» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | | | | | | 01-21-2005, 10:03 PM | #1 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: cary, nc Posts: 2,259 | I Smoke! the other day i was driving down the road...and i noticed some guy pointing at my wheels. wow...so i dont know what to think...i pull over and notice a really foul odor coming from my front right wheel. there was also smoke pouring out of the wheel.... the smoke came from behind the rim...almost like it is from the brakes... i took of the tire and rim when i got home and checked out the brake pads/rotors...everything seemed fine...the pads werent rubbing against the rotor or anything...so i dont know what could cause random smmoke to pour out of the brake area... it happened again today when i drove home from school so i dont think it was a random one time occurence so anyone got any ideas as to what causes this __________________ 1995 318ti Active Pioneer Speakers [] Aluminum Billet door locks [] ACS Pedals/Deadrest [] ACS Shift Knob / E-Brake Handle [] Clear Corners/Tails/Sides [] Sylvania Exterior Lighting [] Custom CAI [] Dinan Engine Chip [] Dinan Transmission Chip [] H&R Race Springs [] Tokico Illumina Shocks [] BMW X-Brace [] Relocated Lighter Mod [] Custom iPod Mod http://www.cardomain.com/id/robcarync | | | 01-21-2005, 10:26 PM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: PA Posts: 822 | maybe some packing greese flew off of a rig and got in your brake or rotor. So when you are using the brakes a lot and they get hot it makes the greese smoke. Though I really don't know. | | | 01-21-2005, 10:41 PM | #3 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: cary, nc Posts: 2,259 | that is about what my dad said...he said something probably just got on the rotor and it is burning it off... now that i think of it...when i took the wheel off yesterday...i was wearing some work gloves that i had used to fix my window when it fell in...and i remember a few spots of grease had gotton on the rotor...do you think it was just burning the grease off? that doesnt really explain why it happened the first time though...because the first time it happened there wasnt anything on it that i know of... __________________ 1995 318ti Active Pioneer Speakers [] Aluminum Billet door locks [] ACS Pedals/Deadrest [] ACS Shift Knob / E-Brake Handle [] Clear Corners/Tails/Sides [] Sylvania Exterior Lighting [] Custom CAI [] Dinan Engine Chip [] Dinan Transmission Chip [] H&R Race Springs [] Tokico Illumina Shocks [] BMW X-Brace [] Relocated Lighter Mod [] Custom iPod Mod http://www.cardomain.com/id/robcarync | | | 01-21-2005, 11:36 PM | #4 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: oc-california Posts: 239 | what does it smell like?? grease/metal/fluid/brakepad, etc. | | | 01-21-2005, 11:56 PM | #5 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: cary, nc Posts: 2,259 | i couldnt say...but it smells bad....something surely is burning... also...i noticed that i have a lot of tread worn off on the outer edge of the tire...but only on that tire...maybe i just take super hard left turns...but i found that odd...though it doesnt seem like it would be related to the smoke but i dont know what burning grease/metal/fluid/brakepad smells like...but i know something is burning... after the first time it happened, i drove home and took the tire off and checked out the brakes...the pads werent running on the rotor or anything...and im no mechanic so thats about all i knew to look for...and i know for a fact there is grease on the rotor now because it came off of my gloves when i spun the rotor around to look for pad scrapage. if it is just grease burning off, that doesnt explain how it happened the first time... surely there cant many things causing this...burning grease? burning brake fluid? burning _____... i havent a clue...but it is just frusterating...i love the car but everytime something breaks...i fix it...and somehting else breaks...just ONCE id like to have a semi long period of time where nothing breaks on me! consumer reports even reccomended the car...but it looks like i got a bad one... __________________ 1995 318ti Active Pioneer Speakers [] Aluminum Billet door locks [] ACS Pedals/Deadrest [] ACS Shift Knob / E-Brake Handle [] Clear Corners/Tails/Sides [] Sylvania Exterior Lighting [] Custom CAI [] Dinan Engine Chip [] Dinan Transmission Chip [] H&R Race Springs [] Tokico Illumina Shocks [] BMW X-Brace [] Relocated Lighter Mod [] Custom iPod Mod http://www.cardomain.com/id/robcarync | | | 01-22-2005, 02:19 AM | #6 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 9,356 | Rubber smell? Maybe the plastic guide pin covers are burned. __________________ ...steven BMW CCA #146825 1996 BMW 328ti • 2003 MINI Cooper S • 2016 M235i www.bmwcca.org | | | 01-22-2005, 07:13 AM | #7 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: cary, nc Posts: 2,259 | what are the plastic guide pin covers? it seemed kinda like a burned rubber smell... are those the rubber plug things that go into the hole that has the allen bolts that hold the calipers/pads together around the rotor? __________________ 1995 318ti Active Pioneer Speakers [] Aluminum Billet