there's a rattle clip on the front that needs to come off. then the caliper comes off. sometimes you have to smack it off with a rubber mallet or force it with a pry bar. keep in mind the caliper is two pieces. only one piece comes off. the other part is the mount and is attached with two more bolts.

 

Not understanding. I tried to remove the entire caliper in one shot.
Are you saying it must be removed in 2 parts?

I don't understand how the rattle clips have anything to do with no slack in the brake line.
I have never heard of having to disconnect the brake line just to remove a caliper from the rotor.

 

The caliper should come out without removing the mounting bracket, but it might help to take out the 16mm bolts that attach it. Usually just taking out the guide pins is enough.

 

there are two bolts that hold the caliper mounting bracket on. there are also the sliding pins that hold the caliper itself on. you can remove the caliper in two pieces (the caliper itself and the mounting bracket) or you can remove them together by just removing the 16mm bolts on the back of the bracket.

slack in the brake line shouldn't really be relevant in removing anything.

 

I don't know what the "mounting bracket" is. I just know the "caliper" is the thing that holds the brake pads.
It's held in place with two 16mm bolts that are like 80ft/lbs. I needed my long ratchet handle and a lot of grunt.

I removed the two 16mm bolts behind the caliper, and there was no way the caliper was coming off the rotor.
I still needed to slide it back another 2 inches to get clear of the rotor.
I could not slide the caliper back enough b/c the brake line was taut.
Does that make sense?

 

yeah it makes sense. the reason you can't get enough clearance is because you need to take them off in two separate pieces. there are dust caps that come off the slide pins which are either 10mm or 8mm allen. you need to remove those and pivot the caliper off of the mounting bracket.

 

Here is a picture I took. I was trying to slide the caliper to the left to remove from rotor.
You can see the brake line in the distance, cutting directly across the middle of the photo.
Look how much rotor still needs to be cleared. This is as far back as the caliper went.

 

that 1 inch nub has a dust cap. remove it and undo the slide pins to separate the caliper from the bracket.

 

Wait, I think I am understanding.

I think on E39 the entire caliper comes off in 1 piece.

But, for E46, it sounds like to remove rotor or replace the pads, you don't actually remove the "carrier" with the big 16mm bolts.
That typically stays on the car. You just remove the other part with dust caps and allen keys? Much less hassle for just pads.
But, if removing the rotor, then you need to take off both parts, separately.

Is that right?

http://www.rmeuropean.com/bmw-e46-brake-pad-rotor-replacement.aspx

 

yes. for the front i think you have enough clearance to take it off in once piece but not for the rear apparently. and yes, you'll have to take both pieces off to remove the rotor. it's easy though.

 

Your brake hose gets held to the rear trailing arm by a small bracket with a small bolt. You could take that off for some extra slack. You shouldn't need to do that though. I've taken my brakes off both ways many times. Usually I take the caliper guide pins and the spring clip off first and remove the caliper without removing the bracket. To remove the rotor though, you have to remove the bracket (16 mm bolts).

 

When I adjusted my parking brake, if memory serves, I removed the caliper and bracket as a unit by removing the two 16mm bolts, like WD said.

There's a pad wear sensor on the right rear brake that you need to disconnect. That might be what's holding you up.

It goes without saying, but make sure you have a platform of some type to set the caliper down on so it's not dangling by the brake line.

 

No, it wasn't the wear sensor. I disconnected that.
As other stated, I think you just need to remove the rears in 2 parts.

 

7mm allen wrench needed, I prefer a stubby hex socket.

 

Don't make the mistake I made when I changed my rear rotors. Make sure parking brake is off lol. I was wacking at it with a sledge hammer slightly thinking why in the world is the rotor not popping off.

 

I just hate doing boneheaded stuff like that.
How long did it take for you to realize the brake was on?

 

Well after a couple wacks and trying to pull it free with my hands I figured let me investigate and take a closer look at what's holding it back. Then boom go figure the parking brake drums are holding back the rotors. I had the brake up just from natural habit when parking the car.

 

I'm not sure I ever figured this out. Or, if I did, I forgot the answer.

Is the following correct?
You can't remove the caliper and bracket as 1 piece.
You need to remove the guide pins and remove the caliper first.
With it detached from the mounting bracket, you need less clearance for the brake line?

To change pads, you just remove the caliper and leave the mounting bracket (with bigger bolts)
To change rotors, you first remove the caliper, and then the mounting bracket.
But, you never remove them as 1 piece (becuase you can't!)

 

I'm not sure I ever figured this out. Or, if I did, I forgot the answer.

Is the following correct?
You can't remove the caliper and bracket as 1 piece.
You need to remove the guide pins and remove the caliper first.
With it detached from the mounting bracket, you need less clearance for the brake line?

To change pads, you just remove the caliper and leave the mounting bracket (with bigger bolts)
To change rotors, you first remove the caliper, and then the mounting bracket.
But, you never remove them as 1 piece (because you can't!)

Right on.