Handbrakes and MOT's

ben1977 said:
sorry mate yout wrong

jags where the first cars to have disc's fitted and they had to have warning sticker on the bumper to warn cars behide of sharp braking.
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Unfortunately not - the Austin-Healey 100S in 1954 was the first production car with disc brakes all round (or, if you want to be even more obtuse, the 1949 Crosley Hot Shot but that was such a niche thing....).

Jaguars being the first cars to have disc brakes fitted all round is a common saying though (1957, was optional on the Mark 1 saloon, did feature on the C-type though in '53) - in part because of the racing success they had with the Dunlop discs.
 
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Why don't you just get it sorted? It is the handbrake after all which can be rather important.

If someone else had posted this you'd probably be tearing into them by now for ignoring a potential safety risk.
 
The handbrake holds the car on my sloped drive on its own, and anyway its always parked in gear as a matter of habit. I've had it sorted recently, by the main dealer, to no real avail. As I explained my next step is a complete replacement of the shoes etc etc but this is best done as a job lot along with the rear brakes, so I'm waiting until thats due first.

The handbrakes on these cars are basically terrible - as soon as you 'fix' it it goes back to being worse than useless again.
 
Sounds like the handbrake on my Clio, had it adjusted twice in 18 months of ownership and it goes back to rubbish after just a few weeks.
 
What bugs me is, why do the test the handbrake on Automatic cars?

I never use the handbrake on any of my Auto cars, unless it's one of those electronic boxes without a proper Park Mode.
 
Maz said:
What bugs me is, why do the test the handbrake on Automatic cars?

I never use the handbrake on any of my Auto cars, unless it's one of those electronic boxes without a proper Park Mode.
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all vehicle must have 2 braking systems

Park is not a brake its a lock in on the gearbox ( locks a gear )
 
Maz said:
What bugs me is, why do the test the handbrake on Automatic cars?

I never use the handbrake on any of my Auto cars, unless it's one of those electronic boxes without a proper Park Mode.
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In case the parking pawl breaks, so the car's still held in place by the parking brake.

.......and so you can do handbrake turns, of course :p
 
As others have said, 16% efficiency is a pass.

My last car (Pug 406) had terrible handbrake, with what sound slike a similar system to your BMW. Discs on the back, but with a separate drum for the handbrake.

Failed first time round at 14% efficiency (and the fact that it broke down during the test.....) and passed 2nd time at 16%.

For reference, if parked in neutral with the handbrake fully applied (couldn't pull it up any further) I could still push the car, and it would not hold the car on anything other than flat ground.

So, if your handbrake holds your car on a slope, I would estimate that it is more than the required 16% efficient.
 
I had the handbrake shoes replaced about a year ago just because the rear brakes were getting worked on. They had worn away into nothing.
Anyhow I just had my E60 MOT'd 3 weeks ago. The guy was as sound a chap as you could ever meet. He said my handbrake would fail the test because the left side just wasn't catching at all, yet the right side was fine. I said I wouldn't have noticed, I just stick it into park all the time, and just use the handbrake once a week or so just to keep it taut.

Anyway I don't know much about the test but part of it must be the variance between the left and right sides of the handbrake - what he did was run the test twice - he pulled the handbrake up just slightly and recorded the reading for the right side, and on the second test he pulled the handbrake up as far as it would go and recorded the left side, and that kept the two readings within a close enough range for them to pass. Was pretty decent of him.

He said if I was to get it looked at, not to do it until near the next MOT as it could lose its calibration again within a very short space of time.
 
[TW]Fox;17703251 said:
Thats because the brakes are tested on rollers..

I'm specifically after some educated opinion or perhaps people who have had a car with a frankly naff handbrake tested and still not even got an advisory :p
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Rover 600s have a poor handbrake, and mine passed it's last MOT and this one just fine.
 
rover416i said:
Rover 600s have a poor handbrake, and mine passed it's last MOT and this one just fine.
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What on earth is the efficiency a percentage of then? Fuel left in the tank? the owners BMI?

Just seems odd that people with crud handbrakes passed and mine, which felt and held the car just fine came through with an advisory as it was at 16%
 
iaind said:
What on earth is the efficiency a percentage of then? Fuel left in the tank? the owners BMI?

Just seems odd that people with crud handbrakes passed and mine, which felt and held the car just fine came through with an advisory as it was at 16%
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It's all down to the weight of the car.
 
Mine sounds exactly the same as Fox's handbrake, it has to be almost fully up to hold the car on a slope. Was the same last year and every year and I get my MOT done at BMW who adjusted it year before last but not last year so I imagine it will be adjusted this year (next week) too.

It too was great for about a week :p

They never said anything about it failing MOT due to being rubbish though, just that it was done because they noticed it needed adjusting...
 
When I say just, it was yesterday it failed.

Yep. It holds the car on a slope (car park space at work is on a slope) fine (though, this was with the handbrake fully applied upto the arm rest, but I assumed like last year they would adjust the handbrake and it would pass as it was adjusted last year at MOT time and given a pass and again when it went to BMW for a service earlier this year).

I have it in the garage at the moment being looked at to see why it's so naff.
 
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The handbrake on my Fiat is utterly useless, it can just barely hold my car on the driveway but if you push the car you can make it move so I park in gear and with chocks under the wheels. However, it's never failed or even had an advisory for handbrake efficiency on an MOT.
 
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