door locks [] ACS Pedals/Deadrest [] ACS Shift Knob / E-Brake Handle [] Clear Corners/Tails/Sides [] Sylvania Exterior Lighting [] Custom CAI [] Dinan Engine Chip [] Dinan Transmission Chip [] H&R Race Springs [] Tokico Illumina Shocks [] BMW X-Brace [] Relocated Lighter Mod [] Custom iPod Mod http://www.cardomain.com/id/robcarync | | | 01-22-2005, 07:55 AM | #8 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: state college, pa Posts: 3,431 | perhaps you had gotten something caught in your wheel well, rubbing up against the tire. check out the plastics and the flare for imperfections. over the years i've learned to differentiate burned rubber, clutch and brake pads. it's not a skill i'm particularly proud of. | | | 01-22-2005, 08:10 AM | #9 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: cary, nc Posts: 2,259 | yeah i dont know what everything smells like...i want to get my dad to smell it the next time its smoking because he knows more about automotive stuff... ill probably take another look tomorrow... right now its 2:10am so im headed to sleep __________________ 1995 318ti Active Pioneer Speakers [] Aluminum Billet door locks [] ACS Pedals/Deadrest [] ACS Shift Knob / E-Brake Handle [] Clear Corners/Tails/Sides [] Sylvania Exterior Lighting [] Custom CAI [] Dinan Engine Chip [] Dinan Transmission Chip [] H&R Race Springs [] Tokico Illumina Shocks [] BMW X-Brace [] Relocated Lighter Mod [] Custom iPod Mod http://www.cardomain.com/id/robcarync | | | 01-22-2005, 02:14 PM | #10 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 9,356 | Quote: Originally Posted by robcarync what are the plastic guide pin covers? it seemed kinda like a burned rubber smell... are those the rubber plug things that go into the hole that has the allen bolts that hold the calipers/pads together around the rotor? | There is the plastic cap as well as the rubber boot to protect the guide pin from dirt. The brake piston also uses rubber o-rings. __________________ ...steven BMW CCA #146825 1996 BMW 328ti • 2003 MINI Cooper S • 2016 M235i www.bmwcca.org | | | 01-22-2005, 07:00 PM | #11 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: cary, nc Posts: 2,259 | consensus in from my father...burning brake fluid.... we put together our plan....take tire off...look at brake lines and see if its leaking anywhere! yes! any suggestions on what to do about burning brake fluid? __________________ 1995 318ti Active Pioneer Speakers [] Aluminum Billet door locks [] ACS Pedals/Deadrest [] ACS Shift Knob / E-Brake Handle [] Clear Corners/Tails/Sides [] Sylvania Exterior Lighting [] Custom CAI [] Dinan Engine Chip [] Dinan Transmission Chip [] H&R Race Springs [] Tokico Illumina Shocks [] BMW X-Brace [] Relocated Lighter Mod [] Custom iPod Mod http://www.cardomain.com/id/robcarync | | | 01-22-2005, 08:15 PM | #12 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: state college, pa Posts: 3,431 | clean off anything that's left behind. that stuff is way caustic (eats paint, deteriorates rubber, etc). and tighten the bleed screw or wherever it's leaking from. you may have to top off or bleed. | | | 01-22-2005, 08:58 PM | #13 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: cary, nc Posts: 2,259 | alright...ive never bled the TI brakes but i have bled brakes on my sisters car (altima)...i think my pops and i can manage to bleed the TI brakes...but first thing first is wait for it to quit being snowy/icy/freeezing cold then we will take the wheel off and look for leaks! __________________ 1995 318ti Active Pioneer Speakers [] Aluminum Billet door locks [] ACS Pedals/Deadrest [] ACS Shift Knob / E-Brake Handle [] Clear Corners/Tails/Sides [] Sylvania Exterior Lighting [] Custom CAI [] Dinan Engine Chip [] Dinan Transmission Chip [] H&R Race Springs [] Tokico Illumina Shocks [] BMW X-Brace [] Relocated Lighter Mod [] Custom iPod Mod http://www.cardomain.com/id/robcarync | | | 01-22-2005, 09:31 PM | #14 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 9,356 | Quote: Originally Posted by robcarync consensus in from my father...burning brake fluid.... we put together our plan....take tire off...look at brake lines and see if its leaking anywhere! yes! any suggestions on what to do about burning brake fluid? | If it is leaking you need to rebuild your calipers. __________________ ...steven BMW CCA #146825 1996 BMW 328ti • 2003 MINI Cooper S • 2016 M235i www.bmwcca.org | | | 01-23-2005, 03:21 AM | #15 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 290 | I attempted to rebuild the calipers on my ti. It's not a hard task to do, but it takes alot of patience. Advance auto gave me the wrong seal kit so all I ended up doing was cleaning the bore and reinstalling the piston. My seals were still good and the only reason my caliper was sticking was because of rust built up on the caliper where the pads slide. It might be easier to get remanufactured calipers. Although I think the seals to do both front calipers were like 8 dollars. __________________ Vince Carknard 1995 318ti Active Hellrot, 16" 5 spoke, "Fogged" airbox mod, Stromung exhaust, Bilstein Sports, BMW sport springs, 3.73lsd, others... | | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |