Hi Farkle. I've said this in your other videos a while back but wanted to say thanks again for all your helpful videos. You literally always come to the rescue when I mess things up. I also introduced air into my lines while doing the brake flush and was shitting my pants, but sooo glad you made a video on exactly the problem I was having. The Bimmer community is so lucky to have you. Thanks again man!!!
Glad to help! When you're bleeding your brakes to get the air out I recommend stepping on the brake pedal rapidly and very hard to try and dislodge any bubbles while doing the ista bleed. That'll give the best chance of getting rid of the air.
@@FaRKle0079 Is the schwaben pressure bleeder not sufficient enough alone when bleeding brakes? Are you saying that in addition to the pressure bleeder, that you also need to pump the brake pedal rapidly? I'm worried that pumping would potentially push too much fluid out. I'd like to do both a full flush and the ISTA DSC bleeding routine.
Great instruction, I installed a new Master Cylinder which allowed air into the DSC/ABS unit. After bleeding I did get the air out but evidently not out of the DSC, great firm brake pedal but the REAR BRAKES would not release. BMW's bleed procedure is a lot unique compared to all other vehicles I work on. Thanks
This comment scared me to death at first, but now I just don't understand it. How would air in the ABS unit cause the brakes to not release? If anything I would imagine it to cause them to not work at all.
@@andrewthompson6893 Well, after bleeding several times I discovered my new Master Cylinder was a defect. I found this by cracking the rear brake line connection at the Master, as soon as I cracked it enough to drip a little the rear brakes released. Installed a new Master and bingo, it bled with no issue at all and brakes were perfect right away. Yes, I have a scan tool that allowed me to bleed the ABS but the ABS was not my issue at all it was a Master that would not release all the way.
I tried this procedure yesterday. As you mentioned in your instructions, I hit the brake pedal at the appropriate times but still had ISTA+ have me start over a couple times. One time the brake fluid reservoir went empty and then I had to rebleed each caliper! I did eventually get the rear axle DSC bled but for some reason ISTA+ kept making me start over with the front axle bleed. I tried pushing the pedal slowly when hitting continue and also tried having the pedal fully pressed but each time ISTA+ would make me start over. Gave up after a few tries.
Very informative video with important procedural tips as I’m trying to learn as much as possible with all things ISTA+. Thanks and please keep posting more!
This works for the E85 Z4. I replaced my brake lines and MTX clutch line with ECS braided steel lines and did a normal brake fluid filling bleeding procedure then my car gave me the trifecta of error lights (DSC, brake, ABS) and of course mechanics said I needed to replace the DSC module. This ISTA bleed for the DSC fixed the problem.
Would you recommend doing this along with a normal brake fluid change? It's gonna be my first time doing a change on my car, so that's why I am asking. If so, how much extra brake fluid do you think I'll need to account for this extra step?
I wouldn't recommend doing this unless you either have air or feel like you have air in the system. An extra 1L of fluid should do if you want to do the ISTA bleed.
Is the schwaben pressure bleeder not sufficient enough alone when bleeding brakes? Are you saying that in addition to the pressure bleeder, that you also need to pump the brake pedal rapidly? I'm worried that pumping would potentially push too much fluid out. I'd like to do both a full flush and the ISTA DSC bleeding routine. I've got 1.5L of new fluid, would that be enough to do both a 4 wheel bleed and the ISTA DSC driver side bleed?
Yes, sometimes the pressure bleeder alone isn't enough and you will want to step on the brake pedal with hard and sharp impulses. It won't suddenly make a crazy amount of fluid come out of the bleed nipples. If you want to do a full ISTA DSC bleed with complete fluid exchange I'd grab 2L to be safe. If you're not trying to pump the brake pedal as many times as possible during the DSC bleed 1.5L can be enough.
What trouble codes does this cause? I just changed the rear brakes on my x5. I have a power bleeder but I think I might have gotten a little air in when bleeding. The brakes feel pretty normal for about 10 minutes and the. I get a dsc error: 29 Dynamic stability control 1 error 48072E: Valves in general - pressure build-up in the rear axle circuit too low
So in "Rear axle DSC bleed" step (from 4:50) I need to open bleder screw and just left it open for the whole bleeding time? When doing manual bleed you open bleeder screw for a few seconds at a time, right? But here seems like I just need to open it, leave it open, then press brake pedal then hit continue and then wait for the whole ~30 seconds procedure to finish and only then close the bleeder valve??
Great video tutorial - thanks. Bearing in mind that you are in the US and therefore working on a left hand drive car, does "driver's side" translate to RHD vehicles (i.e. right side rear / right side front) or does the ISTA bleed process ALWAYS relate to left side rear and left side front irrespective of the LHD/RHD vehicle configuration ?
