[Jon H]

Replaced my stock brake fluid with Motul 660 using a Motive Brake Bleeder with the battery disconnected. I also have ITSA on hand to do the full DSC bleed but I wanted to see how this felt first. Installed Cobalt Racing brake pads as well. Good fucking grief the stopping power is insane now! I didn't bed the pads yet but someone said they didn't need bedding? Anyway, happy with the results and track day on the 18th.

[RACE M3]

11 days and no MVP post?



MVP! Thanks for the confirmation!

[Jon H]

Hah thanks. I thought this was what we were all waiting for at the time. 😂 Anyway, sounds like you don't have to disconnect battery so I guess that step isn't necessary. Read on another forum that it was procedure on one of the new Cadillacs with brake by wire so I just figured I'd do it since it was quick.

[mfifield01]

What adapter is used for the Motive Bleeder? Is it normal bleeding if you disconnect the battery?

I use the Motive on my car and truck now and it's great.

[Jon H]

I had two adapters when I bought my kit a while back. One of the two fit but I don't remember if it was a Euro or BMW specific adapter. I can take a picture later if you'd like.

Normal bleeding after I disconnected battery. Next time I'll try it with it connected I guess. Not sure if it messed things up if the car accidently wakes up from opening a door or bringing the key close or something.

[OM4R]

Hey John thanks for this post.

I just want to make sure I’m understanding you correctly. You were able to do a full brake fluid flush just by disconnecting the battery prior? You didn’t need to use ISTA?

I’d like to do this service myself but I’m just a weekend warrior so if it will eff things up without using the BMW program than I’d rather take it to a shop.

[chris3g]

You don’t need to disconnect the battery, you can do a full fluid flush by yourself, without ISTA, using the motiv bleeder.

[smuttana]

Used ISTA yesterday since my friend had the software. Was easy to follow along

https://youtu.be/HWkhTCTBtaU

[OM4R]

Originally Posted by chris3g

You don’t need to disconnect the battery, you can do a full fluid flush by yourself, without ISTA, using the motiv bleeder.

OK. That’s great. Thanks so much for the reply. I was just worried about having the issue that the other member posted about and having to take his car to the dealership in limp more or less.

[chris3g]

Originally Posted by OM4R

OK. That’s great. Thanks so much for the reply. I was just worried about having the issue that the other member posted about and having to take his car to the dealership in limp more or less.

i've done it myself twice now, the first time i retrofitted CCB rotors and calipers, kept the OEM fluid and bled the new calipers. The 2nd time i did a full fluid swap to Motul 660. No problem either time.

If you do press the brake with the battery connected and there is significant air in the system you can potentially trigger some codes/limp mode as the car thinks there is a brake malfunction. This can be cleared with bimmerlink or similar apps so there is no reason to have to go to the dealership under any circumstance as long as you are prepared. If you dont already have such apps it's a good idea to get one anyway as you need it to service the rear brake pads and having the ability to view and clear codes is very helpful.

[B_davis]

Just did a full flush on all calipers with pressure bleed and no battery disconnect. No Issues

[OM4R]

Originally Posted by chris3g

i've done it myself twice now, the first time i retrofitted CCB rotors and calipers, kept the OEM fluid and bled the new calipers. The 2nd time i did a full fluid swap to Motul 660. No problem either time.

If you do press the brake with the battery connected and there is significant air in the system you can potentially trigger some codes/limp mode as the car thinks there is a brake malfunction. This can be cleared with bimmerlink or similar apps so there is no reason to have to go to the dealership under any circumstance as long as you are prepared. If you dont already have such apps it's a good idea to get one anyway as you need it to service the rear brake pads and having the ability to view and clear codes is very helpful.

Okay so as long as the battery is disconnected during this process I should need to use any apps or software?

[OM4R]

Originally Posted by B_davis

Just did a full flush on all calipers with pressure bleed and no battery disconnect. No Issues

Hey Davis, thanks for the input. Did you use the Motiv bleeder as well?

[B_davis]

I have a cheap one from Amazon that has worked on both my Alfa QV and M4 now. Holds 18 PSI no issue. I was however not getting completely clean fluid after bleeding half a bottle at each caliper. I went through 2 bottles of new fluid and probably could have used a 3rd. Next time I would probably grab a 3rd bottle and pump out the MC reservoir before bleeding.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[SwankPeRFection]

^^^^ You’re supposed to suck out all the old fluid out of the master, then refill it with the clean new fluid, then you put the bleeder on and bleed the 4 calipers. If you don’t do that, you’ll run into what you did, but it’ll still work, just requires more fluid since you’re mixing a good bit of it with the old you didn’t pull from the master first.

[Ximian]

Originally Posted by SwankPeRFection

^^^^ You’re supposed to suck out all the old fluid out of the master, then refill it with the clean new fluid, then you put the bleeder on and bleed the 4 calipers. If you don’t do that, you’ll run into what you did, but it’ll still work, just requires more fluid since you’re mixing a good bit of it with the old you didn’t pull from the master first.

You're not exactly mixing old fluid and new if you don't remove the contents of the brake fluid reservoir. With a pressure bleeder, it doesn't mix the same way and should take the same amount of fluid if you're doing a complete flush. Assuming you can remove the fluid from the reservoir quickly, the benefit is potentially the time saved over pressure bleeding for the first caliper. A "dry" pressure bleed is a bit different and not exactly time efficient.

A significant location of the old fluid vs new mixing is done in the ABS pump. It's a whole other procedure with per caliper ABS activation to get that cleaned out with fresh fluid. Some of us who track our cars do that on a regular basis and can help improve pedal feel (on older than G8x M cars).

While I used to nearly empty the brake fluid reservoir and put new fluid in, I now take even more time to dry pressure bleed it out through each caliper and check for bubbles or anything else unusual like discoloration or debris. If you're using track fluid, not all of them react nicely with all the seals and lines it comes in contact so keeping an eye on the old fluid is important.