MOT advisory - Corroded brake pipes

[cooa99]

Hi Guys,

I had an advisory last year for corroded rear brake pipes.


So was wondering how much this could set me back?


cheers

[Denis O]

If you've got real corrosion, and that's not so unusual, then you should change all the metal pipes. When I had mine done by my local indy it was just over £300. Mine was a hole in the offside rear which manifested itself by spewing brake fluid all over the road........where I was parked thankfully.

I say real corrosion as often it can be just light surface rust which you an clean with a wire brush and protect with grease.

If the car has lived near the sea for any length of time it's worth checking the condition of the brake pipes from time to time anyway. MOT testers can't see them because we have underbody panels!!!!

[cooa99]

Thanks Denis,

BMW also spotted the same rust two months ago so looks like it might just be best to have it changed .

Was that a  price for all the pipes back to front? or just the rear?

I have 2 indy's clsoe to me. While they both will be good, I am not sure which will be reasonable in pricing

[Denis O]

That was all the metal pipes, back and front. Changed to copper as well so they won't rust.

He's in Tenterden so a little too far for you to comes.

[cooa99]

I have just been quoted £575 for the work.

cost of the parts (included in  the above cost ) is about £300


I thought the pipes were supposed to be cheap?

[storminmike]

[quote="cooa99"]
I have just been quoted £575 for the work.

cost of the parts (included in  the above cost ) is about £300


I thought the pipes were supposed to be cheap?
[/quote]

Cheaper than crashing. The pipes (solid one with two flexis) that sit above the rear wishbone arms blew on the wife's X5. They seemed to be the most vulnerable as cr@p sits on top of them then corrodes. Hers was not the only one to encounter this. As for the rest of ths system I don't know

[Steamyrotter]

This is probably one area you don't want to skimp on..

The X is rather a lot of metal you are trying to stop and you need confidence that when you press that pedal it does what you need..

I can't comment on prices as surprisingly I haven't had to do them....... yet...
But I am going to look into a pre-emptive change soon.

[cooa99]

well I was using Denni's price as a guide.

I was not expecting the price to be almost double

[CondorX5]

Had mine done at the main dealers as My X still has a full BMW history which proves useful when claiming expensive warranty repairs.....cost was £450. Brakes are not an area I would really want to scrimp on with such a heavy, powerful car.  Service issues on these cars are commensurate with their initial fairly high price, people seem to forget that as the cars age and drop massively in value.

[Turks]

Got mine done at a dealers so I got the OEM Parts. Denis sounds like his were aftermarket / made-to-fit copper tubing and therefore not OEM (but nothing wrong with that - just not my choice).

Call the dealers and get a price. The good thing about the dealers is that they have fixed allowable time for jobs, but if it runs over, the cost is not yours. Also, I'm sure you get warranty of 12 months on the work done by them, which I'm not sure indy's will offer.


Turks.

[Denis O]

My guy bought a coil of copper pipe and made them all himself.

Looks like he saved me about £300 doing it that way.

[Greydog]

I am sure I read somewhere that due to very high pressure developed in some ABS systems the the copper alloy (kunifer) brake lines were changed to steel for safety reasons??

Then again I am an old geezer and dementia could be setting in? Worth checking though when your car ways north of 2 tons

[Turks]

[quote="Denis O"]
My guy bought a coil of copper pipe and made them all himself.

Looks like he saved me about £300 doing it that way.
[/quote]

I have seen some terrible jobs done this way due to sheer laziness not taking off the under-car trays etc. and just attaching the pipes via cable ties on to the trays.


Turks.

[Denis O]

[quote="Turks"]
[quote="Denis O"]
My guy bought a coil of copper pipe and made them all himself.

Looks like he saved me about £300 doing it that way.
[/quote]

I have seen some terrible jobs done this way due to sheer laziness not taking off the under-car trays etc. and just attaching the pipes via cable ties on to the trays.


Turks.
[/quote]

Probably the ones done at the dealers then