Sorry for a comment on such an old video! With a 2NH brake or similar with an inside and outside nipple, do you just open one of the nipples to do a DSC bleed? Thanks for all these great videos for the BMW community!
Great video! How much fluid did you use going through this procedure? According to ISTA+, you are supposed to bleed all four corners again using the bleeder. If you bleed all four corners, then bleed the DSC, then bleed all four corners again, that sounds like 2-3 L of fluid.
If you do a flush beforehand, and then the DSC bleed you'll use 1.5-2L of fluid. There's no real need to bleed all four corners again after completing the DSC bleed.
@FaRKle0079, Could you please shed some insights on how to properly connect the ISTA to the car? I'm trying to do something similar but I keep getting a PAD error. Any thoughts? Thank you!
Hi there, short question, when u press the brake pedal with the open bleeder valve, should it go all the way down both axles? I have an issue on my car (e64) the pedal goes all the way down and pushes fluid with pressure on front axle but on the rear it doesn't go all the way down and also no pressure at the bleeder valve.......is this normal?
Great tutorial! Are you sure this is not necessary for every brake fluid bleeding because this is regular procedure for "Bleeding brake system with DSC" in TIS.
Yes, I'm sure this isn't required for every brake fluid change. Reading through the procedure it actually says it's only need when changing out the master cylinder or DSC module (basically when air is introduced to the system).
@@BBDos Probably not needed unless you get air up into the DSC unit. If you depress the brake pedal and keep it held down while you do the brake hose swap you shouldn't need to do this.
Another fantastic video. 2 quick question, if you don't mind. I'm doing a CCB retrofit onto my '18 M2 (requires a different booster, which requires the master cylinder to come out) and I've read of several guys doing the job without needing to do this procedure (they had firm pedals after a few traditional bleeds). They said that they did the traditional bleed, then did a few hard stops to invoke the ABS, then did another traditional bleed and they have a firm pedal. 1. Even with a firm pedal it's possible that there is still air in the DSC/ABS module, correct? 2. Is there danger in leaving that air there if I have a firm pedal after the above mentioned procedure?
I believe you can have air (or old fluid) in the DSC module but still have a firm pedal if you're not activating DSC. If there's air in the DSC module, it means when ABS is supposed to activate, it probably won't be pulsing braking on/off as much as it intends to. For normal everyday driving where you're not getting into ABS it's probably a low risk.
@@FaRKle0079 Thanks for the reply. I wonder if it could explain a soft pedal if someone didn't do the DSC bleed, but ended up having some hard ABS stops in the future. Seem like the ABS activation would introduce that left-over air into the system.
Hey man hopefully you can help me with this. About a week ago I replaced my brake pads on my car and it. Drove smoothly. This morning I was driving on the highway and the car in front of me slammed on the brakes with cause my front collision system to engage and after that when I’m driving about 0-60km/h I heard a scraping noise I bend the dust shield back but no stone fell out also my brake fell good at high speed braking but about slowing down from any speed I heard a loud scraping noise and coming to a stop it fell as though the brake engages backs off abit and then engages and back off abit and engages again and repeat until it comes to a stop all of this happens really fast but I can feel it
@FaRKle0079 did I miss why you had to do this ? I flushed my brake fluid today with a power bleeder. When I was done to test drive, moved car 1 foot and brakes locked up. Pedal is firm all the way at top. All brakes locked up. Don't know what to do. any idea what issue could be ? (15 m235i manual)
This procedure is only really needed if you get a decent amount of air into the brake system. I don't do this unless I really need to. If you're getting too much braking power early on that's really weird. When the car is on the brake booster should be active. I wonder if the pedal feels boosted/overly strong with the car off too.
I don't have access to a power bleeder where I'm from. Would it work the same if I just make sure the brake fluid level doesn't go super low? I was thinking of getting a bleeder bottle and letting the brake fluid from the caliper nipple flow there. Did you hold down the brake pedal after ISTA said that the bleeding is complete and get your buddy to close the bleed nipple? Or was it just let the fluid flow out and see if there is air in the lines?
You need a pressure bleeder for this routine to work. It'll be incredibly difficult with a "2 person method" of opening the nipple, pressing the pedal, closing the nipple, and then releasing the pedal while the system is pulsing. With a pressure bleeder you can just press and release the pedal since the system is always pressurized to push fluid out of the nipple.
So my car isn't showing the ABL for the brake thing procedure. Getting PAD errors about switching the ignition off and buckling the seat belt and switching terminal 15. Is my car connecting right? Using DCAN cable.
