all were causing the park brake switch not to work. I do know that there is a travel sensor on the suspension so I have to wonder if the park brake switch is disabled when the car is lifted with the wheels off the ground. I will in the future try to narrow it down.

Summary: All in all this brake pad swap turned out to be a lot harder than it needed to be because of my desire to learn using BimmerLink in the process of retracting the park brake actuators. However, I always felt I learned a lot more when things did not go smoothly. So in that regard... mission accomplished! I feel I now know a lot more about BimmerLink and the car.

[yoandry]

Originally Posted by turbojg

Just wanted to give an update on this...

I did as TopJimmy suggested - I ran BimmerLink and cycled through 'Activate' and 'Deactivate' to be sure it was deactivated - disconnected the battery - removed the motors and manually turned the park brake actuator so the brake pads touched the rotors and backed off until the rotors turned free - reassembled everything - let the car set with the battery disconnected overnight - took the car off the lift - reconnected the battery, started the car and took it out for a test drive.

Everything functioned perfectly with no errors. The funny thing is that the park brake switch would not function until I had the wheels on the ground, all doors and hood closed and the charger removed. Unfortunately I did all these things at the same time so I don't know if one thing or all were causing the park brake switch not to work. I do know that there is a travel sensor on the suspension so I have to wonder if the park brake switch is disabled when the car is lifted with the wheels off the ground. I will in the future try to narrow it down.

Summary: All in all this brake pad swap turned out to be a lot harder than it needed to be because of my desire to learn using BimmerLink in the process of retracting the park brake actuators. However, I always felt I learned a lot more when things did not go smoothly. So in that regard... mission accomplished! I feel I now know a lot more about BimmerLink and the car.

So now, summarize how is the correct way to do it using bimmerlink as I my pads will be due soon.

[SwankPeRFection]

The parking brake service mode is a two step process. One to retract and then you swap pads and the other is to take them out of this mode and back into normal mode. You will actually hear the screw inside back all the way off when you put them in service and then when you take them out of service mode, they’ll screw back in all the way tight until they find resistance and then back off a tiny bit. DO NOT hit the parking brake before you do service mode as that won’t work and then don’t hit it while it’s in service mode. Once back it off service mode you can screw with the PB if you want to test it, but make sure everything is reassembled before you take it out of service. No way to screw anything up this way.

[turbojg]

The sequence is as SwankPeRFection described.

I had two things that caused me issues. The first was having the car in accessory mode. (push the start button without pressing the brake). You need to be in 'diagnostic' mode. (press the start button 3 times without pressing the brake pedal) The other thing was that since I wasn't going to replace the pads the same day I just 'activated' the BimmerLink park brake mode and then shut down BimmerLink and disconnected it from the OBD connector. I didn't notice the BimmerLink deactivate button. I just expected that when I finished installing the pads that when I applied the park brake with the car's park brake switch they would just extend until they applied the park brake.

Instead... After installing the pads, without touching the brake pedal, the brake service mode needs to be deactivated in BimmerLink and then the car's park brake switch needs to be pressed and then the brake pedal pressed.

I was also confused when the park brake mode wouldn't activate in BimmerLink initially and it was telling me I needed to be in 'service mode'. I knew of a 'diagnostic mode' but not a 'service mode' so it took some experimenting to realize they were referring to 'diagnostic mode'.

[SwankPeRFection]

FYI, service mode keeps the car from going to sleep when it’s in “ignition On mode” and allows for other things to happen diagnostic wise, but most importantly, there’s no chance of Power Management kicking in and shutting down modules or the entire car. When BMW takes the car in for service and it ends up in the respective bay, they'll usually throw it in Service Mode and then hook up to it, etc.

[baron95]

I'm confused. Is service mode and diagnostic mode the same thing, just being called different things?

My Launch scanner (I tested it) can successfully retract and restore the rear caliper to change the pads, by pressing the start button 3 times - what is that called? Service or Diagnostics or it is the same thing.

[SwankPeRFection]

It’s the same shit, stop overthinking it. I don’t know why BMW wanted to complicate shit by doing this 3 button press crap, but I have a feeling it’s due to the smarty pants behavior the car can do with turning itself off when in accessory ignition mode (ie ignition on but not started) which will definitely cause problems if it cuts power and you’re flashing the DME or something else mid-process. Considering it’s built for lazy people who pull up and just turn off the car and it’ll actually throw itself in Park, I’m not surprised they had to do this. Blame it on those folks and everyone who loves Teslas that just expect it to turn on when you sit in it and press the accelerator. Basically stupid shit. I miss the old days…