Sqweaking from LR wheel/wheel won't turn freely??? HELP!

[canadian_ti]

Hey, I realised yesterday that my car was making strange sqweaking noises. It was coming from the driver's side rear wheel. I lifted the car up and turned the wheel. It wasn't turning freely and it was sqweaking. I then took off the wheel and everything looked fine but it still was turning hard and making noise. Now i'm thinking that it might be turning hard since it's a drive wheel and its hooked up to the differential but it's the sqweaking noises that are scaring me! Could this means that it simply needs grease or is it somthing more serious like brake parts that need to be replaced?? Anyhelp or past experiences are greatly apreciated!

Thankz,..

[cali-ti]

is it in neutral when you try to turn it? if so, i'd say parking brake is not releasing completely. the parking brake drums contact INSIDE the rear disc so you'll need to investigate. may only be a parking brake adjustment that needs to be made. check your bentley or haynes manual, i'm sure they both cover adjusting the parking brake. good luck!

[canadian_ti]

Yeah I put it in neutral and the wheel turns but its hard. I tried with the passenger side wheel and it's a little less hard to turn but it dosen't make the noise.

[1996 328ti]

I'm going with parking brake too. My mechanic said mine was all rusty. He simply cleaned it up. Now I have a parking brake again.

[canadian_ti]

Is the parking brake mechanism hard to access ? How can I get to it?

[1996 328ti]

I believe you need to remove the rotor.

[canadian_ti]

Thanks for all the help, I happen to know the local high school shop teacher and I'll be brining him my car tomorrow for him to check it out. I'll be sure that no students touch it :)

[cali-ti]

couple diagrams that may help you/shop teacher:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=CG73&mospid=47506&btnr=34_0567&hg=34&fg=10

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=CG73&mospid=47506&btnr=34_0709&hg=34&fg=30

you'll need to remove the caliper (if you can, open the brake bleed valve, push the piston back in (a little fluid should come out of the bleeder), IMMEDIATELY close it so no air gets in the system, remove the caliper and hang it using a piece of metal (coat hanger for example), then you can remove the hex bolt holding the rotor on and get to the parking brake drums/adjuster/etc. you may want to have them try adjusting it FIRST (accessible through the wheel/rotor from outside - they'll probably need to spray some significant amount of brake cleaner through the access hole to get the adjuster to move though) before going to that extent. should be detailed in your manual (bmw owner's manual, bentley or haynes).

[canadian_ti]

Thanks guys this is great!

[canadian_ti]

I finally fixed the noise that my rear wheel was making. With the help of my shop teacher. It turns out that the parking brake mechanism wasn't broken after all! It just had dirt caked all over it! We just had to stick a screw driver behind the dust cap and it was fixed. I'm glad that I didn't have to replace any parts!
Thanks for all the help,