How did you do the standard bleed before? Just bleed each corner until no bubbles in the lines? And then do the ISTA protocol? I changed my fluid for the first time and might have let the pressure bleeder run too low and let air into the system but I'm not sure. I'd assume the best path would be to do a quick additional bleed and make sure no bubbles come out and if it still feels a bit spongey to do the ISTA bleed after?
Yes, I do a normal bleed before the DSC bleed. For your case, I'd do a normal bleed while stomping hard on the brake pedal to get any air loose, and then if the brake still feels soft do the dsc bleed.
@@FaRKle0079 Thanks! What's the best protocol for hitting the brake while bleeding? Just open the nozzle and then slowly hit the brake 5-6 times and then close it? Does the brake need to be pressed down during opening/closing the nozzle?
@@cptclutch2530 you should be pressure bleeding (have pressure bleeder attached to brake fluid reservoir). Once you open the bleed screw the fluid will start coming out, then go to the driver's seat and quickly/sharply press on the brake pedal hard 2-3 times, then close the bleed screw and check your fluid level in the reservoir.
Thank you for this really useful information. As I can't use a battery charger in my garage, is it possible to execute the procedure with the engine running?
I think you should be able to do it with the engine running. That said if you have a well charged battery from just driving around, this procedure doesn't use much energy. I don't typically hook up a battery tender when doing this.
Hello, maybe can you help me. I changing brake fluid on my bmw e61. When i activating the abs pump to release air bubbles, its works, but on my dash for a few seconds come out "abs dcs" error. When i repeating the procedure, it happening again and again. Now, after fluid change, the brake pedal feels need more power to stop to full. There is no air bubbles, no errors about abs. What is the problem? Now, when im writing this, i remember when i were bleeding the brakes, i forgot to add brake fluid to the reservoir and some air maybe got in the brakes and that "abs dcs" error come. How to fix this? Thank you!!!
If the brake fluid reservoir went dry, you likely pushed air into the brake system, which would definitely reduce your braking power and solid pedal feel. You'll need to bleed again (possibly multiple cycles) to clear that air. I also recommend stepping on the brake pedal very quickly and with a lot of force during pressure bleeding to try and get that air in the system out.
I have retrofitted ACC in my car and replaced DSC/ABS hydraulic unit. Now I have soft or spongy brake pedal. Hope this procedure will help get the air out of ABS system. Also I have Brembo brakes at front. While doing front axel brake bleed during the process, should I keep the outside bleed nipple open or the inside nipple? Thanks for the help in advance 😊
This should help you. This procedure is explicitly called out when replacing the DSC/ABS unit. I usually bleed from the inside nipple first, then outside on the front Brembo calipers, so I'd do this procedure from the inside nipple, and then afterwards, bleed just a bit from the outside.
How many nipples are there? Is the DSC proceduee done from a different nipple than the brake caliper? Thought there was one per caliper. ( I have a Mini R60 JCW)
@@BBDos Floating calipers have one nipple. Fixed calipers might have up to two (one per side). The ISTA DSC bleed is only done on the driver's rear and driver's front corners. It's the same nipple on the calipers you use for regular bleeding.
@@FaRKle0079 I was referring to the “70 amp” power supplies that BMW prescribes for doing programming work, but I imagine hooking up to a standard battery charger/maitainer (CTEK) would be fine for this type of work or for scanning codes.
@@Matt_C_N 70A supply is excessive! A 4A supply will slow the drain a lot, and a 10 or 15A supply will charge the battery even with ignition on and doing the procedures.
@@FaRKle0079 thanks, I actually bled it again a few times per corner with just pumping and more bubbles came out, pedal is now hard :) thanks for your comment!
Yes, the DSC bleed only needs to be done on the driver's side calipers. It's important to note that the DSC bleed should be done AFTER doing a normal 4-corner bleed per the BMW procedure.
great video...wow ista states 2bar of pressure which is 29psi...most everything I've read says 10-15psi. Do you think the 2bar applies to the manual bleeding as well?
By manual bleeding do you mean using a manual pressure bleeder? If so, then yes since the system doesn't know whether it's being pressurized by a manual pressure bleeder or not.
@@FaRKle0079 ok cool thanks for the reply, how much pressure did you use? I think I'm going to use 25psi because at 15psi the pump barely even moved the fluid through the lines. Most everyone says don't use more than 15psi and that the Motive power bleeder says not to use more than 20psi and none of that is correct. It's funny how people spread misinformation and nonsense and swear by something, yet they don't have accurate information. I understand the reservoir can be old and faulty or the lines can be bad but I'd rather a faulty section of my system rupture in my garage rather than on the highway. The manual says approx 29psi and I'm going with that.
