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      01-10-2024, 07:26 PM   #4
ggggbmw
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Drives: 2017 M2 Manual
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Minnesota

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I totally understand how you feel. I was doing a quick caliper bleed before a track weekend, and didn't bother filling the pressure bleeder. Just watching the reservoir. Then I dropped the wrench to close the bleeder, and by the time I retrieved it from under the car and got the bleeder closed I had air in the system.

If you tried to rebleed that line without touching anything, you might have gotten lucky and just refilled the path. But if you touch the brake pedal, that's it, you are going to have to do the full ABS cycle bleed.

I had to do the ABS bleed process 4 times before I finally got rid of the soft pedal. Went through 3 liters of brake fluid. Buy something cheapish for this. (I use Pentosin LV in the off-season.) Don't be using expensive racing fluid. You can always reflush with the good stuff after the brakes are solid again.

If you have access to ISTA, it does a nice job of walking you through the whole process with illustrations. But you don't need it. Most of the better active/bi-directional scan tools with BMW aware software can do the ABS cycle flush. I use the Schwaben scan tool (a rebranded Foxwell NT510 w BMW add-on), and I'm fairly sure Bimmerlink will do it (but you should research that).

One odd thing is that the ABS bleed does not do all four corners. It just does the left front and left rear. That is why it is critical to do a full normal flush before doing the ABS flush. The 'left side only' confused me with with the scan tool at first, so I found ISTA. And it does the same thing, but with better explanations. The procedure is a bit complex. It's a good idea to go through the process without actually opening bleeders just to get the sequence down. It can help if you have two people. One to run the process and push the pedal. And one to open/close bleeders and pump/release the pressure bleeder.

Also, don't panic if the ABS flush ends with a 'failure' code. I've never gotten a 'success'. I'm not sure what isn't working, but it is still flushing the system and doing what it needs to. I'm sure I'm messing up the process somewhere and not pressing the pedal hard/soft/fast/slow enough, but it still works.

One full flush, and one ABS cycle got me 90% restored to normal. But to get the pedal completely firm again took another full bleed, and 3 more ABS cycles.
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