Brake Servos, RHD

[Cornishman]

Has anyone got a better fix for the two brake servos than just replaceing them with the same again? This is on a RHD so may be different to the LHD which are the majority.
I wondered if there were any fixes from other brands that may be cheaper and give more powerful braking?

I am currently checking getting mine refurbished as one has a small leak from underneath the servo and the braking force is not as good as I want it to be.

Thanks
C

 

[kasbatts]

Just been through this with mine, And in short the answer is no, not without a lot of work.
The RH drive brake system is a real compromise over the LHD system having the 2 remote servos.

You just need to make sure that everything is in Mint condition and working well.
I had the 2 servo master cyl rebuilt with Stainless sleeves, new seals etc etc, and made sure the boosters were working properly as well, these have air valves at the bottom that are critical to the operation of everything, if these aren't working then you will have little or no boost effect at all (1 of mine was seized solid)

When i got mine all back together i still wasn't real happy with the feel, it was much much better, but felt just to "wooden" with no real feed back.
I trotted of to the local brake guru after better pads to try and sort it this way, by pure chance he had brand new old stock original pads for the car, these have improved things a lot, Still not anywhere as good as new cars, but as good as a 1970's car will ever be.

 

[Cornishman]

Thank you, I feared that, but it had to be worth a check.

I may as well do the master cylinder while I am at it, then after the Servos, if there is still a need, I will try special pads to see if that helps. Calipers and hoses are already new or recent.

I have found a few places that refurbish servos, so far all parts specialists including BMW have said "none available". Refurbs are between £220 and £350 each. Has anyone any experience of Past Parts in the UK, they seem good via email? http://www.pastparts.co.uk/

Another option who did a friends is Linwar, they seem happy with the result http://www.linwar.com/bmw_e9_brake_cylinders_servos.html

C

 

[Polariscsl]

I have used past parts - excellent service and they can stainless sleeve them.

 

[dj_efk]

Another thumbs up for past parts, great company and service - they had issues with my car because it's one of the very first UK cars and therefore converted to RHD a by Dick Lovett, the dealer in Wiltshire. Past Parts couldn't ID the servo so refurbishing it taxed them a little!

I too wish to upgrade the brakes and do away with the needlessly complicated bodge that is the RHD setup. There MUST be a way, perhaps using generic performance parts such as Wilwood or similar? Does anyone have any other experiences to add?

 

[jvrenaudon]

Brake servos

I recall that the standard braking on the e9 was very impressive for its day but perhaps it is a long way behind the curve today. After trying unsuccessfully to coax a reasonable performance out of my servos I eventually succumbed to getting a couple of service exchange units from Linwar and I am quite happy with them.

You say that you have a leak from underneath the servo. I assume that you refer to an airleak (not fluid). The cause of this is probably from the diaphragm chamber which corrodes internally after an extended life and allows air to by-pass. I recall that, many years ago, white smoke emanating from the exhaust during and after braking was traced to be from brake fluid finding its way past the seals and into the chamber. Best wishes, John.

 

[oldcoupe]

RHD Servos

It took quite a few tries for me to finally get two resleeved servos both working well. I have a few rebuilt ones - three or four - which failed quite soon.

If you don't mind about exact originality, this link looks interesting:

http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/product/dual-remote-servo/

BTW The best test I found to identify defective servos is:
- disconnect and plug the vacuum to both, then test the brakes, carefully
- connect one servo and test - if there's no improvement it's defective
- disconnect the first and repeat with the other servo

With age there's some free play in the pedal to master cylinder pushrod mechanism - I dialled it out by extending the adjustable pushrod, and putting a small bolt through a threaded hole to push the pedal down just enough to remove the play - improves the feel of the pedal. This fix was essential on both the clutch and brakes on a VW Golf Mk1 all those years ago.