@@Thomas998822 I usually do 25psi to give myself a bit of margin. With the Motive bleeder and plastic cap I didn't go above 20psi. What I found is their cap didn't grab very well and at 25-30 PSI it could let go of the brake fluid reservoir and pop off. That really sucks when it flings brake fluid all over... The Schwaben one I have now is much better, and I imagine the Motive metal cap is probably better than the plastic one too.
@@FaRKle0079 sounds good thanks again...I just finished the manual bleeding using 25psi...the Motive held up, but the fluid didn't come out much faster that at 15psi, so I can see how most people play if safe. I did hear someone say that 15psi is not enough to dislodge bubbles (I'm assuming that's what the ISTA vibrating part is for) and something about needing 25+psi to open some abs valve...
@@Thomas998822 If you get a lot of air in the system even the 2bar/29psi isn't enough to dislodge bubbles with the DSC actuation. I found that I have to pump the brake pedal with my foot swift and hard to get bubbles free in conjunction with all the other stuff.
I thought the rule of thumb was to not lift the brake pedal with the bleeder valve open because it will suck air into the system. It seems that is not part of BMW's procedure. Do you know why it's ok to lift the pedal with the valve still open? Thanks!
You're correct on the rule of thumb, however that doesn't really apply when you're pressure bleeding. Since the reservoir/brake system is always pressurized, it's always trying to force fluid out, even when lifting up on the brake pedal. As long as your pedal release isn't super fast/abrupt, it shouldn't suck air in.
Thanks for your reply. For a good portion of the pedal release isn't the master cylinder closed to the fluid reservoir in order to build pressure?@@FaRKle0079
I have M sport brakes and after changing new pads and rotors, the brake is not firm as before, brakes are very good but i must press the pedal half way to floor to bite as I pressed 1cm before. I changed at bmw dealer and they did multiple times bleeding. What I can do ?
And i think they used that presure oil pushing machine+ opening caps at each caliper and getting out 1 Lliter in total of oil. No ista flushing or pedal pump.
@@WoWArena1000 Yeah the dealers are supposed to have a machine that pushes new fluid in and old fluid out. Without knowing how carefully they did it though, it's hard to say whether they introduced air into the system. Unless you want to bleed it yourself, it's not going to be easy to get it done again to see without paying.
@@FaRKle0079 just want to update this comment for people in the future. i did this today with out a preassure bleeder and it went absolutley fine. i just closed the reservoir inbetween calipers and filled it to max. but i want to add something that my ISTA didnt have the same steps as you, maybe its cuz its an e6x. but i just had to activate it and press the pedal all the way down 5 times for every time, did it 3 times and filled up the reservoir it prob bled out 200ml per caliper including the 3 times. my ista version is 43.15.3
Hi Farkle. I've said this in your other videos a while back but wanted to say thanks again for all your helpful videos. You literally always come to the rescue when I mess things up. I also introduced air into my lines while doing the brake flush and was shitting my pants, but sooo glad you made a video on exactly the problem I was having. The Bimmer community is so lucky to have you. Thanks again man!!!
Glad to help!
When you're bleeding your brakes to get the air out I recommend stepping on the brake pedal rapidly and very hard to try and dislodge any bubbles while doing the ista bleed. That'll give the best chance of getting rid of the air.
@@FaRKle0079 Is the schwaben pressure bleeder not sufficient enough alone when bleeding brakes? Are you saying that in addition to the pressure bleeder, that you also need to pump the brake pedal rapidly? I'm worried that pumping would potentially push too much fluid out. I'd like to do both a full flush and the ISTA DSC bleeding routine.
About to swap out my DSC module for an ACC one and will need to follow this procedure. Thanks for the video!
Great instruction, I installed a new Master Cylinder which allowed air into the DSC/ABS unit. After bleeding I did get the air out but evidently not out of the DSC, great firm brake pedal but the REAR BRAKES would not release. BMW's bleed procedure is a lot unique compared to all other vehicles I work on. Thanks
This comment scared me to death at first, but now I just don't understand it. How would air in the ABS unit cause the brakes to not release? If anything I would imagine it to cause them to not work at all.
@@andrewthompson6893 Well, after bleeding several times I discovered my new Master Cylinder was a defect. I found this by cracking the rear brake line connection at the Master, as soon as I cracked it enough to drip a little the rear brakes released. Installed a new Master and bingo, it bled with no issue at all and brakes were perfect right away. Yes, I have a scan tool that allowed me to bleed the ABS but the ABS was not my issue at all it was a Master that would not release all the way.
Excellent video for car with BMW DSC, and with full details using ISTA+. Very useful, +++++.
Thank you good sir! This was everything i need
58 likes only? That's lame. He should have 58k likes atleast.
Great video and thank you so much!
Thanks!
I tried this procedure yesterday. As you mentioned in your instructions, I hit the brake pedal at the appropriate times but still had ISTA+ have me start over a couple times. One time the brake fluid reservoir went empty and then I had to rebleed each caliper! I did eventually get the rear axle DSC bled but for some reason ISTA+ kept making me start over with the front axle bleed. I tried pushing the pedal slowly when hitting continue and also tried having the pedal fully pressed but each time ISTA+ would make me start over. Gave up after a few tries.
Very informative video with important procedural tips as I’m trying to learn as much as possible with all things ISTA+. Thanks and please keep posting more!
Great video, just completed this procedure on a F56 Mini. ISTA has you do both rears instead of one side but otherwise the same. Nice firm pedal now.
This works for the E85 Z4.
I replaced my brake lines and MTX clutch line with ECS braided steel lines and did a normal brake fluid filling bleeding procedure then my car gave me the trifecta of error lights (DSC, brake, ABS) and of course mechanics said I needed to replace the DSC module.
This ISTA bleed for the DSC fixed the problem.
Thank you for sharing, very detailed and useful video
Outstanding video, thanks for posting it!
Another excellent video! Thank you!
Good stuff, good information. Thanks
Great Tutorial!!
Would you recommend doing this along with a normal brake fluid change? It's gonna be my first time doing a change on my car, so that's why I am asking. If so, how much extra brake fluid do you think I'll need to account for this extra step?
I wouldn't recommend doing this unless you either have air or feel like you have air in the system. An extra 1L of fluid should do if you want to do the ISTA bleed.
Is the schwaben pressure bleeder not sufficient enough alone when bleeding brakes? Are you saying that in addition to the pressure bleeder, that you also need to pump the brake pedal rapidly? I'm worried that pumping would potentially push too much fluid out. I'd like to do both a full flush and the ISTA DSC bleeding routine. I've got 1.5L of new fluid, would that be enough to do both a 4 wheel bleed and the ISTA DSC driver side bleed?
Yes, sometimes the pressure bleeder alone isn't enough and you will want to step on the brake pedal with hard and sharp impulses. It won't suddenly make a crazy amount of fluid come out of the bleed nipples.
If you want to do a full ISTA DSC bleed with complete fluid exchange I'd grab 2L to be safe. If you're not trying to pump the brake pedal as many times as possible during the DSC bleed 1.5L can be enough.
What trouble codes does this cause? I just changed the rear brakes on my x5. I have a power bleeder but I think I might have gotten a little air in when bleeding. The brakes feel pretty normal for about 10 minutes and the. I get a dsc error: 29 Dynamic stability control
1 error
48072E: Valves in general - pressure build-up in the rear axle circuit too low
So in "Rear axle DSC bleed" step (from 4:50) I need to open bleder screw and just left it open for the whole bleeding time? When doing manual bleed you open bleeder screw for a few seconds at a time, right? But here seems like I just need to open it, leave it open, then press brake pedal then hit continue and then wait for the whole ~30 seconds procedure to finish and only then close the bleeder valve??
Great video tutorial - thanks. Bearing in mind that you are in the US and therefore working on a left hand drive car, does "driver's side" translate to RHD vehicles (i.e. right side rear / right side front) or does the ISTA bleed process ALWAYS relate to left side rear and left side front irrespective of the LHD/RHD vehicle configuration ?
You'd want to do the bleed from the side of the car that the DSC valve assembly is on to get the shortest path from it to a bleed nipple.
@@FaRKle0079 OK, makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.
Sorry for a comment on such an old video! With a 2NH brake or similar with an inside and outside nipple, do you just open one of the nipples to do a DSC bleed? Thanks for all these great videos for the BMW community!
Yeah, since this is done after a normal bleed, you only need to do through one of them.
Great video! How much fluid did you use going through this procedure? According to ISTA+, you are supposed to bleed all four corners again using the bleeder. If you bleed all four corners, then bleed the DSC, then bleed all four corners again, that sounds like 2-3 L of fluid.
If you do a flush beforehand, and then the DSC bleed you'll use 1.5-2L of fluid. There's no real need to bleed all four corners again after completing the DSC bleed.
@FaRKle0079, Could you please shed some insights on how to properly connect the ISTA to the car? I'm trying to do something similar but I keep getting a PAD error. Any thoughts? Thank you!
Hi there, short question, when u press the brake pedal with the open bleeder valve, should it go all the way down both axles? I have an issue on my car (e64) the pedal goes all the way down and pushes fluid with pressure on front axle but on the rear it doesn't go all the way down and also no pressure at the bleeder valve.......is this normal?
Super informative! I was wondering if this procedure would be pretty similar for F15 X5?
Yup, should be pretty much identical for your F15!
Great tutorial! Are you sure this is not necessary for every brake fluid bleeding because this is regular procedure for "Bleeding brake system with DSC" in TIS.
Yes, I'm sure this isn't required for every brake fluid change. Reading through the procedure it actually says it's only need when changing out the master cylinder or DSC module (basically when air is introduced to the system).
@@FaRKle0079 Somehow I missed that part of video. I see there is notice. Thanks!
@@FaRKle0079 what if your changing the brake lines?
@@BBDos Probably not needed unless you get air up into the DSC unit. If you depress the brake pedal and keep it held down while you do the brake hose swap you shouldn't need to do this.
Thanks!
Another fantastic video. 2 quick question, if you don't mind. I'm doing a CCB retrofit onto my '18 M2 (requires a different booster, which requires the master cylinder to come out) and I've read of several guys doing the job without needing to do this procedure (they had firm pedals after a few traditional bleeds). They said that they did the traditional bleed, then did a few hard stops to invoke the ABS, then did another traditional bleed and they have a firm pedal. 1. Even with a firm pedal it's possible that there is still air in the DSC/ABS module, correct? 2. Is there danger in leaving that air there if I have a firm pedal after the above mentioned procedure?
I believe you can have air (or old fluid) in the DSC module but still have a firm pedal if you're not activating DSC. If there's air in the DSC module, it means when ABS is supposed to activate, it probably won't be pulsing braking on/off as much as it intends to.
For normal everyday driving where you're not getting into ABS it's probably a low risk.
@@FaRKle0079 Thanks for the reply. I wonder if it could explain a soft pedal if someone didn't do the DSC bleed, but ended up having some hard ABS stops in the future. Seem like the ABS activation would introduce that left-over air into the system.
Hey man hopefully you can help me with this. About a week ago I replaced my brake pads on my car and it. Drove smoothly. This morning I was driving on the highway and the car in front of me slammed on the brakes with cause my front collision system to engage and after that when I’m driving about 0-60km/h I heard a scraping noise I bend the dust shield back but no stone fell out also my brake fell good at high speed braking but about slowing down from any speed I heard a loud scraping noise and coming to a stop it fell as though the brake engages backs off abit and then engages and back off abit and engages again and repeat until it comes to a stop all of this happens really fast but I can feel it
@FaRKle0079 did I miss why you had to do this ? I flushed my brake fluid today with a power bleeder. When I was done to test drive, moved car 1 foot and brakes locked up. Pedal is firm all the way at top. All brakes locked up. Don't know what to do. any idea what issue could be ? (15 m235i manual)
This procedure is only really needed if you get a decent amount of air into the brake system. I don't do this unless I really need to.
If you're getting too much braking power early on that's really weird. When the car is on the brake booster should be active. I wonder if the pedal feels boosted/overly strong with the car off too.
I don't have access to a power bleeder where I'm from. Would it work the same if I just make sure the brake fluid level doesn't go super low? I was thinking of getting a bleeder bottle and letting the brake fluid from the caliper nipple flow there. Did you hold down the brake pedal after ISTA said that the bleeding is complete and get your buddy to close the bleed nipple? Or was it just let the fluid flow out and see if there is air in the lines?
You need a pressure bleeder for this routine to work. It'll be incredibly difficult with a "2 person method" of opening the nipple, pressing the pedal, closing the nipple, and then releasing the pedal while the system is pulsing. With a pressure bleeder you can just press and release the pedal since the system is always pressurized to push fluid out of the nipple.
So my car isn't showing the ABL for the brake thing procedure. Getting PAD errors about switching the ignition off and buckling the seat belt and switching terminal 15. Is my car connecting right? Using DCAN cable.
What kind of car is it?
How did you do the standard bleed before? Just bleed each corner until no bubbles in the lines? And then do the ISTA protocol?
I changed my fluid for the first time and might have let the pressure bleeder run too low and let air into the system but I'm not sure. I'd assume the best path would be to do a quick additional bleed and make sure no bubbles come out and if it still feels a bit spongey to do the ISTA bleed after?
Yes, I do a normal bleed before the DSC bleed. For your case, I'd do a normal bleed while stomping hard on the brake pedal to get any air loose, and then if the brake still feels soft do the dsc bleed.
@@FaRKle0079 Thanks! What's the best protocol for hitting the brake while bleeding? Just open the nozzle and then slowly hit the brake 5-6 times and then close it? Does the brake need to be pressed down during opening/closing the nozzle?
@@cptclutch2530 you should be pressure bleeding (have pressure bleeder attached to brake fluid reservoir). Once you open the bleed screw the fluid will start coming out, then go to the driver's seat and quickly/sharply press on the brake pedal hard 2-3 times, then close the bleed screw and check your fluid level in the reservoir.
@@FaRKle0079 Great advice! Really appreciate it.
Thank you for this really useful information.
As I can't use a battery charger in my garage, is it possible to execute the procedure with the engine running?
I think you should be able to do it with the engine running. That said if you have a well charged battery from just driving around, this procedure doesn't use much energy. I don't typically hook up a battery tender when doing this.
@@FaRKle0079 thanks for taking the time to answer!
Hello, maybe can you help me. I changing brake fluid on my bmw e61. When i activating the abs pump to release air bubbles, its works, but on my dash for a few seconds come out "abs dcs" error. When i repeating the procedure, it happening again and again. Now, after fluid change, the brake pedal feels need more power to stop to full. There is no air bubbles, no errors about abs. What is the problem? Now, when im writing this, i remember when i were bleeding the brakes, i forgot to add brake fluid to the reservoir and some air maybe got in the brakes and that "abs dcs" error come. How to fix this? Thank you!!!
If the brake fluid reservoir went dry, you likely pushed air into the brake system, which would definitely reduce your braking power and solid pedal feel. You'll need to bleed again (possibly multiple cycles) to clear that air. I also recommend stepping on the brake pedal very quickly and with a lot of force during pressure bleeding to try and get that air in the system out.
I have retrofitted ACC in my car and replaced DSC/ABS hydraulic unit. Now I have soft or spongy brake pedal. Hope this procedure will help get the air out of ABS system. Also I have Brembo brakes at front. While doing front axel brake bleed during the process, should I keep the outside bleed nipple open or the inside nipple?
Thanks for the help in advance 😊
This should help you. This procedure is explicitly called out when replacing the DSC/ABS unit.
I usually bleed from the inside nipple first, then outside on the front Brembo calipers, so I'd do this procedure from the inside nipple, and then afterwards, bleed just a bit from the outside.
@@FaRKle0079 Thank you 😊
How many nipples are there? Is the DSC proceduee done from a different nipple than the brake caliper? Thought there was one per caliper. ( I have a Mini R60 JCW)
@@BBDos Floating calipers have one nipple. Fixed calipers might have up to two (one per side). The ISTA DSC bleed is only done on the driver's rear and driver's front corners. It's the same nipple on the calipers you use for regular bleeding.
How did you get ISTA on your laptop? There are multiple download options online and I'm wondering which one you chose. Thanks.
I've used this one before: blog.uobdii.com/bmw-ista-d-ista-p-windows-7-8-10-download-how-to-install/
@@FaRKle0079 Thanks!
Are you hooking up the car to a power supply when you're doing these routines in ISTA?
Generally yes, but if you have a full battery you don't HAVE to.
@@FaRKle0079 I was referring to the “70 amp” power supplies that BMW prescribes for doing programming work, but I imagine hooking up to a standard battery charger/maitainer (CTEK) would be fine for this type of work or for scanning codes.
@@Matt_C_N 70A supply is excessive! A 4A supply will slow the drain a lot, and a 10 or 15A supply will charge the battery even with ignition on and doing the procedures.
I did a SS brake line upgrade on my F20 and flushed all corners multiple times, now my pedal is soft/spongy. Could this solve the problem?
This can help. Make sure to pump the brake pedal hard when flushing if using a pressure bleeder too.
@@FaRKle0079 thanks, I actually bled it again a few times per corner with just pumping and more bubbles came out, pedal is now hard :) thanks for your comment!
@@Oockeshoek Glad you got it fixed!
Are you saying the DSC bleed is only driver side rear and driver side front only? We don't have to worry about the passenger side?
Yes, the DSC bleed only needs to be done on the driver's side calipers. It's important to note that the DSC bleed should be done AFTER doing a normal 4-corner bleed per the BMW procedure.
great video...wow ista states 2bar of pressure which is 29psi...most everything I've read says 10-15psi. Do you think the 2bar applies to the manual bleeding as well?
By manual bleeding do you mean using a manual pressure bleeder? If so, then yes since the system doesn't know whether it's being pressurized by a manual pressure bleeder or not.
@@FaRKle0079 ok cool thanks for the reply, how much pressure did you use? I think I'm going to use 25psi because at 15psi the pump barely even moved the fluid through the lines. Most everyone says don't use more than 15psi and that the Motive power bleeder says not to use more than 20psi and none of that is correct. It's funny how people spread misinformation and nonsense and swear by something, yet they don't have accurate information.
I understand the reservoir can be old and faulty or the lines can be bad but I'd rather a faulty section of my system rupture in my garage rather than on the highway. The manual says approx 29psi and I'm going with that.
@@Thomas998822 I usually do 25psi to give myself a bit of margin.
With the Motive bleeder and plastic cap I didn't go above 20psi. What I found is their cap didn't grab very well and at 25-30 PSI it could let go of the brake fluid reservoir and pop off. That really sucks when it flings brake fluid all over...
The Schwaben one I have now is much better, and I imagine the Motive metal cap is probably better than the plastic one too.
@@FaRKle0079 sounds good thanks again...I just finished the manual bleeding using 25psi...the Motive held up, but the fluid didn't come out much faster that at 15psi, so I can see how most people play if safe. I did hear someone say that 15psi is not enough to dislodge bubbles (I'm assuming that's what the ISTA vibrating part is for) and something about needing 25+psi to open some abs valve...
@@Thomas998822 If you get a lot of air in the system even the 2bar/29psi isn't enough to dislodge bubbles with the DSC actuation. I found that I have to pump the brake pedal with my foot swift and hard to get bubbles free in conjunction with all the other stuff.
I thought the rule of thumb was to not lift the brake pedal with the bleeder valve open because it will suck air into the system. It seems that is not part of BMW's procedure. Do you know why it's ok to lift the pedal with the valve still open? Thanks!
You're correct on the rule of thumb, however that doesn't really apply when you're pressure bleeding. Since the reservoir/brake system is always pressurized, it's always trying to force fluid out, even when lifting up on the brake pedal. As long as your pedal release isn't super fast/abrupt, it shouldn't suck air in.
Thanks for your reply. For a good portion of the pedal release isn't the master cylinder closed to the fluid reservoir in order to build pressure?@@FaRKle0079
@@FaRKle0079 do you know for a right hand drive which side you need to bleed during the procedure?
@@mtwoodford Bleed whichever side of the car the DSC module is on. I believe even for RHD vehicles the DSC module is on the left side.
Do you still need a pressure bleeder when the Dsc pump is automatically bleeding the system?
Yes. The DSC module is just fluttering the valves, it's not actually pushing fluid out. It needs pressure from the bleeder for that.
Are you doing the DSC bleeding on all 4 tyres?
Or just left rear and left front niple?
The DSC bleed procedure only has you do the front and rear driver's side.
Hi there, how do you know if there is any air in the system after a brake fluid change?
You'll feel it in how far the pedal travels before getting firm.
Please can you tell me the make and model of the lifting gear; it looks impressive!
It's a Quickjack BL-5000SLX lift. Wonderful tool!
The current model is BL-5000TL: www.quickjack.com/car-lifts/5000tl/
@@FaRKle0079 Thank you 🙏🏼
I have M sport brakes and after changing new pads and rotors, the brake is not firm as before, brakes are very good but i must press the pedal half way to floor to bite as I pressed 1cm before. I changed at bmw dealer and they did multiple times bleeding. What I can do ?
I would try bedding the pads first, but it makes me wonder if the dealership flushed the brakes properly.
@@FaRKle0079 brakes were bedded multiple times
And i think they used that presure oil pushing machine+ opening caps at each caliper and getting out 1 Lliter in total of oil. No ista flushing or pedal pump.
@@WoWArena1000 Yeah the dealers are supposed to have a machine that pushes new fluid in and old fluid out. Without knowing how carefully they did it though, it's hard to say whether they introduced air into the system. Unless you want to bleed it yourself, it's not going to be easy to get it done again to see without paying.
What pressure bleeder do use or recommend?
When using Ista is the car completely off, running on battery, or idling?
The car is in accessory mode (ignition on, but engine off).
You can also do it with the engine on, but not necessary.
@@FaRKle0079 Thanks for the fast response definitely earned a sub
I guess this would work for an E92 M3?
Same procedure for Mini R60 through ISTA+ ?
It should be.
Think this applies to an 03 Mini with DSC?
Yes, there should be a similar function for the DSC module on that car. You might have to use INPA for that though.
Does this apply to G series cars as well?
Yes, the process is pretty much the same for G-chassis
How do I get ista?
Do you need a presssure bleeder?
Yup, you need to have pressure hooked up for this.
@@FaRKle0079 just want to update this comment for people in the future. i did this today with out a preassure bleeder and it went absolutley fine. i just closed the reservoir inbetween calipers and filled it to max. but i want to add something that my ISTA didnt have the same steps as you, maybe its cuz its an e6x. but i just had to activate it and press the pedal all the way down 5 times for every time, did it 3 times and filled up the reservoir it prob bled out 200ml per caliper including the 3 times. my ista version is 43.15.3
What is the pressure bleeder on ?
BMW allow up to 2bar / 29psi.
@@FaRKle0079 oh ok so in the video when you said the pressure bleeder on you talking about the pressure bleeder bottle
Where to get ista software ?
You can find links to download if you do a Google search. Typically hosted on Mega.
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